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One of the more outlandish ideas currently circulating on TikTok is the full-face hot-wax facial treatment. It’s being advocated as a safe and beneficial quick-and-easy way to remove all unwanted hair in one fell swoop. If you hear warning bells ringing, and the thought that maybe that’s not the best way to achieve the smooth, hairless look comes into your mind, then well done – your intuition is right. Here are just some of the reasons why.

What Exactly is a Full-Face Hot-Wax Treatment?

The technique varies, but essentially involves inserting breathing straws into the nose, and covering the entire face with hot wax or resin. Some videos also show wax placed inside the ears and nostrils; some show wax covering the entire area from the forehead down to the neck. The wax is eventually pulled off, along with most (or all) hair from the treated area.

Waxing Areas that Should Not be Waxed

Skin surrounding the eyes is thin and easily damaged – not least by the application of hot wax. This skin also risks being torn when the cooled wax is aggressively stripped off after cooling.

The skin lining the nostrils and ears is also easily damaged, and should never have hot wax applied to it. There’s the danger that some wax particles will remain inside after removal – this can cause infection, and might even need to be surgically removed afterwards.

Obstructed Breathing

Obviously covering one’s nose can obstruct breathing, even if precautions have been taken to insert breathing straws. It’s also possible to inhale small wax particles left inside the nostrils. Doctors have warned about the danger of asphyxiation if the person performing the procedure is untrained or inexperienced.

Waxing Large Skin Areas is a Bad Idea

Applying hot wax to large areas of skin and then removing it risks over-exfoliating the skin, leaving it raw, unprotected, and vulnerable to subsequent infection. Small pimples or pus-filled bumps can easily result from the over-enthusiastic application of hot wax to sensitive areas. The act of applying heated wax is also risky – it’s quite easy to burn the sensitive skin on and around the face. Scarring is also a potential problem when hot wax is applied to sensitive skin areas. Removing the wax requires skill to prevent bruising or even bleeding, and over-aggressive wax application can easily lead to skin abrasions, scratches, laceration, or worse.

“It’s Not Bad For Your Skin”

This phrase has been used as a way to characterize the process, but the question we think you should instead be asking is whether any part of the procedure is good for the skin. Some people will have the procedure performed by untrained or insufficiently trained “beauticians”, while others may even be tempted to perform the procedure on themselves. As should by now be obvious, we think there are a whole raft of reasons to avoid this procedure entirely, and very few, if any, reasons why it might be a good idea.

Not Every Internet Fad is Worth Following

Internet social media platforms are extremely effective ways of spreading ideas rapidly to potentially huge audiences. Unfortunately these same social media platforms typically take no responsibility for disseminating what may prove to be harmful or even dangerous ideas. We strongly recommend against following internet fads, particularly when they involve potentially risky behavior. In this case there’s little to no evidence that this technique actually has any positive benefits, and a whole lot of reasons why it may not work, and why it may potentially be quite harmful.

In this case we see that videos not only target adults, who at least are responsible for their own actions, but also children. Putting aside the fact that children are the last group who should be worrying about excess facial hair, they are also being placed in potentially dangerous situations by the same adults who should instead be protecting them from unproven and unnecessary cosmetic treatments.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified, and highly experienced in performing hair removal and skin rejuvenation procedures. We can provide you with expert advice on the best techniques to address your particular concerns, and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about our procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures, and can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Primary Advantages

Limitations

Possible Side-Effects

Suitability

Results Depend on the Practitioner’s Skill

Your Laser Skin Care

Following childbirth (whether naturally or via cesarean section), many women are left with stubborn fat deposits, especially in the lower stomach area. CoolSculpting is an effective non-invasive procedure designed to reduce or eliminate unwanted fat, so increasing numbers of women consider CoolSculpting after childbirth. There are, however, certain factors that must be taken into consideration before CoolSculpting can be recommended.

Post-Childbirth Recovery

General medical opinion is that it’s best to wait six months following childbirth before undergoing any cosmetic procedures, including non-invasive ones. This gives your body the time to fully recover from the significant changes that it undergoes during pregnancy and will also give your body the opportunity to lose much of the fat gained during pregnancy naturally.

