Can you look better than you did 10 years ago?
Is it possible to look better than you did 10 years ago.. without surgery?
Absolutely! Plus I don’t mean looking like you’ve had loads of work done, or even starting to look like someone else. Treatments have advanced so much in the past 10 years that you can certainly take advantage of what’s on offer, to make the most of yourself. These non-surgical treatments have come about largely because of a better understanding of what happens as we age.
As we get older, several changes occur at many different levels – the skin on top, the soft tissue underneath, and also the deep structural components of the face. To keep it simple, what’s happening to you is a change in skin texture and tone, and loss of facial volume. Therefore to turn back time, we need to address these changes.
It’s complicated stuff, so here’s a summary of the best treatments and how they work. I’ve carried out almost every one of these treatments, (as well as had them!) and have witnessed the results and improvements myself over the past 14 years.
1. HIFU: For Lifting
This relatively new treatment is hailed as the closest thing to a face lift without surgery. HIFU stands for High Intensity Focused Ultrasound, and I can tell you that this treatment feels like no other. You can certainly tell that you’re getting a very deep treatment, as the high powered ultrasound waves target a layer beneath your skin. The waves ‘hit’ the SMAS layer – which stands for the superficial muscular aponeurotic system, and causes this layer to shrink, tighten and lift. The SMAS layer is what a surgeon targets during a facelift, but this treatment is able to get this deep without any incisions, just by using a type of ultrasound.
Basically it’s dealing with the ‘structure’ of your face, so is excellent for the cheeks, jawline and neck. It can be carried out on the whole face and neck in 1 treatment or you can just choose certain areas. (It cannot be carried close to the mouth, or in the centre of the face – imagine a line running vertically through the centre of your face, where you must avoid)
Results of HIFU: Very good. You will see better results if you have looked after your skin to some extent eg, this treatment is not good for skin which is very thin, or has been badly sun damaged. These issues would have to be dealt with first. You will not see the same dramatic improvement as an actual face lift, however I have seen some visibly excellent results.
Frequency: You only need this once a year, plus there’s virtually no downtime, which is a great bonus.
2. IPL OR LASER: for thread veins, pigmentation, rosacea and overall skin colour.
Look at a child and notice how clear their skin is! It’s mostly free from red marks, veins, pigmentation, sun spots. All these blemishes come over time, whether that’s because of sun damage, hormonal changes, genetic factors or other reasons. The point is that discolouration ages the skin. If you treat the marks and get the skin looking even and clear again, it looks a whole lot younger!
When you target pigmentation, the laser heats the pigment which causes it to ‘crust’ (it goes much darker in colour) and then it flakes off usually within 1 week. If you have redness due to spider veins, rosacea, port wine stains, thread veins or cherry angiomas, the IPL or Laser will heat the blood inside and break it up. Your body will then ‘mop up’ the particles and remove them. The redness will gradually fade over 1-3 weeks.
Laser and/or IPL are an excellent choice to get your skin clear again. A word of caution, IPL and Lasers are actually 2 different things, although they get mixed up all of the time. Most people and even Laser operators don’t understand this! (This is another blog entirely). To keep it simple however, both these treatments, if done correctly with the right system can be used to improve the skin, and get rid of blemishes. The key is to get the right laser or IPL for the right blemish.
Frequency: Anything from 2-5 treatments spaced around 4 weeks apart, depending on how bad the skin is in to start with.
3. MICRONEEDLING and FRACTIONAL LASER: for the texture of the skin, fine lines, wrinkles, pores and scars.
These treatments achieve similar results although the process is different. Smooth skin is most definitely a sign of youth. As your skin loses elasticity with the depletion of collagen, it will start to look more lined with more visible pores. Perhaps you’ve even got scars from acne or incidents from your childhood!
Resurfacing technologies cause controlled damage, either with a laser or a needling device to force the skin to shed and heal. With microneedling, thousands of tiny holes are pierced into the skin (painless thanks to numbing cream) and this creates a wound healing response. With fractional laser the skin is targeted with a very long wavelength of light which vaporises the water in the skin and also causes the skin to heal.
Results of resurfacing treatments are very good and will make the skin smoother and more even. These treatments are great for the whole face or even just parts of the face such as the top lip, and close to the eyes, which are sometimes hard to target. Overall after Microneedling or Fractional laser your skin will look generally smoother, with tighter pores and a softening of lines.
Frequency: Ideally 3 treatments spaced approximately 6 weeks apart. Also depends on your starting point though, and you could potentially want/need more treatments.
That’s quite enough to digest for now… although in Part 2 we will look at plenty more treatments to get you looking better than you did 10 years ago.
Thanks for reading
Rachael
If you want any advice on how to improve your skin and get you looking your best for a big occasion, then come and have a free skin consultation. Call us on 01257 463464 or email me at info@radiantliving.co.uk
share item
