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One of the most common reasons people come to our office is because of poor skin quality.
As kids, teenagers, and young adults, most of us paid very little attention to taking care
of our skin. In fact most of us spent a lot of time in the sun, trying to get as tan as we
could. Because of this, as we have aged, our skin has taken on an older, more tired appearance.
We see this as wrinkles, brown spots, and small red and blue blood vessels just below the
surface. Sometimes the skin takes on an almost leathery appearance.
In the last ten years there has been an explosion of new technology to improve skin quality.
The first laser that was used for the skin was the C02 laser. It was remarkable in that it
would peel off the top layer of skin, allowing new skin to grow up to replace the peeled skin.
The new skin actually looked similar to 16-year-old skin under the microscope. The new skin is
tighter and smoother, with an even complexion that has fewer brown spots. While the results of
a C02 laser peel are usually dramatic, the recovery is relatively long.
Since the advent of the CO2 laser peel we have been looking for another laser that will give similar
results with less postoperative downtime. There are now a variety of lasers that, although they
do not tighten the skin as well as the CO2 laser, can give very good results with a much shorter
recovery. Many of these laser procedures have very little or even no post treatment downtime. The
optimal treatment for you depends on the particular issues you have with your skin. Some procedures
work better for wrinkles, others for brown spots, and others for blood vessels. A careful evaluation
of your skin quality, available recovery time, and lifestyle will help determine which option is best
for you.
The key advantage to incorporating a Medical Day Spa into our practice is that we do not limit your
options by what we do. For example, a plastic surgeon seeing a patient with wrinkles over their cheeks
will likely recommend a facelift. A dermatologist, seeing that same patient will likely recommend
a laser procedure. In our office that patient will be given a list of options, including a facelift,
a laser procedure, or perhaps a minimally invasive cheek lift combined with a lesser laser procedure
that may actually obtain the best result. Because we are experts in all areas of the face and neck, and
offer all available procedures, we can pick the option that will help you achieve the best results
possible, in the time frame and price range that fits your needs.
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