Post-Breastfeeding Recovery

Pregnancy and childbirth are not the only causes of stress to your body – breastfeeding also involves significant changes to your metabolism and brings with it major changes in the way that your body manages fat, which is, of course, needed to produce nutritious milk when breastfeeding. We recommend waiting a further three to six months after stopping breastfeeding before considering CoolSculpting.

C-Sections and CoolSculpting

Cesarean births require additional recovery time – typically in the four to six weeks range, but often result in a flabby pouch forming above the C-section scar. This pouch normally reduces over time but may never totally disappear. The pouch is partly due to excess skin, the natural result of your pregnancy, but is primarily due to excess fat deposits.

Some women are able to reduce or even eliminate this pouch through diet and exercise; others may not be so fortunate.

The good news is that CoolSculpting is able to reduce this pouch in most cases substantially. You’ll need to be evaluated by a medically qualified CoolSculpting practitioner, who will be able to advise you if you’re a good candidate for fat reduction using CoolSculpting. 

Treatment Timeline

Multiple CoolSculpting treatments are required in almost all cases. Each procedure removes up to 25% of fat cells in the area being treated, so multiple sessions are usually needed to achieve maximum fat removal. Fat cells in the treated area will be naturally eliminated from the body in the weeks and months that follow. 

Weight Loss and CoolSculpting

There’s one area where CoolSculpting cannot help – although the procedure is an effective way to reduce or eliminate subcutaneous fat in many parts of the body, it is not intended to be used as a way to lose weight. This is primarily because CoolSculpting can only address fat deposits that lay close to the skin – the same fat deposits that cause the majority of cosmetic issues. CoolSculpting cannot affect other fat deposits, such as the visceral fat deposits that surround abdominal organs deeper inside the body. For this reason, CoolSculpting should not be considered a substitute for exercise and eating a healthy diet.

Quality of Results

If you decide to proceed with CoolSculpting, you will need to pay attention to the practitioner’s skill and experience – getting a natural and symmetrical “look” actually requires considerable skill on the part of the person performing the procedure. It’s unfortunately quite possible to be left with “lumpy” uneven skin after treatment if the practitioner is inexperienced or the procedure is rushed. So, do your homework before deciding where to go.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care’s medical professionals are qualified and highly experienced in the application of CoolSculpting. We can provide you with expert advice on how best to use CoolSculpting to address your particular concerns and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about using the procedure to address belly pouches or unwanted fat in other areas. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures and can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

CoolSculpting is a non-invasive fat-reduction technique that relies on the fact that fat cells are more sensitive to low temperatures than other skin cells. By lowering the skin temperature to near freezing, it’s possible to damage (and ultimately kill off) subcutaneous fat cells while leaving surrounding skin cells undamaged.

The Chin Area

The chin area is one of the body parts that traditionally resist weight loss – it’s not possible to target this area directly through exercise. For many people, fat deposits in this area are particularly stubborn.

During the CoolSculpting procedure, the area being treated is squeezed between two cooling pads. These pads cool adjacent skin to the precise temperature at which fat cells can be damaged; suction is also used to maximize the cooling effect. The area under the chin and jawline is very well placed to facilitate the efficient use of CoolSculpting pads, as the skin can easily be manipulated to isolate undesired fat deposits.

Treatment Timeline

Each CoolSculpting treatment is capable of removing up to 25% of the fat cells in the treated area – for this reason, multiple sessions will normally be performed. Results are not seen immediately following treatment – individual damaged fat cells are naturally eliminated from the body in the weeks and months following treatment. Although this has the advantage of making any fat loss look natural, it does mean that the benefits of CoolSculpting sessions will take some time to become fully apparent. 

Permanency of Results

CoolSculpting works by damaging and ultimately killing off a certain percentage of unwanted fat cells in the area being treated. Fat cells, once killed, are not replaced, and hence fat loss achieved through the use of CoolSculpting is permanent. This does not mean, however, that it’s impossible to regain fat after successful treatment. Although CoolSculpting kills off fat cells, it’s not possible (or even desirable) to kill all fat cells in any given area. 

