Blog

Aging is a fact of life, but you don’t have to deal with sagging skin or wrinkles when innovative solutions such as Restylane exist. If you prefer not to deal with an invasive surgery and recovery, such as those associated with an eye or face lift, Restylane injections offer you a quick solution for common signs of aging.

What effect does the aging process have on the skin? As the body ages, the production of Hyaluronic acid begins to decrease. This natural acid is responsible for providing the skin with fullness and suppleness associated with a firm, youthful appearance and when it decreases, wrinkles and sagging begin to develop in the skin. Repeated facial expressions lead to wrinkles, and over time, those wrinkles become deeper and deeper. Restylane injections are used to plump up such areas of the face and are most commonly used for:

• Nasolabial folds – deep expression lines that run from the nose down to the corners of the mouth

• Lip enhancement – thinning lips are also a sign of aging, and Restylane restores the fullness of thinning lips to create a younger appearance

Many skin care centers offer injectable fillers such as Restylane, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills being two of the top locations for the procedure. The amount of Restylane needed varies from patient to patient – so your doctor will be able improve your appearance with a few simple sessions. Restylane injections are painless and don’t require any downtime – meaning results are noticeable in just a few hours. After a consultation with the healthcare professional, the Restylane is administered into areas of the face in which you want to minimize wrinkles or improve firmness.

Some side effects might occur – but are very mild. Look for:

• Tenderness

• Swelling

• Redness

• Bruising

While these effects might occur in the first week after the injection, there are several ways to manage symptoms:

• A cold compress on the injection areas will minimize swelling

• Avoid exposing the skin to intense cold or heat – as the skin will be numb and it could pose a risk for injury

• Visit your healthcare professional for a follow-up visit

Restylane injections are a quick and easy solution for dealing with common signs of aging, such as wrinkles and thinning skin and lips. In most cases, results last up to 6-8 months.

In and around Los Angeles, fillers are provided through skin care spas or centers to improve the look of the face and restore confidence and beauty back to the patient. The aging process is responsible for many of the fine lines and wrinkles that appear on the face, but they are not the result of just one cause. In fact, wrinkles and developing fine lines occur for some of these reasons:

• Collagen levels in the skin begin to decrease, making it harder for skin to “bounce back”

• Repeated muscle movement essentially etches wrinkles into the skin – such as expression lines. Common expression lines include the crinkles lines around the outside of the eyes, worry lines in the forehead or folds that run from the nose to the mouth

• Due to the reduction of elastin and collagen in the skin, facial tissue begins to sag – leading to increase wrinkles on the face and neck

Fillers, the most common options being Restylane, Radiesse and Juvederm, are all gel products gently injected into areas of fine lines or wrinkles to add volume back into the area and effectively reduce the appearance of folds. This outpatient procedure is quick and efficient – just 30 minutes in the doctor’s office a few times a year can potentially turn back the clock on your appearance by years.

During a consultation, your skin care doctor will go over the areas she best feels will benefit from injectable fillers. Fillers minimize fine lines and wrinkles in areas with prominent folding – such as those around the forehead, nose and mouth, and even with minor wrinkles fillers are beneficial to help ward off the aging process for a few more years. The face isn’t the only place injectable fillers help with the appearance, either. Collagen loss, thinning skin and wrinkling affect the back of the hands, and fillers restore volume back into the skin to create a more youthful look.

The use of filler is a convenient and safe alternative to more invasive procedures, such as a face lift. Patients are provided the utmost comfort – numbing creams are used for sensitive locations on the face, like the lips, to make the process even more comfortable. In Los Angeles, you will find many options as “deals” for injectable fillers, but you must always have the treatment done by a professional in a medical setting to ensure the quality of the product and that it’s administered in the safest way possible.

If you’re a woman, facial hair can mean feeling embarrassed or self-conscious about how you look in public. Growth of facial hair has many causes – the two most common reasons being genetics or hormone imbalance, but it’s rarely the symptom of anything serious. In fact, many women experience the growth of facial hair simply as a sign of aging, and as hormone levels fluctuate from the 20s to the 40s, an increase in facial hair is likely. So what can you do about the unwanted facial hair? There are plenty of options, ranging from at-home care to laser hair removal.

Depilatories – Easy to find at the drugstore, these hair removal creams have vastly improved over the last few decades. Creams gently remove facial hair in unwanted areas – such as the upper lip, cheeks and between the eyebrows, but results only last a few days. One downside of using hair removal cream? The ingredients in many products might be irritating to many facial skin types.

