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Facial rejuvenation
Over time, skin loses its youthful appearance. This natural ageing process is often accelerated by:
- Hereditary factors
- Sun exposure
- Cigarette smoking
- Chicken pox and acne
The visible results are superficial blemishes – broken capillaries, freckles (lentigos), and keratoses (dry spots), scars, fine wrinkles and deep furrows.
Rejuvenation of facial skin can be achieved in a number of different ways.
Filler substances (implantations): for crows' feet, whistle lines and some scars.
- Collagen: a natural bovine extract. Tests for allergy are essential.
- Hyaluronic acid: non-collagen material suitable for deeper lines and lip augmentation: allergy testing is not necessary.
- Fat injections: extracted from patients own surplus fat
- Synthetic fillers containing polytetrafluoroethylene.
Resurfacing – treatment suitable for the whole face to improve fine lines, dryness, and blotchiness.
- Glycolic acid lotion: apply at night to soften the skin
- Kinerase® (furfurinyl acid), an anti-ageing preparation applied twice daily
- Vitamin-C solutions: antioxidant to mop up free radicals
- Topical retinoid: prescription cream to reverse photoageing
- Glycolic acid peels; a series of ‘lunch hour’ freshening peels
- TCA chemical peel: medium depth, so a week or so off work is necessary
- Dermabrasion: mechanical smoothing of the skin
- Laser resurfacing: remarkable results are possible.
- Nonablative resurfacing: fractional laser treatment, intense pulsed light, radiothermoplasty and other devices are used to burn or tighten the collagen without removing the surface skin – the skin texture improves with repeated treatment but there is no ‘downtime;’.
Surgery – for sagging and loose skin.
- Full face lift includes muscle/facial tightening for jowls
- Neck lift for loose skin and muscles of the neck
- Temporal lift or endoscopic forehead lift for sagging of the forehead and eyebrow
- Blepharoplasty to remove baggy eyelids.
Botulinum toxin: to paralyse overactive muscles of facial expression especially in the central forehead.
Vascular laser: almost painless treatment of facial capillaries and brown spots on the hands.