We hope you all will stop by our open house next week Monday through Thursday, Dec 5th through 8th for some refreshments and wonderful holiday specials. Please note that the 15% off is valid *only* during our holiday open house, so don't miss out!
Monday, Dec. 5th: Coolsculpting is 15% off
Tuesday, Dec. 6th: Ultherapy is 15% off. Also, receive a complimentary skin treatment at your first follow-up and a complimentary Clear+Brilliant treatment on your second follow-up.
Wednesday, Dec. 7th: Buy one get one free Latisse kits, while supplies last (one per person!).
Thursday, Dec. 8th: Clear+Brilliant specials for the Face + Neck. Check out our newest laser. Face sessions starting at $300, Face + Neck sessions starting at $400.
All laser treatments 15% off, including Fraxel, hair removal, leg veins and "spots."
Below is an except from a Health Magazine Article entitled Nip/Tuck Nightmare. The letter from the editor at the front of the magazine makes a great point: buying a discount handbag is one thing, choosing a doctor who is not a ABPS board certified plastic surgeon because he or she offers cheaper prices than the plastic surgeon is another thing. This a risky endeavor, and one that could leave you permanently scarred. Discounts do not belong on your face or body. Please see the full article here.
Untrained in the OR Plastic surgery used to be the exclusive domain of the rich and (sometimes) famous. Now, it’s attainable for almost anyone, thanks in part to the explosion in lower-cost cosmetic practices helmed by doctors from other specialties. But just because women can get cosmetic surgery from their internist or OB doesn’t mean they should. "Anyone can call themselves a cosmetic surgeon, with very little training," says Joseph Serletti, MD, chief of plastic surgery at the University of Pennsylvania. "It doesn’t mean they have the qualifications to perform surgery safely." Felmont Eaves, MD, a plastic surgeon in Charlotte, North Carolina and immediate past president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), says, "Doctors who are not board-certified surgeons are one of the biggest dangers in this field."
A board-certified plastic surgeon must undergo at least five years of specialized surgical training post–medical school. Doctors must then pass both oral and written exams and fulfill ongoing continuing-education requirements. "It should be the minimum of what you want from your surgeon," Dr. Zins says.
Yet none of that training is required by law. In most states, anyone with a medical license can perform cosmetic surgery. The results can be catastrophic. Dr. Serletti says he and colleagues have seen patients come in with improperly placed breast implants and damaged facial muscles after going to poorly trained doctors. And yes, people do die: A recent German study of liposuction deaths concluded that lack of surgical experience was a major contributing factor. In July, Arizona internist Peter Normann, MD, was convicted of second-degree murder and manslaughter after three patients died in his care, two after liposuction and the third after a botched fat-shaping procedure.
A different path Gregory Alouf, MD, is one physician who created his own route to cosmetic surgery. Dr. Alouf, a family practitioner in Salem, Virginia, opened an "aesthetics" practice in 2004, offering non-surgical procedures such as laser hair removal. In 2006 he began doing liposuction, followed by breast implants and other surgical procedures. According to a reprimand issued last February by the Virginia Board of Medicine, Dr. Alouf learned the techniques primarily at medical conferences, where there was minimal hands-on experience.
Two years after he started offering liposuction, Dr. Alouf performed lipo on an obese 29-year-old woman—someone the Virginia Board of Medicine stated "was not a suitable candidate for such surgery" due to her weight. Three other lipo patients experienced complications, resulting in hard and lumpy areas and "visible contour irregularities." (Dr. Alouf claims that those are the only complications he has had in more than 500 liposuction procedures.) In 2009, during a seven-hour mini-face-lift, Dr. Alouf’s 52-year-old patient started bleeding uncontrollably from her incisions. The doctor had her sit up and applied pressure to the site while he called a plastic surgeon friend for advice. As a result of these cases, the Virginia Board of Medicine ordered Dr. Alouf to stop all "full incisional" surgical procedures, stating that he "lacks the requisite education, training, experience, knowledge, skill, expertise and competence to perform such surgery."
Dr. Alouf says the issue is not competence, but competition. "I have more liposuction training than a lot of cosmetic surgeons," Dr. Alouf says, adding that he’s never had a patient die, and none has ever filed a malpractice suit against him. "It all comes back to a turf battle," he says. "Plastic surgeons are defensive because there’s a lot of money involved, and they have very cleverly couched this as an issue of public safety to choke out the competition."
"Bette Keane used to be considered underweight. She was a model when she was younger and easily kept her figure slim and tone. But as she's gotten older, it's been more difficult to keep her figure as she likes it, even with diet and exercise. She can lose weight, but not necessarily in the exact places she'd like it. But thanks to a new procedure, she can now target what she calls her problem areas: her midriff area and around her trunk. It's called CoolSculpting®...."