Waxing – You’ll find this option at many nail or beauty salons, and while effective, it’s usually painful. Waxing is a good option when you want to remove hair for four to six weeks at a time – the warm wax grips hair follicles to ensure they are literally removed by the root. The treatment is inexpensive, but frequent use could irritate thinning skin around the eyebrows or delicate skin around the lips.

Laser – In Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, laser hair removal is usually one of the most effective hair removing treatments used by women. During the procedure, pulsing light removes hair at the follicle to create a hair-free, smooth surface. While treatments are more expensive than at-home waxes or creams, they have longer lasting results, don’t damage the skin, and effectively minimize hair growth.

In addition to the ease of laser hair removal, there are a few benefits that the other options don’t have, including:

• It’s precise, meaning the hair is removed while the skin isn’t harmed

• It’s a long-term solution – after just a few sessions, hair loss is often permanent

• It’s fast – depending on the area of treatment, laser removal takes anywhere from a minute on the face to an hour for larger areas, such as the back or legs

There are many options when it comes to removing unwanted hair – and while laser hair removal might seem more expensive, the costs savings over time add up and you don’t have to worry about noticeable re-growth or visiting a salon as soon as growth occurs.

If you’ve been one to say you wouldn’t get plastic surgery, but you don’t like the fine lines and wrinkles developing on your skin, there is a perfect option for you – Botox. Plenty has been said about the substance, and in fact, many women use it to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes and mouth to turn back the hands of time when it comes to aging. Not sure what it is?

Botox is a substance derived from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. Don’t let that scare you! The amount used in Botox injections is a very small amount, which effectively helps:

• Minimize the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles
• Help treat painful muscle spasms and contractions in shoulders and neck
• Treat eye alignment conditions or spasms
• Help reduce excess sweating

The substance in the injections “freezes” selected muscles or nerves to prevent a number of the above-mentioned symptoms. For example, if you have consistently raised your eyebrows over the years you might notice a line across the middle of your forehead, known as a “worry line”. Repeated facial movements combined with a reduction of collagen and elastin leads to wrinkles – and Botox injections freeze the muscle so you no longer have the wrinkle in the forehead.

Common locations for Botox include anywhere on the face where expression lines occur, such as the forehead, around the eyes and lips. When used subtly, Botox injections effectively improve the appearance of the face. Another advantage of Botox over a more invasive procedure, such as a facelift or eyelift, is that results do fade over time – so if you don’t like it, the good news is it’s not permanent. With each Botox injection, you can expect results to last between three and four months before a new treatment session is needed. That helps you determine if you need more or less the next time you go in to achieve your desired look.

For those living in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, Botox treatments are found everywhere. It’s important to only visit reputable physicians who administer the injections in an office setting with quality products. Don’t fall for outrageous claims or reduced prices to get you in the door – you never know about the quality of the injection or the experience of the person administering it. Visit a few reputable skin care centers and ask for recommendations to select the ideal doctor for you.

Have you lost weight and are still unhappy with the way you look because of the excess skin on your arms or abdomen? Are signs of aging, which include sagging, making their way onto your face and neck? You could be the perfect candidate for skin tightening through innovate laser procedures. Loose skin can bring down self-esteem or confidence, so use the minimally invasive treatment to get your skin looking youthful and rejuvenated.

In Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, skin tightening procedures take care of any area of the body with loose skin. They include:

• Abdomen

• Neck

• Jawline

• Arms

• Thighs

• Décolleté

Skin tightening with laser has many benefits – one of the most important being the ability to tone or tighten skin without surgery. This allows patients to have a quicker recovery with lasting results. Laser skin tightening also minimizes risk – the laser works to heat collagen up in the skin, causing it to thicken and repair. The process leaves the patient with a new buildup of collagen, which tightens and tones sagging skin. Through the aging process, collagen and elastin production decreases and causes sagging around the eyes, or jawline, which is commonly known as “jowls”. Using a laser skin tightening procedure on the face renews collagen and stimulates a tightening effect.

Skin tightening is a perfect solution for those who want a rejuvenated look without surgery – such as an invasive face or neck lift. Whether you are middle-aged and want to put off a surgery, or are younger and want to tighten the skin around certain areas of the body, laser skin tightening is effective for men and women of all ages. Side effects are minimal – unlike more invasive procedures that require surgery time, post-operative care and recovery. In some cases, redness or swelling might occur in treatment areas, but subside within a few hours of the procedure.

