The medical aesthetic realm is continuously growing and the target audience has reached Gen Y and Milennials. Many of the patients I saw on a regular basis were women who sat in my chair woefully reminiscing on the times of tanning with Crisco or baby oil in the hot Texas sun to fry like a crispy Chik-fil-A waffle fry in the summertime. For them, the reason for the visit was to inquire information about what we could do for their skin since the damage had already been done. Upon further assesment after a brief questionnaire about their skin and ethnicity, and reviewing of their medical history, these woman presented with a skin age often times older than their genetic age. Yep. You ladies heard that right! There is actually an entirely different age for your skin that can be calculated based on numerous factors- and there is technology that can give you this number should it be available for you at your medispa. Deep and fine wrinkles, UV damage, age spots, freckles, et. were all factors that played into the “age” of their skin. Due to lack of education on prevention and the nonexistence of products with sunscreen in them, these women found themselves sitting in front of me looking for expertise and answers that could help turn back the clock and take years off of their face.
Very few clients of mine were there to learn about prevention. It makes sense as we don’t discuss melanoma in health class in High School and very rarely do we become familiar with our family history of skin cancer or keloid scarring. If I did have a young woman in my chair, she was usually there to show me yet another picture of Kylie Jenner’s lips so that I could replicate them for her. I wanted these girls to instead ask me questions such as, “What’s the best sunscreen?” or “What skincare products can I start using?”. These women opened the door for more conversations about how to prevent the damage that our skin endures on a daily basis. I often would find myself educating these women on collagen (and how the production stops by the time we turn 20), growth factors (how applying these directly to our skin can essentially create new superficial collagen), & Botox (prevent the wrinkles before they become deep set nickel-holders). Education on medical grade skincare products that contain vitamin C (usually she had been in the tanning beds and needed help with discoloration), vitamin E, and any forms of Hyaluronic Acid were also talked about.
Prevention is key. Think of your skin as a piece of paper. Now, we all know what happens when we fold a piece of paper 50 times. It is really hard to get that piece of paper to look like it had never been folded and may require more effort, time, & pressure to get the crease gone. We may even have to put a large and heavy book on top of it. Well, in a way, the same can be said for our skin. After 50 years of sun exposure, facial expressions, & sleeping on our face, combined with free radical damage and loss of collagen, wrinkles are bound to result. Instead of waiting to the point where more units are needed and most likely, more frequent visits, starting Botox or Dysport early as a preventive, can and will make a difference and also make it easier to maintain your aesthetic goals. A great study on identical twins and the effects on the one that uses Botox vs. the other one that does not is linked here https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17116793. The results are astounding.
For my baby boomer generation clients, the most popular aesthetic procedures were Botox injections, HA fillers, & lasers. Many times, the dermal fillers were needed due to loss of collagen and volume due to the aging process. Remember, these come in 1 mL quantities which is only 1/5 of a tsp. That is such a small amount and often more than that is required to get optimal results. However, starting out slow is always a good idea. Never would I reommend any fillers that are semi-permanent or permanent. Always make sure they can be dissolved. The two most popular lasers were the Diva & the Halo lasers created by Sciton. The Halo laser had only 5 days of downtime due to having two different wavelenths that worked together to create a truly impressive result. One wavelength is heat which generates new collagen (neocollagenesis) and the other is ablative (causes holes into the skin layers so that controlled turnover of new skin can occur and hyper pigmented, damaged skin known as MENDS can flake off). Another popular procedure was Ultherapy — Christie Brinkley’s secret to how she looks as amazing as she does! Plus, using nitrous oxide during the treatment makes it a breeze! Ultherapy is not a laser but is, instead, heat applied via sound wavelengths. This is a GREAT preventive treatment because the more collagen proteins you have, the more you have to denature using controlled heat, and therefore, the more new collagen that can be built.
Whether you can relate with my Crisco or baby oil baby boomers, or you identify more with my Kylie inspired millennials, your best kept secret is always going to be Botox, and maybe some Ultherapy! Don’t forget to stock up on skincare products that included ingredients such as Glycol, Hyaluronic Acid, & Retinol. Your SPF needs to protect your skin from UVA and UVB and even infrared damage as well! Colorescience and Skinmedica are two of my favorite brands but there are also products out there that have the necessary ingredients needed to turn back the clock at a fraction of the cost! For example, this TruSkin Naturals is just as advanced and I love the results so far- it is a lot easier on my pocketbook too.
