So often patients will ask for a quick pick me up. A quick refresher. Something non-surgical. Well, now there are lots and lots of options. I will list a few of the things that can help.
1. Toxins. Botox and Dysport can help reduce forehead furrows, frown lines, smile lines, and in experienced hands chin dimpling and lip lines. Most get about 3-4 months out of a single treatment, which may take 2 weeks to see results.
2. Fillers. There are many different fillers available to reduce fine lines, folds, and hollows. Depending upon which filler is used and how it is injected, one can see 6 months results and occasionally 1 year with some.
3. Chemical peels. There are superficial peels (i.e. Glycolic, Jessners, 20% Salicylic acid) which are skin fresheners–help even out skin tones and may reduce fine lines a little bit. Healing generally takes a few days. Deeper chemical peels have more significant results, but take longer to heal.
4. Microdermabrasion. This time-tested procedure removes the dead skin cells making the skin feel smoother. It does not have any significant long term benefits, although topical regimens may be more effective. Some combine this procedure with light chemical peels to get a deeper peel, and hence more downtime.
5. Fractional skin resurfacing. This procedure uses laser to heat the skin by making little tiny columns of destruction. This reduces line lines and wrinkles and evens out skin tones. Healing can take 3 days or one week.
6. Ultherapy. This uses ultrasound energy to heat the skin resulting in tightening. There is no downtime, although results take at least 2-3 months to see any improvement. Treatment of the forehead, cheeks, and neck is common. Now fine lines can be treated too, especially around the mouth and lips, neck and chest, although more than one treatment is often needed for those areas.
7. Radiofrequency. This has similar indications as Ultherapy, although multiple treatments are often necessary.
8. Photofacial / IPL: Using light energy, blood vessels and skin pigmentation can be reduced. Usually 3-5 treatments are recommended and results can be quite impressive.
