Five Nonsurgical Ways to Revitalize Your Skin
Today, plastic surgery can change, improve, and reshape just about every part of the human body. It can tighten skin, flatten tummies, and even enhance breast size. Yet, right alongside all of these surgical advancements, many plastic surgery clinics today are also offering revolutionary nonsurgical treatments for the skin itself. Sometimes these treatments can be a wonderful complement to a new facelift surgery; other times they can stand alone as a way to fight early aging signs when surgery isn’t yet needed. If you haven’t heard about some of the exciting ways that certain aesthetic services can revitalize your skin, take the time to read up on BBL Therapy, chemical peels, dermabrasion treatments, HydraFacial, and laser resurfacing.
#1 – BroadBand Light or BBL Therapy
BBL therapy, sometimes called BroadBand Light photo rejuvenation, offers patients a noninvasive way to rejuvenate their skin. It can be used to address a number of common skin concerns, such as enlarged pores, age spots, redness, sun damage, fine lines, other aging concerns, broken capillaries, acne, and other skin imperfections. For some patients, BBL can also be used in the treatment of spider veins, rosacea, cherry angiomas, and vascular lesions. Beyond addressing these specific issues, BBL therapy will also smooth and tighten the skin, evening the skin tone to achieve a more youthful, rejuvenated appearance.
Treatments with BBL involve no downtime and the recovery is very short-term. Most patients experience minimal discomfort or a feeling like a rubber band being snapped on their skin throughout the 20-30 minute procedure. Some pinkness or redness may occur at the treatment site, but this will only last about one day following your BBL therapy before it will fade. Common areas that BBL therapy is performed include the face, neck, chest, and hands. However, BBL can treat nearly all areas of the face and body as necessary.
#2 – Chemical Peels
Chemical peels offer a different approach to target many of the common skin concerns mentioned already. With a chemical peel, your aesthetician applies a chemical solution to the skin to improve and smooth its texture by removing damaged layers of dead skin cells. As a result, chemical peels can improve the appearance of facial blemishes, wrinkles, and uneven skin pigmentation. In some cases, chemical peels can also be used to remove pre-cancerous skin growths, soften acne facial scars, and even control acne. Often, a chemical peel is performed in conjunction with a facelift or other facial procedure. While it can provide many improvements to skin tone and the effects of aging, a chemical peel will not prevent aging.
Chemical peels are created with phenol, trichloroacetic acid (TCA) and alphahydroxy acids (AHAs) in varying concentrations that can be customized to the patient’s needs. They are particularly useful against fine wrinkles on the cheeks, forehead, the area around the eyes, and the vertical lines that form around the mouth. Typically, chemical peels are used on the entire face, but they can also be used to treat one specific area of concern. Sometimes, chemical peels of different concentrations can be used to treat two different areas with unique concerns. When your chemical peel treatment is over, a thick layer of petroleum jelly may be applied to the treated area. The skin will appear bright pink immediately following treatment. It will heal within a day or two with milder peels, longer with stronger peels, to reveal a lighter, brighter skin tone with a smoother, tighter, and more youthful appearance.
#3 – Dermabrasion Treatments
Aestheticians turn to dermabrasion treatments to improve the look of facial skin that has been scarred by an accident or previous surgery, as well as to smooth fine lines in target areas like the mouth. Basically, dermabrasion and dermaplaning procedures help refinish the top layers of the skin using a method of controlled surgical scraping which softens any sharp edges of surface irregularities and leaves the skin with a smoother appearance. It is sometimes used to remove pre-cancerous growths called keratosis from the skin. Dermaplaning is also effective against deep acne scars.
Dermabrasion and dermaplaning can both be performed on small areas of the skin or the entire face, on their own or in conjunction with a facelift, scar removal, or chemical peel. While these treatments will improve the appearance of scars and damage, they may not erase them and cannot prevent future aging concerns. Still, men and women of all ages have been shown to respond well to dermabrasion or dermaplaning treatments and heal relatively quickly.
#4 – HydraFacial
If you’re looking for a gentle, noninvasive way to rejuvenate the skin, HydraFacial might just be for you. This non-irritating treatment is designed to provide patients with clearer, more beautiful skin without any discomfort or downtime for recovery. HydraFacial is an effective treatment against fine lines and wrinkles, melasma, brown spots, hyperpigmentation problems, acne, oily skin, enlarged pores, and even puffiness beneath the eyes. This treatment is ultra-hydrating, providing the skin with improved suppleness and elasticity, as well as an overall improvement in skin tone and texture. Patients’ faces appear smoother, younger, and more beautiful following a HydraFacial treatment.
HydraFacials combine cleansing, exfoliation, extraction, and hydration to deliver optimum results to even patients with sensitive skin. The procedure uses a vacuum-based skin abrasion tip to exfoliate the dead skin cells from the surface and then painlessly extract impurities as gently as possible. The healthy, underlying skin is then bathed in special, custom-blended active serums to cleanse, exfoliate, hydrate, and protect the cells. This unique facial experience can be customized to each patient’s needs and address their individual concerns. Patients will experience no pain or discomfort during or after a HydraFacial and there is no recovery time required. The procedure typically lasts around 30 minutes.
#5 – Laser Resurfacing
Deep Erbium Laser Resurfacing is one of the latest and most innovative new approaches to addressing the concerns of facial skin. It is a relatively pain-free resurfacing treatment with a minimal recovery time of only a few days. Laser resurfacing has been shown to deliver effective results of the highest measure to patients looking to reduce or eliminate irregularities in skin coloration, sun damage, acne scarring, age spots, and fine lines or wrinkles. Typically, laser resurfacing is used to treat the face, but it has also been effective on the neck, hands, and sometimes the forearms and chest, if deemed appropriate.
With laser resurfacing, your plastic surgeon is able to precisely remove layers of damaged, superficial skin cells one layer at a time. Patients of laser resurfacing often have fine lines and wrinkles, stubborn acne scars, and other skin irregularities that won’t improve with topical treatments or other interventions. Partial deep erbium laser resurfacing treatments can also be performed to correct skin irregularities in specific areas. Laser resurfacing is a surgical procedure and does have a recovery period associated with it, so discuss this option at length with your plastic surgeon.
Choose the Right Aesthetic Service at the Right Place
At Weniger Plastic Surgery, Frederick G. Weniger, M.D., F.A.C.S. provides his patients with years of experience and knowledge during one-on-one consultations regarding the surgeries and nonsurgical treatments available at their practice. Dr. Weniger is board certified by The American Board of Plastic Surgery and a member of The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. He believes good information lies at the heart of success in all of his surgeries and interactions with his patients.
To schedule a consultation for any aesthetic surface or other procedure, contact the office of Weniger Plastic Surgery today at (843) 757-0123. They are located at 350 Fording Island Road, Suite 200, in Bluffton, South Carolina.