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Botulinum Frown Line Injections
As we age our skin becomes less compliant and less able to stretch and bend. With use of the facial muscles the skin forms lines and wrinkles which become permanent. Botox will relax these muscles for 3 to 6 months, smoothing the skin and softening wrinkles. The treatment may then be repeated.
Botox is an extremely safe treatment giving great results in just a week. The procedure involves a few superficial injections with a very small needle into the muscles causing the wrinkle or line. The local side effects immediately after treatment are minimal so it is possible to return immediately to work.
Migraine sufferers often find their headaches reduce in frequency or go away completely with Botox. Botox may be used to reduce sweating on the palms, soles and in the armpits. Botox replaces an appearance of worry and anxiety with a calm, confident look. Other sites for botox are around the nose mouth and
neck.
Dermal Fillers
For very wrinkled skin we use Sculptra (Newfill) which uses small granules of polylactic acid a substance which stimulates the production of your own natural collagen reducing wrinkles and giving the cheeks a lift.
Aquamid, a polyacrylamide gel, is the latest permanent filler which may be used for enhancing lips and filling deep wrinkles. It is necessary to have a temporary filler before using Aquamid to make sure the effect you get is one which you will like as the Aquamid is permanent. As there are a choice of fillers available, each with their own advantages in specific situations, our expertly trained and experienced staff can advise on the most appropriate type for your skin to give you an even better appearance. The products are very safe. Improvement in appearance is immediate. Most people will be able to return to work immediately after treatment, although some may experience slight redness (lasting for 24 hours) which may be covered with a waterbased makeup. For a complete treatment of facial lines, a combination of fillers and Botox may be recommended. The dynamic lines of the bridge of the nose, forehead lines, "crows feet" and "bunny lines" are generally best treated with Botox. However, "smokers lines", "marionette lines", nasolabial folds and acne scars are generally best treated with fillers. Treatments can be as comprehensive or as localised as you desire. Facial Peels Your skin is a living organ made up of millions of cells. Every day thousands of cells die, fall off and are replaced by new cells from below. Unfortunately, as we age, this becomes a slower and more haphazard process, making your skin unable to shed dark blotches, sun damage, or a dull, lifeless complexion. The function of a skin peel is to create an even controlled shedding of several layers of damaged cells. This exposes a new, fresh layer of skin with a more even colour and a smoother texture. In addition, the peel stimulates new cells to grow, thereby tightening the skin, which decreases winkling. There are several types of peels, each using a different chemical to create its peeling effect. Light and medium depth peels use the chemicals Glycolic Acid, TCA (tricholoracetic acid) or a combination of chemicals such as ib the Jessner's peel. Your Laserase consultant can advise you on the most suitable peel for your skin type and the time frame of your schedule for recovery. Thus you may peel slowly over several peels spaced apart with little or no down time or elect to proceed with a deeper, one off peel and take 5 days off work. If it is determined that you are a good candidate for this peel, some creams may be prescribed for you to use for a few weeks before your peel to prepare your skin for peeling. WHAT CAN PEELS ACHIEVE? Peels can effectively improve many conditions, including:
Although one peel can significantly improve the appearance of the skin, some skin problems are deeper than others. It is possible that you may require more than one peel to achieve your best results. HOW IS A PEEL PERFORMED? WHAT HAPPENS TO MY SKIN DURING A PEEL?
Female chin 12 months after 6 treatments We are using the Palomar SLP 1000 diode laser. This is one of the latest hair removal lasers available. It may be used on skin of any colour as well as on suntanned skin. Its long pulse length and dynamic cooling mean minimal redness after treatment. Lasers remove hair by selectively heating the dark melanin in the hair without affecting the paler surrounding skin. The growth bulb in the follicle is effected by the heat thus reducing or eliminating future hair growth in that follicle. Permanent hair reduction is thus achieved, with any remaining hairs being finer and far less noticeable. With a large spot size of 12mm, up to 50 hair follicles may be treated with each laser pulse. With rapid pulsing even large areas such as the back and legs may be treated. Bikini lines respond particularly well. More than one treatment is needed as hair growth is cyclical. On average, a single treatment will lead to a reduction of 20%, two treatments one month apart will give around 50% reduction, and further treatments give further reductions. NB. Prior to treatment it is a good idea to shave
the area to be treated 2-3 days before as there is no advantage in heating hairs on the
skin. Hair should not be waxed sooner than a month before treatment as if the roots are
pulled out treatment will be less effective.
