Introduction to Esthetic Medicine

The world of esthetic medicine and cosmetic surgery are encompassing new and emerging medical technologies for skin care and the treatment of various skin conditions. The effects of the sun leads to skin damage, the acceleration of skin aging, and the appearance of skin disease states. Once a person’s skin id type is determined, they may be amenable to skin aging treatments and skin aging products. Botox injections are used for wrinkled skin. They can improve the appearance of forehead wrinkles, frown lines, Crow’s feet, laugh lines, and lip stick lines.

Beauty and youth is associated with fullness of facial features. Gradual loss of tissue with aging leads to hollowed out areas in the face and thinning lips. As skin looses its elasticity, it can sag, deepening folds in the face. Injectable fillers such as Cosmoderm (collagen), Restylane, Juvederm, Radiesse, and silicone can be used for lip augmentation and to soften the nasolabial folds or smile lines.

With sun damage and aging, wrinkling, skin pigmentation problems, and abnormal blood vessels appear. Wrinkle creams have limited effectiveness. To treat these conditions, lasers have broad applications including laser skin resurfacing or rejuvenation, laser vein removal, treatment of acne scarring, and skin tightening treatments. Intense pulse light is another therapy that can be used for photofacial treatments, skin rejuvenation, and treating vascular lesions like spider veins and rosacea. It can also treat pigmented skin lesions like brown spots, age spots, sun spots, and melasma. Other skin resurfacing techniques include microdermabrasion and chemical peels. Light based technologies are also used for laser hair removal for unwanted facial hair and hair from other areas as well. Lasers are also a form of acne treatment and an alternative to the use of acne medication.

There are several therapies for treating varicose veins and spider veins specifically including sclerotherapy treatment of varicose veins, endovenous laser therapy (EVLT), and ambulatory phlebectomy (vein stripping).

Finally, as America’s body fat index rises, liposuction, cellulite treatments, and body sculpting techniques are becoming more popular.

This web site is meant to be a little more in information source for those interested in cosmetic medicine.