AGE REVERSAL
AprilSophie Magazine
Yes! It is possible to turn back the clock on the appearance of aging. While it is not (yet) possible, of course, to truly reverse aging, it is possible to reverse the damaging effects on appearance, and often times without surgery.
The first step is to avoid skin damage whenever possible, this means the days of baking in the sun are over (I know seems odd). Secondly, to use high quality skin care products which contain retinol and/or hydroquinone. Consultation with a licensed aesthetician (LE) is a good idea before purchasing as you should have a customized recommendation for these products.
Regular maintenance of the face and skin is important as well. Many people, both men and women, have facial treatments on a regular basis, such as once a month. The importance of this is to exfoliate, cleanse, extract, moisturize and treat conditions with spot treatments. Caring for the skin on the face should be seen in the same light as going to the dentist regularly – home care is not enough by itself.
Techniques to firm collagen in and under the top layer of skin improve the texture, reduce fine lines and wrinkles, reduce pigment irregularities, generally tighten and brighten the skin. There is an incredible array of ways to achieve this but they have different degrees of depth, penetration and results.
Mechanical or chemical exfoliation is the lightest treatment and removes the dead skin allowing the fresh skin beneath to appear brighter and smoother. This process also causes collagen to build more quickly as the skin replaces itself. Deeper layers are treated with peels of various depth and intensity. Some treatments result in temporary peeling (kind of like a sun burn but much safer!) for several days. This down time may take 2 – 3 days to complete. The reason it’s called down time is that while your the face is aggressively peeling many people prefer to stay home, but the results are fantastic! Light peels do not have this down time.
The next level of exfoliation is laser resurfacing with a fractionated CO2 laser. This technique goes by a variety of names. This is sometimes referred to as a laser peel. The technique can be set for light, medium or deep. The deep laser resurfacing leaves the skin blistery for several days, but when fully recovered, the improved collagen continues to tighten for up to 12 months. This reduces brown (age) spots and tightens slight crepe-like appearance of the skin, smoothing and tightening it with dramatic results.
Naturally, people want to reduce wrinkles, age spots and loose skin. All these goals can be achieved with modern non-surgical medical techniques. The exfoliating, peel and laser resurfacing helps improve loose skin and age spots, but wrinkles require a different treatment.
Wrinkles on the forehead, around the eyes and angry lines between the eyebrows can all be tremendously reduced or frequently eliminated with Botox®. Botox is a medication injected into the muscles with a needle that is finer than an eyelash. There is mild discomfort with this at the time of the procedure but most people feel it does not hurt. This medication works slowly over 1 – 2 weeks and produces a much smoother look to these areas. Crows feet (the squint lines by the corners of the eyes) can be tremendously reduced or eliminated with Botox.
The deep lines that go from the sides of the nose to the mouth are called naso-labial creases or folds. These can be reduced or almost eliminated with fillers. The most commonly used filler is Juvéderm® which is made from a smooth natural material. This material is the same chemical composition that is injected into arthritic knees. This can also be used to treat creases around the mouth including the fine lines, or kissing lines over the upper lip.
Age spots can be tremendously reduced, or more likely eliminated! We do this in two ways: First, light therapy with FotoFacial™ which uses intense, laser-like light to flash into the skin, damaging the melanocytes (the cells that manufacture pigment). The damaged melanocytes are extruded through the skin over 7 – 10 days and the spots lighten. Two to 3 treatments will usually clear this up completely. The second part of the treatment is a skin care product with hydroquinone, such as an Obagi product.
Looking and feeling good gives you confidence, several other therapies can help with this – losing those pesky excess pounds is always a great way to look and feel better, plus, it’s healthier to try to maintain a BMI range of 19 to 25. Our medical spa offers medically supervised weight loss; which focuses on life style changes, but with the addition of prescription strength appetite suppressants.
Laser hair removal can be permanent, reduce irritation at the bikini line, eliminate underarm shaving and even eliminate shaving of the legs. While it takes several treatments to remove the hair completely, it is much more comfortable than waxing! It leaves no stubble and leaves the skin feeling smooth and baby soft. We offer both waxing and laser hair removal.
We offer free consultations on skin care and age reversal treatments.
About Mountain Radiance
Mountain Radiance is a medical spa located in Asheville that has specialized and excelled in non-surgical cosmetics and weight loss since 2008.
email us at: info@MountainRadiance.com
Mountain Radiance Medical Spa, PLLC
