Discussing Dermatology Care Options

Can Your Dermatologist Make You Look Younger With Minimally Invasive Procedures?

For many people, getting a surgical facelift to remove sagging and wrinkles is too expensive or too invasive to consider. While in the past surgery may have been the most popular option for youthful skin, more and more patients are choosing minimally invasive procedures that use fillers, radio-frequencies and even lasers to smooth skin and make it look fuller and younger. If you want healthier-looking skin without the cost or dangerous surgery, check out these minimally invasive procedures your dermatologist can perform.

Derma Fillers

A derma filler is also known as a liquid facelift. This is because it gives the appearance of a facelift without the surgery. Instead, it uses liquid fillers, such as calcium hydroxylapatite, hyaluronic acid, polyalkylimide, and many others. These derma fillers do not work like Botox. Botox paralyses some of the nerves in your face, preventing parts of the face (often the forehead) from moving too much and creating wrinkles.

Derma fillers work much like the natural collagen in your face. The derma fillers are injected along wrinkles to enhance contours, reduce creases/wrinkles, reduce bags under eyes, etc. Derma fillers can also be used to plump lips and correct minor deformities on the face. They do not last as long as facelifts, of course, but the procedure only involves a few injections, so you can typically return to your normal life after the procedure.

Chemical Peels

For younger patients, wrinkles aren't the problem. Even without wrinkles or sagging, however, your skin can start to look old and dull. Like every cell in your body, your skin cells occasionally die, replaced with new ones. However, for some people, some areas of the body like to hold onto these dead cells, especially the face. This can lead to uneven texture and tone, causing old, dry-looking skin.

The best way to remove these dead skin cells is to exfoliate, and a chemical peel is one of the strongest ways to exfoliate your face. Your dermatologist will determine if you need a superficial, medium, or deep chemical peel, but deep chemical peels are usually reserved for burn victims. More mild chemical peels only remove the top or top and middle layer of skin to reveal brighter, healthy skin cells.

Radio-Frequency Waves

While derma fillers are great for wrinkles, they aren't always the best for sagging. Sagging skin is skin that has lost its elasticity, so even with derma fillers, some areas may still droop. Usually, during a surgical facelift, this skin may be removed to stop the sagging. However, radio-frequency waves can also be used to help reduce the appearance of sagging.

During this procedure, the dermatologist assaults your skin with radio-frequency waves, which penetrate deep into the skin. This, unfortunately, actually damages the skin, but the damage is necessary. Because of the damage, your body starts to heal the area, including some of the sagging. The results take time, but after a while, you'll notice less sagging. Although minimally invasive, this procedure can be painful for many patients.

Pulsed Light

Another way your dermatologist can make your skin look younger is pulsed light therapy, and this procedure can actually save your life too. This procedure is designed to attack sun damage on your skin, particularly sun spots. These sun spots make you look older than you are, and they can also be the start of skin cancer.

Pulsed light therapy attacks those abnormal pigments to destroy them. The result is bright, natural skin. A mild topical acid is also often used to help further the effects. As an added bonus, the pulsed light used to destroy the pigments also destroys the abnormal or precancerous cells, reducing your risk of developing melanoma in the future.

Thanks to the ever-expanding world of minimally invasive cosmetic medicine, there are more and more ways you can look younger without going under the knife. These procedures are so minimally invasive, you'll have little to no downtime. If you would like more information about how a dermatologist can help improve the look of your skin, contact a medical facility like Florida Dermatologic Surgery & Aesthetics Institute.