Decorative tattoos have a history dating back at least 5000 years. The desire to remove them has probably existed just as long. Removal is growing in popularity as 28% of the adult population under 30 have tattoos and with the fashion waning, the dissatisfaction rate with tattoos is up to 50%. Early attempts to remove tattoos with dermabrasion, and CO2 lasers left behind scars. IPL or Intense Pulse Light machines also leave scars and so should not be used on tattoos. The advent of Q switched lasers has permitted tattoo removal with a very low risk of scarring (zero in one study of 40,000 cases). The Q-Switched Ruby and Nd:YAG lasers are the best systems for tattoo removal. At Laserase we use the Lambda Ruby laser and the latest Medlite C6 ND:YAG laser from Continuum Biomedical. The new Medlite C6, the only one in NSW, is very fast so can cost effectively remove large tattoos. Tattoo ink is removed by using very short, high intensity pulses of light of specific wavelengths. The light passes through the skin, without damaging it, and is rapidly absorbed by the ink particles causing them to shatter to a size easily removal by macrophages. Macrophages, the body's garbage cells, carry the unwanted ink particles to the lymph nodes from where they are filtered out and excreted through the kidney. The impact of the laser energy is like the snap of a rubber band so the majority of patients do not require any anaesthesia. On sensitive areas a surface anaesthetic called EMLA, or an injection of local anesthetic, may be used. After treatment there is usually just 2 –3 days of swelling in the area which requires no special care other than an antiseptic moisturiser. Patients are able to go straight back to work and to shower. On average professional tattoos require 8 -12 treatments, while amateur tattoos require 4-6, spaced 6 weeks apart. Cost depends on the size of the tattoo – usually around $195 per treatment. These pictures show a biopsy of a tattoo under a microscope before and after treatment.
Professional tattoo removed after 8 treatments Lipolysis
Background Pioneered by the French physician, Dr. Michel Pistor in 1952, Mesotherapy is a non-surgical, relatively painless injection technique with a broad range of applications. Mesotherapy promotes the body's circulatory, lymphatic, and immune system to create a biological response and reverse abnormal physiology. At Laserase we use a technique called lipolysis whereby phosphatidyl choline, an extract of soya bean is injected into fat deposits to permanently brerakup the adipocytes (fat storage cells). It is not suitable for generalised obesity and does not atke the place of a diet or exercise regime. Nor will it remove large volumes (eg >500mls) of fat which are more suitably treated with liposcuction. It is good for localised pockets of fat such as under the chin, inner arms, love handles etc. Method of Treatment The injections themselves are not particular painful but from a few hours after injection the realeased fat causes an inflammatory reaction leading to swelling, redness, pain, itching, bruising,
discoloration and tenderness for up to 1 week. The final result of a treatment takes 3 months to manifest. 2-3 or more treatemtns may be needed. Benefits may persist for several years after the end of
treatment, however, sometimes maintenance treatments may be required at 3 monthly
intervals. Microdermabrasion What benefits can I expect to achieve through having
ClairDerm procedures? How do I care for my skin after a ClairDerm
Microdermabrasion? Why is the ClairDerm system better than conventional
microdermabrasion? How will the ClairDerm microdermabrasion procedure
feel on my skin? Are there any precautions that I must take while
undergoing a ClairDerm microdermabrasion procedure? Sclerotherapy Veins What are Spider Veins? Who gets Varicose and Spider Veins ? What causes Varicose and Spider Veins? What Treatments are available for Varicose and Spider Veins? Pre-treatment: A diagnostic procedure prior to any treatment should be carried out. This is done by a Doppler Ultrasound and/or Duplex Ultrasound Imaging. These techniques will help to give a more precise diagnosis of any major superficial vein abnormality. Varicose Veins may be treated by eliminating "bad veins". This forces the blood to flow through the remaining healthy veins. Most varicose veins can be treated by sclerotherapy. For larger incompetent veins Dr Rish injects the vein under ultrasound guidance to ensure the best possible result. Small surface veins do not require the ultrasound. All but the smallest vessels require the wearing of a support stocking for 2 weeks after the procedure. Surgery to treat Varicose Veins is known as stripping and can be done under general anaesthetic or regional anaesthetic block. Here the problem vein is stripped by passing a flexible device through the vein and removing it through an incision near the groin. Smaller tributaries of these veins can be stripped with this device through a series of small incisions. The veins which connect to deeper veins are then tied off. A less invasive