You love the wrinkles on your neighbor’s adorable shar pei puppy, but when you started noticing them on your own face, they did not look so adorable. Most of us know how to take good care of our skin—by not spending too much time in the sun, not smoking or drinking too much, and eating the right foods. But there are other methods that can help you address the natural causes of aging as well as help bolster your skin’s ability to look its radiant best.
Microdermabrasion
Some people refer to microdermabrasion as an instant facelift. Once available only to rich Hollywood types, it is now more commonly available and very affordable. Simply put, microdermabrasion is the application of tiny granules that buff and smooth the surface layer of the skin. This technique can be used on the face, neck, arms and hands. What happens during this procedure is that when the skin is being buffed with these micro-granules, the body is interpreting this as an injury and it rushes to replace the cells that have been buffed away with new cells. This is an excellent way to clean out clogged pores and repeated procedures can positively influence the growth of new layers of skin.
Chemical Peels
A chemical peel is a solution applied to the skin that technically destroys a part of the skin so that new skin will grow in its place. There are many brands of chemical peels but they usually fall under 3 types: superficial, medium, and deep.
Glycolic acids are usually the lightest chemical peel and are safe to use on almost everyone, including those with sensitive skin.
Trichloroacetic acid, which causes second degree burns is used for the medium peels.
Deep peels will penetrate several layers of the skin and also cause second degree burns. These peels cannot be done on darker skin as they can cause hypopigmentation which is a bleaching of the skin. This deep type peel can also only be performed once.
Ultrasonic Skin Therapy
This is a non-surgical treatment for the face that uses ultrasound technology to tighten skin. Although non-invasive, this therapy uses ultrasound imaging that allows your doctor to safely view the layers of skin that are being targeted. It can hone in on the deep areas below the skin without using surgery. This therapy stimulates the body to create new collagen which results in skin that will begin to lift and tone over time. Patients treated with this therapy have shown new collagen growth a year after the procedure.
Recovery
Discuss with your doctor the right procedure for your skin type. Microdermasion, the light chemical peel and ultrasonic therapy have little to no recovery or downtime. The deeper chemical peels will take some time to recover from as there will be some swelling and redness which may even require corticosteroids to ease these issues.
If you want to avoid invasive surgery and yet want noticeable results, these procedures are recommended.
