Nip This Tuck That

Remember the woman that I wrote about having the chemical peel several days ago?  Well she came in Friday just for a post treatment checkup……she walked through the door and I was reminded why I typically don’t see Laser and Chemical patients within the first week.  I’m afraid they’ll hurt me!  The patient was all different shades of brown with some swelling, partly from the chemical peel ( I mean it’s a chemical burn after all) and partly from the Radiesse that I injected to fill out her cheek area.  She was 3 days post-procedure and has been a great patient, of mine, for some time.  She was happy and not disturbed by what she saw,  but we did have a good laugh when I mentioned….the hurt me part.  Just kidding.  She’ll have soft, beautiful, pink skin 5-7 days after the chemical peel…..Laser would be weepy for 7 days then pink at about 10 days.  Why, because the Laser burns deeper into the skin.

 I tell all of my patients that the skin doesn’t know how we remove the layers of the skin…we could use sandpaper, chemicals, wire brushes/diamond burs (dermabrasion) or a Laser….the skin only knows what type of injury was created by the depth of penetration…or said another way, by the # of layers of skin that were removed.  The more layers removed, the longer the healing time. 

 Over the past 5 years, or so, I have gotten away from deeper peels with the Laser.  I use our Cosmeceutical skin care products (Francis R Beverly Hills…www.frbh.com), micodermabrasion, IPL (Intense Pulsed Light treatments…no downtime) and only seldomly can be convinced, by a patient, to do a 30 percent TCA chemical peel.  Why, because the reality is that you can have great looking skin without deep Lasers and Chemical peels today…you just need the right skin care advice. 

 Here’s a tip:  astringents, AHA acids and even retin-A can irritate the skin…..think red irritated skin’s going to look good?  Really?  Free your mind from the notion that you need to be red, flaky and irritated for beautiful skin, because I believe that to be nonsense.  Instead, Hydrate and rejuvenate your skin using skin care products, like our Ultimate Lift that are designed to increase collagen in your skin.  Your skin will be softer, smoother and more attractive….just think: NO MORE RED OR FLAKY SKIN, EVER!

How cool is that?