Dermatologist, Dr. Lisa Kellett explains what you can do to slow down the aging process of the skin on your face.
Wrinkles
The muscles around the forehead and eyes are the areas we constantly use to express ourselves; as a result wrinkles and frown lines occur.
Treatments
- Botox for expressive wrinkles (frown lines, crows’ feet)
- Injectable filler for fine lines around the mouth
Prevention
- Limit sun exposure and wear SPF 30 sunblock and a hat every day
- Retin A and retinol used daily (serum of 1% or higher) is clinically proven to produce collagen in the skin - collagen molecules are large making it difficult to the skin to absorb it, which is why cream containing them do very little
Age Spots
The term “age spots” often refers to a number of skin conditions. There are spots that are caused by the sun (lentigines) and age-related spots (seborrheic keratoses), as well as spots which may be cancerous (lentigo maligna).
It can also refer to more common pigmented lesions such as moles, freckles or birthmarks.
Treatments
- Pico Laser and Lumenis 1 IPL target brown spots using light energy, which absorbs the color and destroys the brown spot. The single wavelength laser requires one to two treatments and about one week to heal.
- Lumenis 1 uses multiple wavelengths with a variety of cut off filters and takes about six sessions, but there is no down time.
Prevention
- Protecting your skin from the sun is the number one way to prevent age spots.
- Cover up whenever you are going to be in the sun for long periods of time
- Wear sunscreen and be sure to reapply it every two hours
Sagging Skin
Skin laxity increases as we get older which results in sagging skin. As the bottom of the face gets heavier, jowls occur. Loss of subcutaneous tissue in the cheeks occurs for the same reasons.
Treatments
- Thermage uses radio frequency to safely heat skin’s under layer and the web of collagen in the inner layer which results in tightening and improved tone and texture.
Prevention
- Retinol gives you a double collagen boost, which revs up cells for new collagen and prevents cells from breaking down collagen.
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