Enhance Your Beauty For The Holidays

By Don J. Fontana, MD, PA

Don Fontana, MD

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Enhance Your Beauty For The Holidays

What better time to look your best than the holiday season? Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years parties can be the best of times if you've held the line with adequate diet and exercise. There are areas that may still show signs of aging particularly if you love the sun, water sports and boating. Many non-invasive, in-office procedures can be the solution to improving your appearance.

Have you developed fine wrinkling around the eyes from too much sun this summer? Have you noticed irregular facial skin color such that areas of dark pigmentation have developed? Do you now require more make-up to mask these skin color differences? Does the skin of your face or chest look “blotchy”? Have the creases around your eyes become deeper and more conspicuous? Have the folds from around your mouth and nose become more prominent and noticeable? Have you developed furrows between your eyebrows that give you a stern or “mean” look?

If you have answered, “yes” to any of these questions and wish to improve yourself, you will be delighted to learn that you can expect real improvement without surgery using non-invasive techniques. These techniques are for the most part painless and provide nearly immediate results. Costs are reasonable, especially when you compare them to the cost of surgery. Results are long lasting, ranging from 3-12 months, but not permanent.

A new standard has been set with the development of a new generation of facial peels. The Vi Peel is a combination peel, that is aggressive yet mild. You can expect an improvement of fine lines, particularly around the eyes. There is a general smoothing and textural improvement to the facial skin combined with a lightening of facial pigmentation. The peeling is subtle enough that you can continue to work applying facial moisturizing agents (provided to you) throughout the peeling process. The entire process takes approximately one week with results lasting 2-6 months and longer depending on the type of skin being treated.

After improving the facial skin texture and uniformity and initiating a facial skin care program, the next step to facial rejuvenation is to address the creases and folds of the skin of the face. Creases are a result of facial muscle movement. Most frequently, the crow's feet region, forehead and the frown lines between the eyebrows are the most unpleasant. Botox and Dysport are the treatment of choice to inactive select areas of facial muscle. When the muscle is injected, it no longer contracts resulting in a smooth contour and surface in the area injected. These agents can be injected almost painlessly and will last on average of 3-5 months.

If you are unhappy with the folds between the nose and the edges of your mouth, there is an excellent treatment to consider. These folds (the so-called nasolabial folds) are a result of skin sagging. Surgery would, of course, be the ideal solution to reducing these folds, but a tremendous improvement can be achieved with facial fillers. After first placing a nerve block, the injections are painless. A wide variety of fillers can be used, the selection of which is dependent upon the patient's skin type, color and thickness.

Try something different this holiday season. Reward yourself. Confront the issues and take control. Decide what bothers you and distracts from your youthful appearance. Improve your appearance without expensive surgery and do it so that you look great for the holidays.