A single CoolSculpting treatment only affects up to 25% of fat cells in the treated area, and hence many fat cells will remain, even after multiple treatments. These remaining fat cells are quite capable of increasing in size if you continue to eat a poor diet or if you avoid general exercise after treatment.

Skillful Practitioners

Using the CoolSculpting procedure to achieve natural-looking results requires considerable skill on the part of the practitioner. The CoolSculpting pads allow fat to be eliminated, but the precise positioning and use of the cooling pads is crucial to achieving efficient fat loss while ensuring that the overall contours of the body remain balanced and attractive. Massaging the treated areas is also part of each CoolSculpting session and further aids in achieving well-balanced fat loss.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care is medically qualified and highly experienced in the application of CoolSculpting. We can provide you with expert advice on how best to use CoolSculpting to address your particular concerns and will be happy to answer any questions or concerns you may have about the procedure. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures and can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Laser hair removal is a popular choice for those who wish to avoid the inconvenience, discomfort, and expense that come with having to schedule shaving or waxing sessions regularly.

Laser hair removal is a highly effective technique for removing hair, but it generally requires several treatments to prevent hair growth from returning fully. To understand why a single treatment is seldom enough, one must first understand the cyclic nature of hair growth.

Active vs Dormant Growth Phases

At any given time, individual hair follicles are either actively growing or dormant. Each follicle follows its own schedule, cycling between these two significant states every four to six weeks. Individual follicles do not synchronize with each other, so only a subset of the hair follicles in any body area will be in their growth phase at the time your laser hair removal treatment is performed.

Laser Energy and Growth Phases

The laser is able to remove hair by focusing its light energy on individual hair follicles. If the laser frequency is correctly tuned to match the hair color, then the hair follicle will absorb the light energy, heat up, and become damaged. Eventually, the hair shaft will fall out, and the hair follicle will die. But this whole process only happens when the hair follicle is in its active growth phase.

Effective Laser Hair Removal Scheduling

To achieve effective hair removal, it’s necessary to repeat the laser hair removal procedure several times before all hair follicles in the chosen area have been effectively treated. Generally, individual treatments are repeated after a four to six-week delay and may have to be repeated at least six times before complete hair removal is achieved. 

Even after six treatments, you may find that some hair will eventually re-grow. However, any hairs that do re-grow are typically much finer and lighter-colored than your original hair was. It may sometimes be necessary to perform additional treatments at much longer intervals, but the need for these maintenance treatments will also reduce over time, and eventually should stop completely.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care can advise you on the best ways to benefit from laser hair removal and answer any questions you may have. We have extensive experience providing laser hair removal on all skin types and offer a wide range of other cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the most effective and cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

CoolSculpting enables permanent fat loss in selective areas of the body, using a non-invasive (non-surgical) procedure that is safe, convenient, and effective. CoolSculpting uses carefully controlled and monitored cooling pads to damage unwanted fat cells selectively, after which they’re naturally eliminated from the body. Perhaps the most attractive aspect of the procedure is that the body does not regenerate that fat cells, so fat loss through the procedure is permanent. Consequently, the technique is fast becoming one of our most popular procedures.

We’ve heard some concerns that CoolSculpting may not be appropriate for all potential patients, particularly those with diabetes or pre-diabetes.

The first thing to state clearly is that CoolSculpting is a cosmetic procedure intended to allow unwanted fat deposits to be reduced or eliminated. It is not advertised as a weight-loss technique. You should not consider CoolSculpting as an effective way to lose weight, reduce cholesterol, or have any other health-related benefits. Given that CoolSculpting does not have health-related benefits, the question remains as to whether it can have any adverse health-related effects.

Intrinsically Safe

CoolSculpting removes fat by selectively cooling fat cells to the specific temperature at which they begin to freeze. As fat cells start to solidify, they are damaged, causing them to die, after which they are naturally eliminated from the body over the days and weeks following treatment. The cooling process is carefully designed to avoid damaging any other cells in the body – this is possible because fat cells are particularly sensitive to temperature and because they are affected by temperatures that other body cells can tolerate without damage. A major plus with CoolSculpting is the way it uses the body’s natural processes to remove unwanted fat cells.

