Improving your Complexion
Basic Skin Care, Glycolic Acid Peels, Microdermabrasion, and Photofacial
Exposure to the elements, sun damage, and aging all take their toll on the skin. Easy to use at-home topical products can rejuvenate your skin and promote a healthy, youthful appearance. In addition, new advanced techniques can help eliminate fine lines, uneven pigmentation, and brown spots.
Six steps to a better Complexion
Skin care regimens should be kept simple keeping in mind that the skin should
never be scrubbed with an abrasive cloth or rough sponge. Treat your skin gently
like a porcelain vase or a work of art.
The following steps can help improve the look and feel of your skin:
1. Wash with a gentle cleanser twice a day.
2. Use a moisturizer with a broad spectrum sunscreen in the morning, with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 30 or higher.
3. Use oil-free makeup that is non-comedogenic, so that it will not block pores.
4. Eat a balanced diet, drink water, avoid smoking, and get plenty of sleep.
5. Use antioxidant (vitamin C, Niacin), glycolic acid, peptide, and growth factor creams and lotions once or twice a day.
6. Use topical prescription retinoid creams and gels (Renova / Retin A / Tazorac) or another vitamin A derivative (retinol) every other night or every night as tolerated.
Glycolic Acid / Antioxidant Skin Peels
For additional improvement, we recommend treatment with glycolic acid and antioxidant peels. Glycolic acid, a natural substance derived from sugar cane, is particularly useful in rejuvenating sun damaged skin. Antioxidants such as citric acid and skin lightening agents such as kojic acid are used to enhance the effect of glycolic acid. These "lunchtime" peels are minimal to no downtime procedures that give the skin a smoother, younger, refreshed look. They can also help control mild acne and improve uneven skin discolorations.
The procedure takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes and 4 to 6 treatments are usually necessary to achieve the desired effects. However, even after just one treatment, most patients notice that their skin appears brighter and refreshed. Most patients tolerate the procedure well and report only slight stinging or temporary redness as the only side effect. This is a "lunchtime peel" and most patients return to their daily activities with no downtime. Not all glycolic and antioxidant preparations are the same and we carefully select ingredients and formulations that optimize the effect of the peel to produce consistent, superb results.
Microdermabrasion
Through the use of very fine sand crystals, microdermabrasion is able to precisely remove the outer layers of the skin to achieve a smoother, fresher complexion. The procedure is a 15 minute relaxing treatment with minimal to no downtime. Patients leave the office and resume activities immediately, with the skin exhibiting a faint red glow after the treatment. A series of 6 treatments at 2 to 4 week intervals is often needed to achieve optimal results, but many patients like the feel of their skin so much that they continue to come in for monthly refresher treatments.
Microdermabrasion can soften fine lines and wrinkles, and is superb at smoothing the look and feel of the skin so that make up goes on easier and lasts longer. Many women find that they wear make up less often as a result of the skin enhancement produced by this pleasant procedure.
Photofacial
Photofacial (intense pulsed light) treatment is a procedure that improves, skin glow and texture, fine wrinkles, pore size, brown spots, irregular pigmentation and facial blood vessels in a gentle manner with almost no recovery time. Using a broadband light source, the entire face is treated in a painless, relaxing 30 minute procedure. The treatment is repeated approximately every four weeks for a total of three to five treatments. Photofacial treatments greatly improve the appearance of brown sunspots and stimulate production of new collagen. Patients note improvement in skin tone even after one treatment. After a series of treatments, textural imperfections, brown spots, fine wrinkles, red blotches, and superficial scars improve.
