Total Body Surgical Blog

In the past few weeks we have discussed how lasers work, removing tattoos, removing unwanted hair, and renewing the skin.  These are important uses for laser technology and as it gets better, we will see more uses pop up.  Today I want to discuss pigment issues on the face, arms, and chest. 

Why do we get them and what are they??  is picture shows melasma, aka "pregnancy mask".  It is caused by sun in combination with hormonal changes.  It is quite common and cases can vary a great deal in severity.  These changes can occur on anyone but seem to be worse in ethnic skin.  It can occur over the entire face but is the most common on the cheek area.

The second area is on the chest.  Brown spots and red spots occur with age and again.....the sun.  Sun worshipers get this and the more you worship the worse it gets.

The third area is on the hands.  Age spots, liver spots, whatever you want to call them are caused by sun damage and can be present over the entire arm.

Even if you don't worship the sun, we all get exposure during normal daily activites of walking out doors, driving, etc.  So they can occur on any of us.

How do we treat them??  First, I suggest a good skin care regimen.  This is key to getting the skin to heal and to slow down the pigmentation process.  It also prepares the skin for more aggressive treatments.  At Total Body Surgical we like to use the Obagi system for treating damaged skin.  Obagi contains tretinoin and hydroquinone.  These stimulate the skin to grow faster and shed the dead portion of the skin.  It also turns off the melanocyte or pigment cell.  Lastly, it contains a good sun screen to prevent further damage.  Once used for a short period of time, we treat these areas in a couple of ways.  First is the IPL (flashlamp or Intense Pulsed Light).  This is a machine that shoots short bursts of intense light.  The wavelength is set to target the darker colors in the skin and some red pigments.  These areas then peel off and since the pigment cells are turned off, their recurrence is much less severe.  Continued protection from the sun makes them "stay away".  Treatments are usually done in a series of 3-5 treatments and the areas gradually disappear.  We can also use laser to resurface the skin and remove pigment.  The Pearl laser is perfect for this killing "two birds with one stone".  This gives you rejuvenated skin texture, helps with fine lines and wrinkles, and rids the pigment too.  Recovery time for this treatment is only about 4-5 days.  The IPL recovery time is minor redness for about 24 hours then crusting of dark areas that will peel off.  The Obagi system causes the sensation of dryness and may cause some minor shedding of dead skin for a few weeks.

Come see us at Total Body Surgical where our staff is trained and experienced with Obagi and Skinceutical products.  We also have a full product line in the office and can get you started.

Remember our specials that are still going on too!!

Call 918-786-7780 for a complimentary cosmetic consult or fill out a contact form and we will contact you!!

More laser stuff next week!

We also have special Christmas pricing on products and gift certificates available for all laser services and skin care, Latisse and more!!

What can lasers do for your skin??  ALOT!!!!  As time goes on and the natural aging process of the skin occurs there are many changes that occur.  Ultraviolet light from the sun, pollutants in the air, pollutants in what we eat, the loss of collagen as we age, genetics, loss of fat,....and the list goes on and on.  All of these things lead to the aging of our skin causing spots, wrinkles, enlarged pores, and even skin cancers.

Here is a comparison of young and old skin...here you see how the age spots form, the outer layer thins, and fat is diminished.  On a smaller scale we would see collagen loss as well.

    What we see on the outside is this....

  How can laser treatment alter these changes??  There are a number of effects that a good laser treatment can cause making the skin look and feel younger.  Laser can tighten the skin by causing new collagen to form as the damage caused by the laser is healed.  The outer layer of skin (stratum corneum) is also thinned and made more organized by laser treatment making the skin look and feel smoother and softer.  Dark spots (age spots) or dark patches (melasma) are not only caused by sun damage but also are aggravated by hormonal changes.  When lasers are used carefully and these treatments are combined with targeted skin care and sun protection, these spots can usually be treated and removed.

Laser skin resurfacing today is safer, cheaper, and recovery times are significantly less than ever before.  At Total Body Surgical we use the Cutera Pearl laser.  This laser is unique for a number of reasons.  It is a wavelength that penetrates well into the skin but shortens recovery time.  We have the only pearl in the area.  It gives the same results as a CO2 laser but the recovery time is only around 4 days.  This means that you can wear makeup after about 4 days but will have some redness for a week or two. 

Laser resurfacing can make a huge difference in acne scarring too.  Smoothing them and helping pigment changes they can cause. 