procedure is called ambulatory phlebectomy. In this procedure the sections of vein can removed at the Laserase clinic by using a vein hook and local anaesthetic. Spider Veins cannot be removed through surgery. Sometimes, they disappear when the large varicose veins are removed. Spider veins are treated with "Sclerotherapy" . "Sclerotherapy" uses a fine needle to inject a solution directly into the vein. This solution irritates the lining of the vein, causing collapse of the inner lining and ultimately the vein. The vein turns into scar tissue that fades from view. Following injection of the solution into larger vein, it is important to apply compression to the treated leg. This causes the collapsed vein wall to stick together. Post treatment of larger veins it is good to walk for 30 minutes to force the blood to flow into other veins and prevents blood clots. Do the procedures hurt? What are the side effects of the treatments? How long do the results last? Unsightly blue, red, and purple veins are a common problem. Until a few years ago, the only way to remove such veins was through surgery or uncomfortable injections with a "sclerosing" agent. At Laser Cosmedics we use the Palomar SLP1000 and the Iriderm Diolite 532nm lasers to remove unwanted veins comfortably without breaking the skin. These are among the most advanced medical lasers available. Among the vessels they can treat are: Spider veins- tiny red, blue, or purple vessels that appear most frequently near the surface of the face and thighs; Large leg veins- deeper, blue veins up to about 3 millimeters in diameter; Telangectatic matting- reddish blotches of spider veins commonly found on the face and legs; Spider naevi- branching, spider-like networks of minute capillaries near the skin's surface; Cherry angiomas- reddish growths ranging from about 1-25 millimeters in diameter, and consisting of lymph and blood vessels; Comfortable, Effective Treatments on all Skin Colours The Palomar SLP1000 SheerCool"' Handpiece Iriderm Diolite 532nm Frequently Asked Questions Does the Laser Hurt? How Long Does a Treatment Take? How Many Treatments Will I Need? What Happens After the Procedure? How Will the Treatment Affect My Circulation? Medart Fraxel CO2 Resurfacing Information LASER RESURFACING The Medart Fraxel CO2 we use at Laserase is the newest generation of lasers. It allows allows a precise amount of surface to be removed with each pulse of laser energy. This allows the laser surgeon to cover the desired treatment area in a very controlled and predictable fashion. In essence, this procedure removes the uppermost layer of the skin--about 1/250 of a mm with each "pass" of the laser over the skin surface. The ablative fractionated concept removes only small columns of skin leaving adjacent skin normal. This allows a fast <10day recovery of the skin compared with the older resurfacing CO2 lasers which took 4 weeks to recover. Asd not all the skin is remnoved a second treatment may be required 6 – 12 months later. WHICH AREAS CAN BE TREATED? CAN ALL SKIN TYPES BE TREATED? PRE-TREATMENT TREATMENT RECOVERY TIME POST RE-SURFACING AFTER CARE Clear, plain Vaseline/petrolatum/special lubricants should be applied to lubricate the surface after the procedure. DO NOT LET THE SKIN DRY OUT OR FORM A CRUST!! Most patients will create a new skin surface in about 3-7 days. Think of it like a superficial/moderate burn or a scrape from a fall. Redness in the treatment area may last for a few weeks (2-4 usually), but rnay last for as long as 2-3 months in some individuals who have had deeper treatment. The deeper the injury necessary to accomplish the goal of tightening the skin, the greater the risk of prolonged redness. (Persistent redness is more likely to occur if we also use the carbon dioxide laser.) SIDE EFFECTS Apparent enlargement of pore size, due to surrounding skin shrinkage, has been occasionally noted in some patients. Mild sensitivity and fragility of the skin may persist in some patients for a few weeks/months. It is important to not pick or scratch at the skin during the healing phase to minimise crust formation and the risk of scarring. Sun protection is essential for all patients to minimise further skin damage, reduce the risk of persisting redness, and minimise the risk of excessive or irregular darkening in the skin. One of the most difficult emotional times for you will occur the first day or so after the procedure, when you look at the wound andecome frightened that you have made a dreadful mistake. Try to understand that this is a normal response Everyone has some degree of fear and anxiety when it comes to their facial appearance. The second difficult time will come about 1-2 weeks later, when you have pretty much recovered, but you become alarmed that your face actually looks "worse" than it did before the procedure. This is also normal. Much of the benefit appears over the coming months as new collagen is deposited under the skin and the skin begins to remodel its structure. HOW LONG DO THE BENEFITS LAST? POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS |
