One of the most innovative treatments for rough, brown skin is laser resurfacing. Denver men and women are often pleasantly surprised by how effective this treatment is for correcting sun damage and other age-related skin discoloration.

There are essentially 2 types of lasers: those that vaporize layers of the epidermis (ablative lasers) and those that allow the epidermis to remain intact (non-ablative lasers).

Ablative Lasers

Ablative lasers are more aggressive and achieve more significant improvements in the skin. They are often used for wrinkles, acne scars, skin lesions and sun damage. Two of the most commonly used ablative lasers are the carbon-dioxide laser and the erbium-YAG laser. Both usually require some kind of pain relief during the procedure, such as local anesthesia. Recovery from ablative laser treatments may take several weeks, but the results can last for many years.

Non-ablative Lasers

Non-ablative lasers are less damaging and require less recovery time. The results can be substantial, but they are not generally as dramatic as those produced by ablative lasers. However, some newer lasers, such as the fractional laser, ablate only a portion of the skin and leave the surrounding tissue unharmed. This provides a better cosmetic result by restoring the skin’s youthful tone and texture while minimizing unwanted side effects such as redness and swelling.

While a good skin care routine using medical grade products is essential for healthy skin, it is especially crucial after your laser skin resurfacing treatment in Melbourne. Lasers affect the skin by delivering targeted heat energy to the superficial epidermis, thereby vaporizing the top layers of the skin and bringing new cells to the surface. Until it matures, this new layer of skin is especially sensitive and needs to be properly cared for in order to ensure that your skin is in optimal health. By following the recommendations below, you can maintain or even enhance the results of your laser procedure.

Skin Care Tips

• It’s important to remember that your skin will change after laser skin resurfacing and may become temporarily drier or more sensitive. For this reason, using moisturizer and a broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen is recommended.
• Some swelling is expected after laser skin resurfacing. Dr Moss can prescribe oral medication to manage this common side effect.
• Wash your face gently using a mild cleanser and washcloth a few times a day to help encourage exfoliation.
• A skin lightening or bleaching cream can be prescribed to reduce hyperpigmentation (skin discoloration) if required.
• Retin-A or glycolic acid products can further help to lessen the appearance of wrinkles and stimulate collagen production in the skin. However, these should be used approximately 6 weeks after a laser resurfacing procedure, or as recommended by your physician.

Everyone’s skin reacts differently to laser treatments. Therefore, it is important to check with your treatment provider regarding the proper way to care for your skin after your resurfacing procedure.

It seems that every day brings news about a treatment that is supposedly going to “revolutionize” cosmetic surgery. Sometimes it’s true. Sometimes it’s not. I’ve just added a treatment to my practice that is truly a game-changer: Ultherapy™.

Here are the most important things you should know:

• Ultherapy is a treatment for sagging skin on the face and neck.
• It is completely non-surgical.
• The procedure is performed right in the office, and takes about 60 minutes.
• No anesthesia is required.
• No downtime is required.
• Ultherapy is FDA approved.

I explain Ultherapy to my patients in Detroit as a non-surgical face lift. While it can’t achieve the same results as surgery, I’ve actually seen improvement that is very close. The best results are usually for the jaw, neck, cheeks, and upper eyelids.

Unlike some laser treatments that are used to tighten skin, Ultherapy uses an ultrasound device. First, ultrasound is used to image the treatment area. Next, the ultrasound energy targets the area of concern and triggers the body’s own regenerative response. This natural response results in a gradual firming and tightening of tissue.

Stretch marks are a big concern for my “mommy makeover” and post-weight-loss patients, and there are a few things you need to know about how you can minimize these. First, stretch marks are actually paper-thin scars below the skin surface, which is why “miracle creams” that only reach the top layer of the skin don’t work. But there are plenty of good options for treatments that will get rid of stretch marks (or at least disguise them):

5 Stretch Mark Solutions that Work

• 1 – Tummy Tuck – When I remove excess skin and fat during a tummy tuck, I can often position the incision so that I remove as much of the abdominal stretch marks as possible along with the extra skin. A tummy tuck does replace the stretch marks with a thin scar below the bikini line, but it’s also the most thorough solution and the only one that can get rid of stretch marks in the abdominal area completely.
• 2 – Mini-Tummy Tuck (limited abdominoplasty) – If the patient has fewer stretch marks, this procedure can sometimes correct the problem the same way as a full tummy tuck.
• 3 – Microdermabrasion – This skin rejuvenation technique can sometimes be used to polish away some of the fibrous stretch-mark scar tissue microscopically. Over time the new, healthy cells can help disguise the marks.
• 4 – Liposuction – This procedure isn’t at the top of my list because large stretch marks can actually work against good liposuction results by preventing skin from tightening after the procedure. In a few cases, though, this option can help minimize the appearance of newer, smaller stretch marks because it removes the fat that pressed them outward and made them more visible.
• 5 – Laser Therapy – Certain types of excimer, fractional, and pulsed-dye laser therapies can partly disguise the appearance of stretch marks, but unfortunately they won’t eliminate them completely the way surgery can.

Which option? If you’re not quite sure which treatment would work best for you, the best thing to do is to consult a qualified plastic surgeon for advice. Most of us offer dermatologic services like microdermabrasion, and a consultation is the best way to find out which option would get the best results.

There are often many steps in the process of cosmetic enhancement. When it comes to skin rejuvenation and laser dermatology at my Southern California practice, one of the important first steps is complexion analysis with VISIA™.

Why I Use It

We’ve all heard the phrase “know your enemy,” right? It’s a very true statement and essentially means that the only real way to find the best solution is to completely understand the problem. That’s where VISIA comes in – it helps determine the “problem areas” of your complexion so that you can determine which treatment will achieve the most improvement.

How It Works

VISIA scans your skin under natural and ultra-violet light, recording surface and subsurface conditions like wrinkles, age spots, sun damage, and enlarged pores. It’s completely painless and takes only 10 or 15 minutes. The images are then analyzed by a computer program and, of course, by your cosmetic dermatologist. Using the VISIA analysis as a guide, your doctor can select a targeted procedure.

The usefulness of VISIA doesn’t stop there. The images can also serve as a baseline to gauge results. By comparing images of your skin before and then after treatment, you can see the improvement your procedure (such as laser skin resurfacing) in Southern California was able to achieve.

If you’re planning for your wedding – possibly the single most memorable day of your life – it makes sense that you want everything to be perfect, including your appearance. That’s why many brides and grooms begin well in advance to improve diet and exercise, set dates for manicures and pedicures, or make teeth-whitening and skin-tanning appointments. In my practice, we’ve also seen a rise in the number of patients requesting pre-wedding cosmetic treatments and surgical procedures. Here are just a few.

Microdermabrasion: 3 days prior to wedding

After just one treatment, microdermabrasion helps your skin glow by gently exfoliating the outermost dead layer of skin.

Designer facials: 3 days prior to wedding

We uniquely tailor your facial based on an analysis of your skin’s tone and texture.

Dermal fillers: 3 weeks prior to wedding

Facial fillers can enhance and plump lips or cheeks, smooth marionette lines and deep furrows, and fill in scar depressions, including acne scars.

BOTOX® Cosmetic Treatment: 3 weeks prior to wedding

BOTOX can help you achieve smooth, wrinkle-free skin on your forehead, and it can minimize crow’s feet or frown lines.

Laser skin resurfacing: 3 to 4 months prior to wedding

FotoFacial® RF Laser Skin Rejuvenation reduces age spots, red spots, rosacea, and spider veins from the face, hands, and chest with Elos® technology, a combination of light and radiofrequency energies. A total of 5 treatments (1 every 3 weeks) is recommended.

Liposuction: 3 to 6 months prior to wedding

Using advanced liposuction techniques at my Long Island practice, I can sculpt specific problem areas of your body to achieve a smooth, contoured shape.

Breast augmentation: 6 months prior to wedding

Breast augmentation can give you the beautiful breasts you have always wanted.

Laser hair removal: 6 months prior to wedding

Laser hair removal permanently reduces treated hair in just 6 to 8 treatments, each spaced about 4 weeks apart.

For many women and men, pre-wedding cosmetic treatments or surgical procedures give them added confidence that they will look their very best on their big day.

Anyone who’s lost a lot of weight knows that the excitement of parting with those pounds often comes with an undesired consequence: loose, flabby, or wrinkled skin. The problem increases with age because as we grow older, our skin loses elasticity. This can be one reason for some people to be reluctant about having liposuction, especially on or near the face, or on an area that will not typically be covered with clothing (e.g., upper arms, legs, or stomach).

Is this a sufficient reason to avoid liposuction? Probably not, but a good plastic surgeon will be able to analyze your skin to give you a better sense of what you can expect following surgery and recovery.

In addition, your plastic surgeon has many surgical and non-surgical tools to improve the look of your skin after liposuction if he or she determines that you will have excess sagging or wrinkling following the procedure. In the face or neck region, a brow lift or facelift can tighten loose or sagging skin. In the abdominal region, a tummy tuck works extremely well to remove excess skin and tighten muscles. Also, the thermal qualities of Smartlipo™ laser liposuction in Los Angeles can stimulate collagen production and cause tissues to contract, leaving skin looking tightened and toned. Finally, your surgeon might recommend using a follow-up laser or radiofrequency skin treatment to help tone and tighten your skin or decrease wrinkles.

If you’ve had a liposuction procedure, I encourage you to share your results here so others can learn from your experience.

Love can lift our spirits and make our skin glow. No occasion matches Valentine’s Day for celebrating that love. If you’re starting to make plans for something romantic, here are three quick, simple things you can do now to help your skin look radiant in time for Valentine’s Day.

