Skin Rejuvenation is Simple and Complex
Skin rejuvenation has undergone so many changes that neither the consumer nor the physician can easily distinguish which treatments are effective vs. which treatments are hype. Nor can they distinguish between which are more efficient and which are less, which are more cost effective and which are less. The realities of cosmetic enhancement are that not all treatments fit all people and a practice must have wide varieties of option to offer.
First and foremost patients and physicians need to identify the cosmetic issue that is concerning the patient. Then they need to determine what is the cause of the problem. A simple example: A woman comes to the office complaining about deep nasolabial folds around her mouth. She does not realize that the cause of the folds is the loss of volume of her cheeks. Neither does her doctor/med spa technician. The patient has filler like Restylane injected into the folds. Now her face looks flatter (2 dimensional) and her cheeks are still sagging and she looks older. What a difference if she and her caregiver had realized that filling in her cheeks would give her a youthful appearance, make her look younger, keep her 3 dimensional appearance, and soften the nasolabial folds.
Commercial companies realize that the attention span of a consumer is about 3 months Because of this they are constantly bringing out new and improved products, catering to the wish for ever better products. The cosmetics industry is the same and now the same philosophy permeates med spas and cosmetic physician offices. This is a little strange when we think that the basis of skin rejuvenation goes back to Cleopatra some 2400 years ago. Cleansers, pH stabilizers, skin lighteners, skin sealants, and alpha hydroxy acids were available then and are available now. In reality the additions of antioxidants and skin proteins has added little to the value of skin care with the exception of the Vitamin A derivatives. That is why I like the Obagi skin care program. It is basic. It is effective. It has been proven over the course of centuries. We also need to cater to those patients with sensitive skin and allergic skin and diseased skin. For instance, many of us who live the winters in Chicago are easily irritated by preservatives or fragrances found in commercial products. Others have childhood histories of eczema and some of us have become allergic to some ingredients. That is why MetropolitanMD also carries products from Linda Sy, AHAVA, and Bioelements. One size doesn’t always fit all.
The sum of this is that all the wonderful treatment programs we have lose value if a good skin care regimen is not used to maintain the improvements. Next week I will address some of the newer uses of laser treatments for treating vexing problems of the skin.
First and foremost patients and physicians need to identify the cosmetic issue that is concerning the patient. Then they need to determine what is the cause of the problem. A simple example: A woman comes to the office complaining about deep nasolabial folds around her mouth. She does not realize that the cause of the folds is the loss of volume of her cheeks. Neither does her doctor/med spa technician. The patient has filler like Restylane injected into the folds. Now her face looks flatter (2 dimensional) and her cheeks are still sagging and she looks older. What a difference if she and her caregiver had realized that filling in her cheeks would give her a youthful appearance, make her look younger, keep her 3 dimensional appearance, and soften the nasolabial folds.
Commercial companies realize that the attention span of a consumer is about 3 months Because of this they are constantly bringing out new and improved products, catering to the wish for ever better products. The cosmetics industry is the same and now the same philosophy permeates med spas and cosmetic physician offices. This is a little strange when we think that the basis of skin rejuvenation goes back to Cleopatra some 2400 years ago. Cleansers, pH stabilizers, skin lighteners, skin sealants, and alpha hydroxy acids were available then and are available now. In reality the additions of antioxidants and skin proteins has added little to the value of skin care with the exception of the Vitamin A derivatives. That is why I like the Obagi skin care program. It is basic. It is effective. It has been proven over the course of centuries. We also need to cater to those patients with sensitive skin and allergic skin and diseased skin. For instance, many of us who live the winters in Chicago are easily irritated by preservatives or fragrances found in commercial products. Others have childhood histories of eczema and some of us have become allergic to some ingredients. That is why MetropolitanMD also carries products from Linda Sy, AHAVA, and Bioelements. One size doesn’t always fit all.
The sum of this is that all the wonderful treatment programs we have lose value if a good skin care regimen is not used to maintain the improvements. Next week I will address some of the newer uses of laser treatments for treating vexing problems of the skin.
posted by Edward Lack MD at 9:39 AM
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