The latest in Wrinkle Treatments:

Your skin is made up of damaged superficial cells and healthier deep cells. Every day, old superficial cells die, shed, and are replaced by younger cells. This process becomes disorganized and inefficient as you age. The older you are, the longer it may take to shed unhealthy cells, leaving you with a lifeless complexion.

Chemical peels, such as Glycolic Acid Peels and deeper TCA Peels, laser, dermabrasion, and skin care are all guided by the same principles. Each treatment causes controlled injury to your damaged superficial cells, resulting in their uniform destruction and shedding. This allows healthier deep cells to surface while they are still young and fresh. Each of these treatments organizes and expedites the process of skin turnover and helps you reclaim the skin of your youth. As a result, you will see improvement in some or all of the following skin problems: large pore size, loss of skin vitality, roughness, discoloration, fine wrinkles, acne scars, dynamic wrinkles, and loss of skin tone. (Fillers and Botox are guided by other principles).

Despite their similarities, each treatment works slightly differently and therefore yields a different degree of improvement. No one treatment solves all problems. In general, deeper treatments yield greater improvement but impose longer recovery. To optimize their results, many people employ two treatment options that complement one another, such as laser resurfacing and Botox injections.

Dynamic Wrinkles

Dynamic Wrinkles are those associated with smiling, laughing, and frowning. They are our crow's feet, scowl lines, forehead creases, and lip wrinkles. They are improved through laser resurfacing, dermabrasion, deep peels, Botox, and fillers. However, they will eventually return, because your ongoing facial expressions willbring them back. If you have ever seen anyone who has one half of their face paralyzed, you may have noticed that the paralyzed side appears younger. This is because they do not move that side of the face, and there are no dynamic wrinkles.

Fine Wrinkles

Fine wrinkles are those seen on dry crepe paper skin (usually on the cheeks). These wrinkles are superficial and their removal is relatively easy. (See table below).

The table below lists all treatments that address skin color, texture, tone, complexion, and wrinkles. Each treatment is evaluated for its effectiveness in each area. As you can see, no one treatment does everything. Also, the more effective the treatment, often the longer the recovery. Your plastic surgeon should tailor a treatent plan that addresses your concerns, while also allowing you recover within a time frame that is suitable for your lifestyle.

	Fillers	Botox	SkinCare Products	Glycolic Acid Peels	Medium Peel/TCA	ErbiumLaser	N Lite Laser	Dermabrasion	CO2Laser	Deep Peel/Phenol
Shrinks Pores	0	0	++	+++	+++	0	0	0	0	0
Increases Vitality	0	0	++	+++	+++	0	0	0	0	0
Smooths Skin	0	0	++	+++	+++	+++	+	+++	+++	+++
Reduces Fine Wrinkles	0	0	+	+	++	+++	+++	+++	++++	++++
Reduces Discoloration	0	0	+	+	++	++	+	++	++	+++
Tightens Skin	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	+	++	++
Improves Deeper Acne Scars	0	0	0	0	0	+	+	+	+	+
Reduces Dynamic Wrinkles	++	++++	0	0	0	++	++	++	+++	++++
Recovery (Days)	0	0	0	0	4-7	4-7	0	7-10	10-14	10-14

Questions to Ask Your Plastic Surgeon

• What Treatment do you recommend and why?

• Will the treatment you recommend need to be repeated?

• How long will my results last?
  

• How many treatments will I need?

• What recovery should I anticipate?