Often people are overwhelmed with their skin care and treatment options. We are inundated with marketing touting one particular treatment or product or another, being the best, but the science remains the same. Fortunately there are technologies that consistently work well. Here’s a synopsis on where everything fits.
Always ‘skincare’ comes first. It must consist of Antioxidants, an appropriate type of Vitamin A for your skin, and ideally peptides. It’s these nutrients that support and initiate every function in your skin; if you are using a treatment modality that is injuring your skin, such as laser, IPL, peels or RF needling to improve its condition, then you need those nutrients to support those processes. These vitamins are signalling and communicating with other cells to repair and control free radical damage.
Peels
Peels come in many forms: AHAs and BHAs are acid forms, these help stimulate the skin from either very gentle exfoliation with a lactic acid, to denaturing proteins with acids such as salicylic acid and TCA peels, causing a deeper peel with crusting. These peels can help lift superficial pigment and act as an anti inflammatory, stimulating a wound healing effect that will stimulate collagen.
There are also what is termed as metabolic peels, which use a nutritional approach to stimulating a response, such as increases in hydration, collagen and repair. At The Face Place we utilise many peels in a progressive way to achieve the maximum results for your skin. This involves a level of exfoliation and wound repair, but more importantly repairs and normalises the skin with high doses of nutrition. From this process, we expect the skin to progressively change with improved health, addressing everything from hydration, pigmentation, vascularity, fine lines, wrinkles and pore visibility.
Collagen Induction Therapy or Needling
This is suitable for most skins, but again, should always be supported by the appropriate home care. The beautiful thing about needling is that it isn’t actually damaging the surface of the skin. With a professional, well made device, the needles should be so ultra thin that they almost push the surface of the skin cells aside, but puncture the deeper capillary network that then stimulate repair. The unique approach with needling is that the surface openings are closed quickly which allows the skin to repair with a closed wound. This produces the best type of collagen, often compared to ‘in vitro collagen’ without scar tissue. There is also evidence that suggests that needling also ‘resets’ or improves generic metabolic function in the skin. In other words, cells are communicating, repairing and protecting in a much more efficient way, which may have been altered through general damage and aging.
Lasers and RF Needling
These modalities are often ‘fractionated’ which means they don’t target all of the skin tissues to be treated, but they deliver energy in ‘columns’ which leaves some untouched skin tissue so the treatment is less ablative, meaning less downtime and an easier repair process for the skin. This is a similar delivery for RF needling, but rather than the energy being a source of light, it is the needles delivering the radio frequency energy. Both modalities use a wound healing response to stimulate repair and new collagen.
There are also full ablation lasers, such as CO2 which remove the epidermis and have significant downtime. This type of laser can have excellent results from just one treatment rather than multiple, but come with higher risks such as infection, scarring, pale patches and the shiny skin that can look like plastic – a result of scarred skin.
Healite
Depending on the wavelength, (red and near infrared) LED light therapy is fantastic for everyone, with few contra indications. It is completely non invasive, comfortable, with no down time. It compliments just about every other treatment and can be used as a stand alone treatment with great long term benefits when administered as a course. It desensitises and normalises the skin extremely quickly, producing hydration and laying down new collagen. It can be used during pregnancy.
Muscle Tightening Devices (EmFace)
When we think about treating aging, we have to think of it in anatomical layers. We can treat the epidermis and dermis with the above modalities, but we also lose muscle mass as we age. Not all technologies are equal in delivering sufficient stimulation to have a lasting result.
Research has discovered there are two major muscle groups in the face that atrophy; the frontalis (forehead) and the zygomaticus (cheek area). By stimulating these two muscle groups sufficiently, it can restore muscle tissue, emphasising the cheeks and slightly lifting the eyebrows and lower face, reducing early sagging. We use the EmFace device as this new technology delivers such focused energy that is has notable results from just 4-6 treatments.
So how do you choose your weapon?
Obviously, the best start is to book in for a skin consultation to asses your needs and make a plan. Otherwise, always start with the appropriate home care first, then ask yourself, what are the visual telltale signs. If you are wanting to address colour in the skin: this should be pigmentation, redness, or rough full looking skin, then metabolic peels will address all of these issues if administered correctly. Needling will also do this and induce collagen effectively, but I prefer to get the skin as healthy as possible first, so the skins natural healing ability is optimal.
If skin laxity is your main concern, then needling and/or RF needling, or fractionated laser could be an option. If your skin has had significant damage, I would suggest needling before laser or RF, but this isn’t a strict rule. If you’re experiencing a heavy brow and have lost volume in the cheeks and consequently experience dropping in the lower face, or you’re noticing early sagging of your face, then EmFace might be the way to go.
Most of us will experience all or most of the signs of aging, so my recommendation would be:
- Home care: Antioxidants, Vitamin A and Peptides
- Monthly progressively active peels 8-12 minimum per year
- IPL if appropriate in the winter months 2-4 treatments
- Needling and/or RF needling 3-6 treatments
To talk about which treatment you would benefit from, call us and book a Skin Consultation in one of our clinics.