Exercise

If you’ve put off your New Year’s resolution to begin exercising more regularly, now’s the time to start. In addition to toning muscles and helping you lose weight gained over the holidays, regular exercise does wonders for your skin. Just 30 minutes of moderately intense aerobic exercise five days per week will maximize your blood-oxygen levels and increase blood flow to all parts of your body. Aerobic exercise increases the delivery of nutrients to skin cells and carries away damaging toxins, and it provides optimal conditions for collagen formation.

Sustained aerobic exercise will also cause your body to release endorphins, which are natural painkillers that promote an increased sense of well-being. And the stress reduction you’ll feel as a result will help decrease the hormones associated with skin flare-ups.

Drink Plenty of H2O

Drink water. It’s the easiest thing you can do to hydrate your cells and make your skin look radiant. Water acts as a purifier for your body, removing toxins and waste. Dehydration takes its toll on every cell of your body, including your skin cells, so next time you’re trying to decide what to drink, remember that nothing beats water for quenching thirst and restoring fluid to your cells.

Try a Non-Surgical Skincare Treatment

Sometimes a simple skincare treatment is all you need to take your skin from good to glowing. Here are some popular medical spa services that you could easily fit in before Valentine’s Day:

• FotoFacial® RF to tighten and brighten your face, reduce wrinkles, and even your skin tone
• BOTOX® Cosmetic injections to minimize forehead and crow’s feet wrinkles
• Facial fillers to achieve a “liquid” face lift on Long Island
• Lip enhancers to plump your lips
• Facials to cleanse and beautify your skin

If you’re interested in a skincare treatment, contact a board-certified plastic surgeon for a custom skin treatment plan.

Here’s something that might surprise you: even though Fox Valley Plastic Surgery has a full-service medical spa, we don’t offer “laser” hair removal for our Milwaukee, Oshkosh and Green Bay patients. Why not? Well, instead, we offer something that can achieve even better results: IPL (Intense Pulsed Light). IPL and laser hair removal are actually quite similar, but IPL offers some definite benefits.

How IPL Works

Hair removal with IPL uses high energy pulses of light that pass through the skin to the hair follicle. The light energy is absorbed by the follicle, which is heated and destroyed. The effects of IPL are focused on the hair follicle, leaving your skin unharmed.

Why It’s Better

Because IPL treats a larger area than laser hair removal, the target area can be covered more quickly and treatments do not take as long.

Is It Right for Me?

The best way to determine which method of hair removal is best for you is to meet with a qualified treatment professional. I highly recommend choosing a spa practice that is supervised by a medical doctor and that has a reputation for high standards in your community.

At my practice, I perform many “nonsurgical face lifts” – facial rejuvenation procedures that create many of the same effects as face lift surgery in Westchester and New York City. These nonsurgical approaches use laser therapies and injectable fillers such as Restylane®, JUVÉDERM® Injectable Gel, EVOLENCE®, Radiesse® or Sculptra® to create a more youthful look with very little downtime.

Lasers in particular are of great interest to my patients. With so many laser options available, they always have plenty of questions about which one is “better” or “best.” Here’s a comparison of lasers and intense pulsed light (IPL), another popular facial rejuvenation treatment.

Laser:

• Advantages – Both IPL and laser skin rejuvenation stimulate healthier skin by destroying unhealthy and damaged cells, but lasers tend to correct more intense problems and penetrate deeper. They do tend to require a bit more time for your skin to “bounce back,” but they usually tighten and smooth tissues more thoroughly.
• My Typical Laser Patient – Generally older (30s-60s), wanting to correct loose skin, fine lines, and often facial folds. The milder and more finely adjustable laser systems I use today can work nicely for a wide range of patients.

IPL:

• Advantages – IPL uses brief, intense pulses of light, so it’s milder than most lasers while still somewhat effective for fine lines and subtler signs of aging that “add up” to an older appearance. It’s also gentler for patients with darker skin and avoids some of the pitfalls and discomfort of older laser systems. It is best for evening out skin tone and getting rid of red and brown discoloration. This procedure has no downtime.
• My typical IPL patient – Generally younger (20s to mid-60s, usually), and more concerned about pigmentation problems than about noticeable facial folds and wrinkles. IPL results can be impressive when fine lines and, especially, pigmentation problems are the main issue.

My Perspective:

If I had to pick “between” them, I’d say the best option isn’t either – it’s both. Every “nonsurgical face lift” patient is different, but in most cases they will have some pigmentation problems that need IPL, along with deeper texture problems that will need laser skin rejuvenation in Westchester or New York City. IPL and laser therapies tend to overlap nicely because they cover slightly different problems, but each tends to enhance the tightening and smoothing effects of the other, so the results just tend to be better. We also have Thermage® radiofrequency for skin tightening, which creates a smoother and more youthful appearance over a series of treatments without any downtime.