Who doesn’t want beautiful skin? There are a few skin treatments for flawless skin that can you can do at home. However, sometimes at-home gradual skincare is not enough. When at-home skin care products are not giving you the results you want it is time to visit with your board-certified plastic surgeon.
What is Gradual Skin Care?
Gradual skin care focuses on non-invasive and minimally invasive skin care that is progressive and may require multiple treatments. Gradual skin care treatments for flawless skin include facial peels, at-home skin care, intense pulse light, skin resurfacing, and permanent makeup. Gradual skin care can equate to progressive results over time.
What is all the Fuss About Skin Resurfacing?
If you want flawless skin, resurfacing is your friend. Skin resurfacing through at-home exfoliation, facial peels, microdermabrasion, and through dermal planning can take years off your looks. Why? Because as we age dead skin begins to pile up leading to rough textures and loss of vibrancy.
Facial peels use chemical solutions or naturally occurring enzymes to exfoliate and retexturize your skin. Common types of facial peels include alpha hydroxyl, glycolic acid, Jessner peels, or lactic acid peels. Removing the outer layer of dry, lifeless, and rugged skin can give you beautiful results. Facial peels are considered one of the least invasive procedures to improve the appearance of your skin. A facial peel can help to improve acne or acne scarring, fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation problems, rough skin, and sun-damaged skin.
Microdermabrasion and dermaplaning are a great way to intensify your exfoliation. Microdermabrasion is a mechanical process that sands the skin. Microdermabrasion is used only for removal of the outer layer of the skin, and, while useful, provides superficial results short-term. Dermaplaning is another manual exfoliation technique that uses a gentle blade to remove dead skin cells from the skin surface and leaving it soft and smooth.
What Can I do to Improve Skin Clarity?
Intense pulse light (IPL) also known as a photofacial is available with a broad array of electromagnetic waves. Intense pulse light is useful for correcting skin discolorations and for correction of redness. Intense pulse light usually requires a series of five treatments over three weeks, which can diminish red spots, as well as sunspots in your skin. Perhaps the most significant advantage of IPL is that it is safe to use in the neck, upper chest, and hand areas.
What Are the Most Effective Ancillary Procedures?
Laser hair removal removes unwanted hair with laser technology. Laser hair removal is suitable for patients with coarse, dark body hair and light skin. However, newer lasers now can work with all body types and hair coloring, although sometimes not as efficiently. Over the course of several treatments, laser hair removal provides lifelong permanent hair removal.
If you want to wake up and be makeup ready, permanent makeup is your answer. Permanent makeup dyes or tattoos the skin applying color to areas such as eyes and lips. Permanent makeup can enhance the lips, eyebrows, or eyes. Permanent makeup when done correctly can significantly improve your look. Permanent procedures need to be performed by a highly skilled and experienced professional.
Five Key Points to Remember
- Your skin is only as good as your skincare and requires lifelong maintenance.
- Medical-grade skin care products are essential using the five key points of proper skincare.
- Combine at-home gradual skincare with physician-assisted rapid skin care to get the best results long term.
- The use of IPL, microdermabrasion and facial peels are very safe and effective in making your skin look good, both short term and long term.
- For moderately deep wrinkles and fine lines, you may need a deeper physician-assisted chemical peel, such as a TCA peel. If you have deep wrinkles, you may want to have a non-burning laser, like an erbium laser, to get you the best results.
When considering gradual or rapid skin care, it is essential to make sure that you go to a professional. A partnership with an experienced board-certified plastic surgeon who is an expert in the field is an asset to have in fighting off the natural aging process. For your safety, we cannot stress the importance of discussing your skin care goals with a board-certified plastic surgeon who understands the aging process.
Dr. Rod J. Rohrich is an internationally known, highly respected and skilled plastic and cosmetic surgeon from Dallas, Texas. He is board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and has led most of the key professional organizations in plastic surgery in the USA. He has received numerous honors and awards in plastic and cosmetic surgery, both nationally and internationally. In addition to his extensive surgical expertise and talent as a gifted surgeon, he is the Founding Chair and Distinguished Teaching Professor of Plastic Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He has authored hundreds of innovative academic publications in the field and he also serves as the Editor in Chief of the leading plastic and reconstructive surgery journal, the Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Dr. Rohrich has also performed philanthropic work as a civic leader of organizations such as the March of Dimes, American Cancer Society and Save the Children and has established the Rod J. Rohrich, M.D. Foundation, which supports medical students in his native North Dakota. He is also a founding member and President of AiRS, the Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery, which serves to support education and reconstructive surgery for breast cancer survivors, regardless of financial status. Dr. Rohrich has repeatedly been featured as one of the best plastic surgeons in the country by US News and World Report, Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping and Texas Monthly as well as being quoted in notable publications such as the New York Times and Boston Globe. He has appeared on many television shows including Oprah, the View, and Good Morning America and is currently working to provide a reliable source of public-centered information in the fields of plastic and cosmetic surgery as well as other areas of medicine.