So if you want to get rid of age spots, melasma, acne scarring, or just tighten the skin up to look younger, come see us at Total Body Surgical.  We can get you started on the new you in 2012.  Now laser treatments are as cheap as $800....much cheaper than the big city.....schedule today!!   918-786-7780...cosmetic consultations always complimentary...

Don't forget our specials too!!

 Don't we all have unwanted hair??On the face maybe??

  Feel like you are wearing a sweater all the time due to unwanted back, arm, or chest hair??

  Tired of shaving those legs??  That's a lot of real estate to manage isn't it??

Maybe you are tired of managing hair in those unmentionable places??

Hair is a funny thing.  It seems that where we want it, it doesn't grow, and where we don't want it, it grows like crazy.  In society today, hair on the body is not a desirable thing.

Traditionally, hair has been managed by a number of means...all of them temporary.

  Tweezers have been a common tool along with razors, shavers, and even hot wax.  Everyone has seen movie scenes where the star is punished by waxing large tracts of hair (40 Year Old Virgin)....it looks terribly painful and not much fun.

Now that laser and pulsed light technology is common, it can be used very effectively to reduce the volume and thickness of hair in almost every area.  As we have been discussing in recent blogs, laser light effectiveness depends on wavelength.  Hair grows from buds that contain pigment and stem cells.

  When the appropriate laser light and energy are used, the hair conducts heat into the bulb of the hair and when in a growth phase, the stem cells are heated and damaged.  Over multiple treatments, the bulb is damaged to the point that it can no longer produce hair.  Multiple treatments are required due to the fact that hair grows at different rates and some follicles are actively producing and some are dormant.  New follicles can also generate in areas that have never produced hair.... i.e. the new hair that forms on your face or back that was never there before.  Lasers and IPL can be used in essentally all areas to remove hair.  The most effective areas are for body hair.  Because it is usually dark and thick, it conducts the heat into the follicle most effectively.  Body hair can usually be reduced by 80% or more in just six treatments 6 weeks apart.  Facial hair is usually thinner and less dark.  Therefore, it usually requires 9 treatments 6 weeks apart or more for lighter hair.  Very light white hair is usually not conducive to laser as it reflects all light and does not conduct heat.

If you are tired of all of the other temporary fixes for unwanted hair.....try laser hair reduction.....it works.  We use the Cutera system at Total Body Surgical.  It is a time tested platform that uses both laser and IPL.  This gives options for some of the more stubborn areas.  It is also easy to afford.  It used to be pretty pricey but now is in most peoples price range.  At Total Body Surgical we charge by the treatment and have many options if multiple areas are to be treated.  We charge $50.00 per treatment for a small area (face, underarms, bikini) and $75 for large areas (full back or chest or abdomen).  Do the math and you will see how over time you actually save money over waxing, shaving or creams.

Call us today to make an appointment...918-786-7780 or fill out a contact form.

Don't forget our other special deals on liposuction, nail fungus, and lap bands!!  

I want to spend some time discussing lasers and how we use them today.  Lasers have been around for some time.  In the past, at least as far as medicine is concerned, they have been a technology looking for an application.  In the past several years, improvements in technology have made them much safer and applications have greatly increased.

  Austin Powers....demonstrated his ignorance of laser technology.  Lasers have been a mystery to most!! 

Laser and intense light or flash lamp therapy are both based on concentrated light.  Let's talk about lasers first.

Lasers are concentrated light that can be used for multiple applications.  They have been used in industrial applications for years. Medical lasers have numerous applications as well.  We use them to to clear up and make skin look prettier.  We use them to remove tattoo's.  They are used to treat veins and vascular problems on the body and face, even varicose veins.  We can remove unwanted hair, laser fat cells, make skin contract, use them to cut skin, and now we can treat toenail fungus which has been a nagging problem.

Pulsed light therapy is based on a bright flash of light shot onto the skin.  Also called a flash lamp, this technology has been used for other applications, photography, etc.  In cosmetic surgery we use it to treat spots and different pigments on the skin of the face or body.

Unfortunately, there is no single laser that can be used for all applications.  Not to get too complicated (because it is complicated) the way we choose what laser or lamp to used is based on the chromophore we are trying to treat.  A chromophore is the part of a molecule or cell that produces its color.  Each laser or flash lamp has a wave length that attacks that color.  This is why one laser or lamp will not work on all colors.  We know what colors we are trying to treat and select the laser or lamp that will work on that specific color.  This is where the art meets the science.  With some applications, we are aiming at water in the skin as the chromophore, especially when resurfacing the skin. 

