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How much will it cost? The fee for advanced skin care can be located in the suggested fees . Please call my office for an accurate price quote or make an appointment for a personal consultation to discuss your specific concerns. My suggested quotes include professional fees, anesthesia fees, operating room costs, equipment use fees, treatment chemical costs, house calls, before care and after care. They do not include home care products, hospitalization costs, prescriptions, home nursing care, preoperative history and physical examinations, laboratory costs, or pathology fees. If you compare prices, make sure that you consider all these costs. I require complete payment two weeks prior to advanced skin care treatments. What can I do about my sun damaged and wrinkled facial skin? The combination of aging and sun damage leads to fine skin wrinkling, color changes, and superficial skin lesions. Advanced skin care freshens the face by removing the outermost layer of the facial skin and allowing new skin growth to rejuvenate the face. Will this improve acne and acne scaring? Smoothing and tightening of the facial skin will improve acne scarring somewhat. Advanced skin care can reduce the intensity of acne eruptions and sometimes, when combined with medical treatment, eliminate acne all together. Most of the treatments can be done on any part of the body. Neck treatments will reduce some neck sagging but more importantly, they will reduce the effects of chronic sun damaged skin (fine wrinkling and uneven skin color). How is this different from laser resurfacing? All resurfacing techniques remove the outer layer (epidermis) of the skin. Laser resurfacing removes more tissue and it relies on controlled healing to tighten and smooth the skin. Advanced skin care utilizes natural stimulation of the skin to get a similar effect. These methods include both mechanical and organic acid techniques to exfoliate the skin. How many layers of skin will be removed? There are only two primary layers of skin, epidermis and dermis. The dermis nourishes the epidermis while the epidermis protects the dermis and its contents (our body). Advanced skin care thins but does not remove the outer layer (epidermis) of skin. Most of the tissue that is removed is nonviable. What is the difference between a traditional facial and advanced skin care? Traditional facials exfoliate the skin using masks and direct skin cleansing. It also includes relaxation through massage and warm facial and/or body wraps. Facials usually require from one to two hours to complete. Advanced skin care does not include the relaxation phase. It is simply an industrial strength facial skin exfoliation and cleansing that takes twenty to thirty minutes to complete. The efficiency of advanced skin care makes it appealing to patients that do not have the time for traditional facials. It also yields more dramatic results. What are the risks of advanced skin care? There are risks with all clinical skin care treatments. Skin swelling, excessive skin flaking, irritation, redness, viral infections, and changes in skin color, although uncommon, can occur. Fortunately, most problems are correctable with additional treatments. The most serious problem associated with advanced skin care is infection. This is usually a virus infection. If it is complicated by a bacterial infection, scarring can result. You must understand your risk of complications completely before you choose to have advanced skin care. Can I have advanced skin care after taking Acutane? Acutane reduces the healing capacity of the skin. I recommend that you wait a full two years after stopping Acutane. Even after discontinuation, there remains a small increased risk of slow or poor healing after advanced skin care. Will cold sores affect the results of treatments? Cold sores can affect the entire face after advanced skin care. This prolongs skin redness with possible slow healing and scarring. To reduce this risk, it is necessary to take antiviral medication (Zovirax, Valtrex) for three days before and three days after some treatments. Facial advanced skin care cannot be done if there are active cold sores on the lips, face, or mouth. Other areas of the body cannot be treated if viral lesions (herpes or shingles) are present in the area. Will it affect the skin color? It is unusual for advanced skin care to adversely affect the skin color. Usually irregular discoloration gives way to a blended even skin color. People of color (Asian, African American, and Native American) can benefit from advanced skin care because of this skin color blending. Can people of color have advanced skin care? Advanced skin care is perhaps the best choice for people of color (Asian, African American, and Native American). They can benefit from the skin rejuvenation without worrying about long term changes in skin tone. Temporary hyperpigmentation (increased or darkened skin color) may be observed during the healing period. I have heard about so many bad things on television, is it safe to have advanced skin care? There are always risks with advanced skin care. I believe that advanced skin care can be done safely with a high degree of patient satisfaction. Serious problems are usually related to slow healing as a result of a viral infection. Most poor results can be improved with additional treatments. What can you tell me about this new technique that I saw on television? Everyone in America wants the latest in medical care. This is not always the best medical care. At times media presentations will leave out critical information about potential complications, quality of result, and FDA regulation. I am open minded when it comes to new technology but I would rather not use my patients to try out the newest techniques. Recent advances in advanced skin care utilize superficial skin sanding to exfoliate the skin. There has also been a renewed interest in organic acid peels. For general health reasons, I recommend that all my patients stop smoking. It is clear that smoking increases your risk for developing all sorts of cancers. Breathing problems like emphysema and circulatory problems including heart attacks, are also linked to smoking. Smoking also reduces blood flow that can result in poor skin response to advanced skin care. It is always best to stop smoking. There are other choices when it comes to advanced skin care. These include facial rejuvenation surgery (laser resurfacing, facelift, forehead lift, and eyelid surgery), collagen injections, fat graft injections, Botox injections, dermabrasion, chemical peels, acceptance of a deformity, and changes in makeup. Always understand all your options before having advanced skin care. What additional procedures can I consider that will enhance the result? Treatments can be combined to yield dramatic and complimentary results. Advanced skin care is frequently combined with eyelash and/or eyebrow tinting, home treatments, and permanent makeup. It can also be combined with any facial cosmetic surgery. Am I a good candidate for advanced skin care? This is a question that can only be answered after a personal consultation. Advanced skin care is suggested to patients with multiple fine wrinkles, irregular skin texture, and color of the face. Patients with irregular facial color and superficial skin lesions resulting from sun damage can also consider it as well. There are other things to consider as well including psychiatric conditions, life stress, medical illness, obesity, and motivation. You should be a healthy nonsmoker, within twenty pounds of your ideal weight. Major life stresses (i.e. grieving a death and divorce) must be absent in your life. The ideal candidate is motivated by internal desires to look better. How many times can I have advanced skin care done? Advanced skin care can be performed at regular intervals. It is usually begun with intensive treatments once a week for six weeks. A maintenance program is undertaken once a month thereafter to continue toward a youthful appearance. The treatments can be continued for a number of years.
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