Happy Friday everyone! For our first giveaway, we have a Theraderm Skin System Travel Kit that's perfect for weekend getaways!
To be elibigle, simply click below and leave a comment telling us your favorite getaway spot. Contest will be open until 5 p.m. central time Sunday, April 17th. A winner will be chosen via a random number generator and announced on the blog and Facebook Monday. If you are the lucky winner, simply swing by the Skin Health & Laser Center to claim your prize.
About the kit: Theraderm is uncomplicated Skincare. The Theraderm Skin Renewal System Travel Kit is comprised of four products that work harmoniously to produce a healthy, luminous appearance no matter your age. Rooted firmly in bioscience and clinically tested, each product is comprised of ingredients specifically chosen to enhance the skin's natural ability to restore itself. The result is healthy skin that is well-defended against the environment and signs of aging. The Theraderm Skin Renewal System Travel Kit includes: Cleansing-Wash Fruit Acid Exfoliant OPC Reparative Gel Choice of: Enriched Facial Moisturizer or Gentle Facial Moisturizer Gentle Action Application Pads.
"The idea that a wandlike device could glide over your forehead, tightening and raising it in about half an hour, sounds rather sci-fi. But that's essentially what Ultherapy does, using ultrasound heat to set collagen production into overdrive deep below the skin's surface.....'A patient sees measurable improvement right away and is even more excited with the results in three months.'"
Harper's Bazaar takes a closer look at Ultherapy in this article. Download it as a PDF by clicking here .
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when trying to choose products for your skin? From a medical skin health point of view, there are a few choice ingredients or product categories that can do the most to improve the health of your skin, which in turn will help your skin become brighter and more beautiful.
The first category to consider is an antioxidant. When applied directly to the skin, antioxidants can help neutralize damage to skin cells, increase the body’s natural defense against impaired skin cell function, and help enhance UVA/UVB protection. Some of the more common antioxidants used in medical skin care products and treatments are Vitamins A, C and E, Coenzyme Q-10, Ferulic Acid, Green Tea Extract, Superoxide Dismutase, and Squalane. Many of these antioxidants also hydrate the skin and balance skin color.
Another important component of a daily regimen is Vitamin A, also known as Retin-A or Retinol. Vitamin A is an antioxidant that has long been recognized as the “standard” in anti-acne and anti- aging protocols. It works by increasing skin cell turnover, or exfoliation of skin cells, which helps prevent clogged pores, whiteheads and blackheads. New cell formation stimulates the production of collagen and elastin, which helps to smooth wrinkles and tighten the skin. Vitamin A can cause the skin to be sensitive to the sun, so caution should be exercised by using a daily sunscreen. Retin-A is prescription only and must be obtained from a physician’s office or pharmacy. Retinols vary in strength and potency and the stronger products must be purchased through medical offices or medical spas.
One of the most important products needed daily for good skin care is a sunscreen that protects from UVA and UVB rays of the sun. UVA rays do not cause sunburn but are thought to damage collagen fibers and accelerate skin aging. UVB rays cause sunburn and are thought to damage DNA which leads to photoaging and pigment formation. Both UVA and UVB have been shown to cause skin cancer. It is vital to use a broad-spectrum sunscreen that contains ingredients that block both types of rays. The two ingredients that do this most efficiently are Zinc and Titanium Dioxide. Some chemical blocks absorb UVA rays, some absorb UVB rays, and some absorb both UVA and UVB. The list of chemical ingredients includes, but is not limited to Avobenzone, Parsol 1789, Oxybenzone, Ocitnoxate, PABA, Cinnamates, and Aminobenzoic Acid.
Improving the health and beauty of your skin need not be a daunting task if you consider these three main product categories when choosing daily products:
Apply an antioxidant in the morning, Vitamin A in the evening, and a broad-spectrum sunscreen every day.
The ingredients in these products will improve the health of your skin, diminish aging changes in your skin, and protect your skin from further damage.
Aging changes go well beyond the face: the neck, chest, hands and legs are also areas that reveal the not-so-savory effects of aging. A good skincare regimen is a great start to help ward off signs of aging to the face, neck and chest. Fraxel treatments can be used on several parts of the body other than the face, including the backs of the hands to treat age spots and other skin damage. Laser treatments can be used to treat spider veins in the legs. Check out this article (pictured above) from Allure for more tips on treating age-revealing areas of the body. If you would like help putting together an anti-aging program specifically tailored to your skin's unique needs, please give our Skin Health and Laser Center a call to set up a consultation.