The most common laser currently used in Cosmetic Surgery are the nd-YAG, the KTP, the CO2, and the pulsed dye lasers.  Each of these target a different chromophore or color.  The newest developments in the technology is the fractional and q-switched technologies.  We used to resurface skin by ablating or lasering the entire skin surface.  Since the skin recovers by healing from the hair follicle, recovery was slower than desired and this scared people.  Fractional lasers give us the ability to divide or fractionate the pulse of light from the laser.  This leaves islands of undamaged skin between the areas treated.  There are more and larger areas for the skin to heal.  The advantages are that healing is much faster and complication rates are less.  The disadvantages are that the treatment is not quite as good and may require more than a single session.  Q switching is a way to modulate the laser output to get a better "quality" of light energy, more intense output per pulse.  I will talk more about Q-switching when I discuss tattoo removal.

Flash lamps also treat specific colors in the skin.  They are used for treatment of brown pigment, red pigment, and hair in the treatment areas.  With flash lamps, we must change the wavelength of the light to treat each problem.

Now that the boring part is over, next week we will begin to explore the problems we treat and what we use to treat them.

Don't forget our nail fungus, lap band, and liposuction deals that are currently running.  We also are having multiple Botox events in Tulsa and Grove to get everyone ready for the holidays!!  Send me a message, fill out a contact form, or call 918-786-7780 to find out when and where.

Watch this video for a little laugh....

http://youtu.be/nB7wtLMsm5c

This little cartoon displays many of the myths about botulinum toxin and its use in making us look younger.  Botox, made by Allergan, and Dysport, made by Medicis, have been around a long time.  Other similar products are on the horizon and these newer products will be just as effective and may drive down the cost.

For this blog I will refer to all of them as Botox as it is the most notable. 

Botox was originally marketed for muscle disorders that caused spasm, disfigurement, and pain.  It worked very safely and very well.  As time went on, many of us realized that wrinkles in the face were caused by common muscles of expression that, over time, cause the skin that overlay the muscles to crease.  The areas most commonly noticed are in the forehead, between the eyes, and the crows feet around the eyes.  They are caused by us raising our brow as if surprised: forehead wrinkles, looking concerned: the "elevens" between the eyes, and smiling or squinting in the sun: crows feet.  It was noticed that when these muscles are weakened with Botox, the wrinkles were markedly reduced.  Over time, FDA approval was requested and granted for Botox use in these areas for cosmetic reasons. 

Treatment with Botox started off being only for the "wealthy" as the cost was high.  Also, there were many misconceptions about the complications that could occur and fear due to rumors of deaths from the proper use of the product. 

Here are the facts:

1.  Botox and other similar products are very safe.  The amount injected by qualified injectors is so small that there is essentially no risk of any serious complication.  As with any other injection, there is the small risk of bruising and if the medication is injected into the wrong muscle group there could be some brow droop or eyelid droop that is self limiting.

2.  Botox is not an anesthetic.  It does not cause numbness where injected.  It does weaken the muscles but when done correctly, they can still be moved, just not with as much force.

3.  Botox does not work immediately.  In some of the smaller muscle groups it works quickly (within a few hours), in the larger muscle groups it may take as long as a week.

4.  Botox is not permanent.  In the typical patient, it lasts about 4 months.  Some shorter and some longer.  The average patient receives Botox every 4 to 6 months.

5.  Some wrinkles may not disappear with Botox.  Deep wrinkles that have been present for some time will be softened after injections but probably will not go away. 

6.  Botox does not "fill in" wrinkles.  It simply slows down the underlying muscle strength and if the skin is able, it will smooth out by not being wrinkled by muscle contraction.

7.  Botox is now becoming very affordable.  Prices, due to increasing competition, have fallen.  Also, as new products come to market, the price of the product should fall, allowing us to charge less.  The average price of a treatment now is around $250-$300 where it used to be twice that much.

8.  Treatment with Botox usually takes less than 10 minutes.  I use the smallest needle I can get and it is essentially painless.

So, there you have it!  Hopefully these points will help dispense many of the myths that surround Botox use.  It is one of the most effective medications I have ever used and patient satisfaction exceeds any other medication when used on the right people. Like Total body Surgical on Facebook and get Botox at $9.00 per unit!!! Don't forget our liposuction special pricing and the newest treatment for toenail fungus!!

Call or fill out our form for a complimentary cosmetic consultation....918-786-7780!!!