Explore Plastic Surgery

The nice warm weather of the summer and the beauty of seeing the sun repeatedly over clear skies has made for a fun and productive season…and put a tan and a glow to that face. But with that good summer look lies some damage from the sun underneath. The suncreen you used (hopefully) and a hat were helpful but it can’t repair the ongoing damage to your skin cells from the UV rays that made it through or the damage that was there beforehand. To get skin healthier and looking better from sun damage requires the process of exfoliation. Whether this exfoliative process is superfical or deep will determine, how much recovery, cost, and the amount of improvement seen.

Medical facials are a good and pleasurable way to help nourish sun damaged skin. Light chemical peels and nourishing facial agents help infuse the skin with cell-boosting vitamins and minerals that will soften and hydrate dry facial skin. You will need a series of treatments in order to reap any long-term benefits but these need to be be repeated every few weeks as they are more about stimulation than exfoliation. Usually a facial is best combined with microdermabrasion or other skin resurfacing procedures (see below) for a more comprehensive treatment that gets a better result.
Microdermabrasion, a procedure which almost everyone has heard of, is a superficial exfoliating treatment that can help buff away dead skin cells and give your skin an immediate brighter gklow. It is usually combined with a light chemical peel to get a better result.Microdermabrasion can help brighten up a dull complexion and also boosts collagen production deep within the skin’s layers. You’ll see immediate results, and a noticeable difference in the texture and tone of your skin after a few days. Because it does not go very deep, it will not correct deeper wrinkles or heavily damaged skin. I like to think of microdermabrasion as a ‘maintenance’ treatment rather than a truly therapeutic one, meaning it is a good to other more aggressive treatments but do not expect miracles from it. Medical microdermabrasion treatments usually cost in the range of $125 - $175.

Resurfacing of your skin with the use of the laser is the most aggressive and successful approach to skin rejuvenation. By burning off the top layers, the outer layer of damaged skin is partially removed and the skin must heal by producing new skin cells. The result is a smoother, more youthful appearance and the elimination of sun damaged skin spots or patches of pigmented skin. The key to laser resurfacing, and the real progress made in this technology, is that you can control the depth of the exfoliation or burn. Measured in microns (typical facial skin is around 1000 microns thick), lasers can be adjusted to burn off as little as 6 to 100s of microns. Superficial laser resurfacing is around 6 to 20 microns, medium-depth laser resurfacing is 20 - 75 microns, and deep laser resurfacing is anything over 100 up to 200 or 300 microns. Superificial and medium-depth laser resurfacing can be done in the office under topical anesthesia and heals well in a week or less at a cost of $500 - $2000 for a full face treatment. Best results are obtained with a series of treatments over time. Deep laser resurfacing requires an anesthetic, usually a general, and takes weeks to heal and will run in the $3000 to $4000 range. Which method you would choose depends on the time you have for recovery, your budget, and how fast you want to get the best result.

Photofacials are a well known skin treatment method that is poorly understood. It is not laser therapy but a high-intensity light treatment. Some know it as IPL (intense pulsed light). We use a higher intensity treatment known as BBL or broad-band light. It’s single best benefit is in helping reduce sunspots, freckles, and superficial pigment changes. It is very effective for facial, neck, chest, and hand age spots and pigmented sun damage. It is not an exfoliative treatment, jut think of it as most effective for helping even skin tone. It is an adjunctve treatment to skin resurfacing and chemical peels, not a substitute.

A variety of good after-the-summer facial treatments are available that can clear up summer sun damage and provide protection during the colder winter months. Meet with a plastic surgeon who works closely with a medical aesthetician to get the best treatment program for your skin.

Dr. Barry Eppley
http://www.eppleyplasticsurgery.com
http://www.ologyspa.com
Clarian North Medical Center, Carmel, Indiana
Clarian West Medical Center, Avon, Indiana
Indianapolis

Spring is finally here – and this is the time of year when one starts looking in the mirror and seeing dull, dry winter-time skin. I’m often asked which skin care treatments are most effective and how patients can best maintain their surgical results. While the answers aren’t the same for everyone, I can tell you there are three truly effective things that you can do to improve your skin’s condition – and doing these things with the start of each new season can really establish a routine easily.

Microdermabrasion. This is easy; effective – and is affordable to do on a regular basis. Honestly, this is the most consistent method to maintain skin that is in good condition – without muss or fuss.

SkinTyte™ Laser Treatments. I am seeing very good results with these treatments, and they have proven to be even more effective when combined with an exfoliative treatment (such as Microdermabrasion). SkinTyte™ is non-invasive, so it’s also easy to do on the way home from work and does not require any recovery time.

MicroLaser Peels™ These are far and away the fastest way to better skin. MicroLaser Peels™ (also called the ‘Weekend Peel’) are the treatment I most often recommend to my own family as a quarterly ‘maintenance’ treatment. Laser peeling has changed drastically since the days when carbon-dioxide lasers were all that were available to us, and we’re now able to do light to medium to deeper peels in the office that produce only a few days of redness and flaking skin – and can be repeated on a monthly basis- rather than requiring weeks of recovery and the expense of surgery. We can be as aggressive or as conservative with each peel as a patient wants, and can base each peel on your needs at the time and any activities you have planned.

This new season is the ideal time to re-evaluate your skin care routine. The above three treatment options, combined with a good skin care program of topical solutions, can being on the sunshine in your own skin!