CoolSculpting with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

The CoolSculpting procedure is FDA-approved for use on the chin, abdomen, flanks, inner and outer thighs, upper arms, as well as for fat deposits on the back and sides of the chest. It’s also widely used in other body areas, such as ankles and knees. The FDA approval does not exclude patients with diabetes from having access to CoolSculpting.

There are several accounts in the literature that document the use of CoolSculpting on patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, describing the successful use of the procedure. There, however, have been concerns expressed that the cryolipolysis that forms the basis of the CoolSculpting procedure can theoretically contribute to metabolic syndrome, which is one of the contributors to type 2 diabetes. We don’t believe that this represents a significant factor in the vast majority of cases – loss of body fat from CoolSculpting is more likely to result in metabolic benefits.

CoolSculpting with Insulin Pumps

CoolSculpting might interfere with the use of insulin pumps – consequently, we would recommend avoiding performing CoolSculpting procedure on body areas where insulin pumps are used.

CoolSculpting Side-Effects

In many cases, diabetics with uncontrolled blood sugar levels are more likely to suffer damage to the tiny blood vessels near the skin surface. Therefore, diabetics are somewhat more likely to suffer temporary bruising as a result of the CoolSculpting procedure.

Medical Supervision

The one conclusion that you should draw from these potential problems is the need to ensure that you only undertake CoolSculpting after having discussed all potential issues with a doctor who is also thoroughly familiar with the procedure. Do not assume that every doctor will have this experience, and certainly do not assume that every CoolSculpting practitioner is qualified to give you medical advice. You may find that it’s relatively rare to find a medically qualified doctor who is also experienced with CoolSculpting; as a diabetic, you absolutely need to pay special attention to this problem.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care are highly experienced – we can provide you with expert advice on how best to use CoolSculpting to address your particular situation, including diabetes. We have extensive experience with a wide variety of non-invasive cosmetic procedures and can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals, combining different procedures when appropriate. Call us at (323) 457-8740 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Varicose veins are caused by blood circulation problems, particularly when veins become enlarged and when the one-way valves that normally prevent blood from flowing “backward” in our veins stop working properly. Blood pressure can increase, and blood can start to pool in the veins, which can result in further inflammation and stretching of the blood vessels.

Varicose Vein Symptoms

Varicose veins can be responsible for a number of different symptoms, ranging from heaviness, aching, and throbbing. They can also cause changes in skin pigmentation, skin inflammation, and open sores. Varicose veins may also not cause any pain or irritation, especially during their early development. However, a number of more serious side-effects can develop if they’re left untreated.

Swelling

Swelling can be caused by fluid leakage from varicose veins into the surrounding tissue. Left unattended this can lead to long-term changes to skin pigmentation, as well as hardening of the skin as it becomes dry and irritated.

Skin Ulcers

Swelling, if untreated, can lead to situations where the skin’s ability to heal from minor injuries is impaired. This in turn, can lead to the development of skin ulcers, which are areas of damaged tissue that are unable to heal naturally.

Skin Infections

Another result of prolonged swelling is the loss of the skin’s ability to resist bacterial infections. Skin infections can also further contribute to swelling, creating a vicious circle.

Itching

Itching is a common result of advanced varicose veins – it’s related to the above symptoms and is another side-effect of swelling and inflammation. The skin can also become dry, leading to flaking, which can also result in itching.

Itchy skin may also be caused by other medical conditions, so it becomes important to seek medical advice before deciding on any course of treatment.

Seeking Medical Advice

Varicose veins can be caused by several different conditions and can also lead to other, potentially very serious medical problems. We strongly recommend seeking qualified medical advice if you have started to develop varicose veins, regardless of whether you are also considering cosmetic procedures to help reduce their appearance.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care are medically qualified and highly experienced — we offer a full range of services, including full diagnosis of the cause of your varicose veins and advice on the best ways to treat the condition. We have extensive experience providing both laser vein therapy and Sclerotherapy treatments, as well as a host of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation or visit us online for more information.