The recommended treatment intervals take place every two to four weeks for four to six treatments, depending on the needs of the patient. After the recommended treatments, patients can expect to see results for six months – but in many cases, firmer skin lasts much longer and depends on the aging rate in each individual. Skin tightening options are plentiful around Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, and really provide a safer alternative to cosmetic surgery. With maintenance, healthy diet and a proper skin care regimen, you can have toned, youthful skin within a short amount of time.

Throughout Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, IPL photofacials are offered in various skin care centers to help improve the look and feel of skin. Over time, frequent exposure to the sun causes skin damage, including:

• Broken capillaries

• Age or sun spots

• Fine lines and wrinkles

• Facial sagging

In addition to sun damage, the skin naturally begins to decrease oil, collagen and elastin production – all of which cause sagging, fine lines to form around the eyes and forehead, and areas of dryness. The Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) photofacial is a great solution to smoothing the skin and eliminating signs of skin damage or aging. The light stimulates collagen production, which in turn plumps up fine lines, softens skin and minimizes discoloration.

The IPL facial only takes about 60 minutes for all over rejuvenation, or just 30 minutes for selected areas. To prepare the skin for the photofacial, cooling gel is applied to the face. With the application of a cooling gel, patients can expect the treatment to be virtually pain free, and the gel is cleaned off once the desired areas have been treated by the light. A moisturizer and sunscreen are massaged into the skin to soothe and protect skin from the sun.

For best results to eliminate skin discoloration or minimize fine lines and wrinkles, skin care experts suggest an IPL treatment for 3 to 5 sessions, between 3 or 4 weeks apart. Maintenance sessions once a year are also suggested to keep skin looking and feeling rejuvenated. If you are hesitant about a harsh treatment, such as resurfacing or dermabrasion, then IPL is an ideal procedure for you. The light laser used is gentle enough on the skin that there is no healing time required, yet it is still effective in reducing fine lines or sunspots. Keep in mind that if your main concern is fine lines and wrinkles, then Botox may be the best solution for you.

After receiving an IPL treatment, it is very important to follow all of the instructions provided by the doctor. Moisturizer is essential to keep skin nourished and calm – and since the skin will be sensitive to light, never go outside without sunscreen. Creating an effective skin care routine, using cleanser, exfoliator and moisturizer frequently throughout the week will keep the skin looking youthful long after an IPL treatment.

The treatment isn’t just for the face, either – it is an ideal solution to smooth or even out skin tone on the entire body.

There are many locations in Southern California that offer skin tightening, fillers or Botox, so it’s important to know what to look for when choosing a skin care center. In Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, laser hair removal and other treatments help you look and feel your best – that’s why you need to select the center that offers you the best care and highly qualified doctors to perform your desired treatment. Here are a few tips in choosing a doctor for any skin care procedure:

• Ask friends or family. Seeing the results firsthand and hearing feedback will help narrow down the options when looking for an office or doctor in the area. Alternatively, ask to see ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos during a consultation to get an idea of the doctor’s work.
• Choose a doctor based on experience, certification, education or training. While it’s tempting to save money on Botox or laser hair removal, it’s not worth the risk if the doctor doesn’t seem as qualified as other options.
• Check the doctor’s reviews on Yelp to see how other people’s experiences have been at their facility.

Using fillers or skin tightening procedures has the potential to take years off your appearance if they are administered correctly – and whether they are invasive or not, you should be aware of the condition of the facilities. Depending on the type of treatment you would like done, procedures may take place in a doctor’s office or surgical center. Make sure any surgical facilities are accredited to ensure they meet all safety standards set out by the state or medical organization.

Always be ready to ask the doctor any questions so you are fully prepared before the procedure takes place. Topics to discuss include treatment options – there are varieties of solutions for aging skin, so your doctor will be able to provide you with the best procedure to meet your needs. You also need to make sure your expectations are realistic – go over exactly what you expect and the doctor will let you know if it’s possible or not. Finally, be aware of those trying to “sell” you on inexpensive fillers or receiving treatment from individuals not qualified to administer such products – the risk is too great to be worth the savings.

These skin care options transform your looks in a short amount of time, and millions of procedures take place each year – especially in major cities such as Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. Incorporate these tips into your search to ensure you get the safest, highest quality treatment.