Fraxel, Face Lifts And FX … Oh My!
Aug 09, 2013
With the dizzying array of surgical and non surgical treatments available, how does one navigate through the marketing claims to find the right solution for them?
With the dizzying array of surgical and non surgical treatments available, how does one navigate through the marketing claims to find the right solution for them? Today we are going to provide some history and guidance for the procedures that claim to tighten skin as well as rid it of wrinkles and sun damage.
Until about 1990 the only option for tightening facial and neck skin was to have a face lift or neck lift. During this procedure the loose skin is literally cut out and remaining tissue is pulled tight and sewn back into place. This does a good job of pulling the skin tight but requires general anesthesia and several weeks or months to heal with significant risk of looking over done. All this has an average cost of $11,500. Not necessarily most people’s idea a fun afternoon!
Since the advent of CO2 skin resurfacing in 1990 there has been another option. Skin resurfacing with a CO2 laser removes the top layer of damaged skin letting new, younger and healthier skin grow in its place. This revolutionary procedure was able to take years of damage away. Unfortunately there was still significant downtime and the risk of permanent skin color changes.
Fast forward to Harvard in 2004, the laser beam is fractionated into tiny columns with untreated spaces in between and Fraxel is born. Now patients could have real results with less downtime. In 2007 Lumenis upped the ante by introducing a fractionated CO2 laser the Active and Deep FX and skin resurfacing was reborn. Now patients could have almost the same effectiveness as traditional CO2 resurfacing without the risk and downtime.
In 2013 we are using combination of traditional CO2 over the most damaged areas along with fractionated CO2 skin resurfacing on areas of less damage. This allows us to provide extraordinary results with limited downtime and an excellent safety profile. We also add other new modalities such as Ulthera to further increase skin tightening. The option of adding the micro-focused ultrasound energy of Ulthera to the laser skin resurfacing procedure can significantly lift the brows and tighten the neck to a level only previously seen with surgery that required a scalpel.
Check out our Specials page to see how you can get $500 of FX Fracational CO2.
On August, 22 we’re offering a lunch & learn event where Dr. Verebelyi will give a live presentation on the benefits and myths about Fractional CO2 Skin Resurfacing and the use of Growth Factors. Be sure to RSVP for this event soon!
