Women and men as young as 25 are now having Botox Cosmetic Injections. However, they are not just to remove wrinkles they are using the wonder drug to prevent future wrinkles.  Botox is the only cosmetic treatment that can relax your muscles that create elaborate expressions such as squinting.  By doing this one can no longer flex the facial muscles & make wrinkles appear or make them worse.

This is actually a smart trick, those who start out younger with Botox will need less aggressive procedures in the future when they age and start to have real wrinkles.  Often in the medical spa business I have so many clients who are 45 and have never done anything to their skin-they have a hard time understanding how many treatments and the amount of money it will take to correct their issues compared to those who have taken care of their skin they often just need a little Botox or a chemical peel to freshen things up.

For more information on Botox or other cosmetic procedures go to www.winterparklaser.com

Unfortunately, the term “chemical peel” has scared many people away, when in fact those same people could greatly benefit from one type of chemical peel.  There are light, medium and strong strength chemical peels ranging from no down-time to severe peeling for days.  However, there are even chemical peels for Rosacea red skin such as Mandelic peels.  While a chemical peel can cause redness immediately following the treatment, it can go away in as little as a few hours with a light peel. It is very rare for someone to not be able to receive a chemical peel, it is simply a matter of a well trained esthetician finding the right chemical peel for your skin type and concerns.

If someone has very sensitive skin, redness and flaking can occur for a couple of days but skin will be clear, and glowing after a few days. Patients often say that their skin has never looked so radiant or flawless after the peel. Peels will not only help rid of acne scars, fine lines and sun damage, they can also help stimulate collagen growth. Dermaplaning is also a great option for deep exfoliation and uses no chemicals just a modified blade that blades away the top layer of dead skin.  This leaves behind no redness.

Find a reputable medical spa in your area that can give you a complimentary consultation. Winter Park Laser & Anti-Aging Center has been treating clients for 8 years in Orlando Fl.

Laser hair removal is the most versatile, ideal and effective option for removing unwanted hair. Board Certified medical spa’s such as Winter Park Laser offer safe and effective laser treatment for both men and women. Laser experts are making efforts to provide their patients with more reliable treatment that will contribute to positive outcome. The treatments although done rapidly due to a large spot size, provide long-term effects.

This laser treatment involves penetration of laser beam at the basal region of the fully developed hair follicles in the anagen cycle. This technique slows hair growth. The melanin pigment in the hair functions as a conductor. Laser hair removal is best suited for those with dark hair however thanks to new technology such as the LuxY Yellow handpiece from Palomar we can now treat those with blonde and red hair.

Laser hair removal can be performed on all skin types using IPL technology.  Schedule a complimentary consultation.

You might be wondering what the tangible benefits of having professional treatments are and why they are worth the investment especially with so many over the counter treatments available.. For those who don’t suffer from severe or chronic (repetitive) skin conditions, home care is one option and I encourage maintaining a home-care regimen even if you go to the spa.  Although even if you have good skin occasional chemical peels will keep your cell turn over going&give you that consistent glow.  Professional treatments can aid in accelerating the anti-aging process for more rapid results. Generally speaking, estheticians treat the epidermis (outermost layer of skin), while doctors, Nurses or Physician Assistant’s can treat down to the dermis level (skin layer under the epidermis). Thus, a good esthetician will tell you when to seek out a medical spa for certain skin conditions, such as cystic acne.  Para-medical esthetician’s are also licensed to go deeper into the dermis under physician supervision and work with medical grade skin-care only.

An esthetician should always perform a skin analysis, examining your skin under a large magnifying glass -we offer Visia skin complexion analyses as well. If you are not asked to fill out what is known as a medical history form or a consent form, walk out. This form is critical to the consultation process, which should be performed for every new client.  Also important-you should always receive a detailed post-care instruction sheet. Estheticians often use medical-grade ingredients and it’s important that they are aware of a client’s medications, allergies, and home care before treatment. These are known as contraindications and are important in determining whether you are a good candidate for a particular treatment. If you are allergic to milk and receive a peel containing even the smallest amount of lactic acid, you may experience severe side effects. Moreover, pregnant women should never have a chemical peel as peels penetrate down to the cellular level. It’s similar to avoiding certain foods during pregnancy. Intake forms vary by spa and cannot cover absolutely everything so it is important to ask questions, and that the consultant/esthetician is asking you additional questions and educating your on the treatment.

A great medical spa will provide you with pre-treatment and post-treatment instructions and will call you after your treatment to check on your progress.  They also have to have doctors, PAs, or nurses on staff to answer questions or write prescriptions when necessary.

Exfoliation is fundamental to healthy skin care and requisite to maintaining a youthful complexion – it is often the focus of spa treatments. As a medical spa we find that chemical peels are great combination therapy and enhance the results of all laser treatments including IPL photo-rejuvenation, and fractional laser resurfacing.  This is because once the dead skin cell layer is removed the laser can penetrate better, and the cell turn-over is accelerated.

Chemical exfoliation penetrates deeper into skin than micro-dermabrasion and exfoliates via high concentrations of AHA/BHA acids. The acids loosen the bonds between skin cells, allowing them to shed quicker than they normally would. Medical spas can use higher concentrations of acids than day spas. While peels can provide rapid results, it’s very important that the esthetician determine what strength is best to use. While peels do cause a tingling sensation, it should be neutralized before the tingling turns into a burning sensation. Everyone has a different tolerance for peels and that tolerance tends to grow with every use. If you are new to a spa or new to chemical peels you should always start with lighter peels and work your skin tolerance up to higher grade peels.  It is also important that the correct type of chemical peel is performed for your skin type. If you have dark skin, always ask what possible side effects there are for the peel being performed and if it is safe for dark skin.

SPF should always be applied at the end of any medical spa chemical peel, facial or laser treatment on the face, chest or body. This is especially important post-treatment as chemical peels and laser treatments increase photo-sensitivity to the treated area. Remember, peels work at the cellular level and are still working long after you’ve left the spa.

Lastly, I have previously stated that many people have a tendency to over-exfoliate, which is detrimental to skin health. Often, clients see impressive results from a peel or microdermabrasion and think that more is better. There have been many times that I’ve kindly discouraged a client who wants microdermabrasion every week! Unfortunately, there are spas that will perform treatments as often as requested. Chemical peels, and laser treatments should always be spread out 2-4 weeks apart depending on the treatment, weekly is too often.

Important tip: Melasma in olive skin types should not be treated with IPL (intense pulsed light) this can make the Melasma worse-we have corrected to many of these mistakes from other medical spas.

In conclusion when deciding on the best medical spa for you, do your research, look at how long the spa has been in business, read online reviews, read their website, ask questions in your consultation, make sure the technician is licensed and appropriate to perform the treatment for you.

Tip: Don’t base your decision on price-it is better to pay a little bit more for a great treatment, then to have to pay to correct an inexpensive treatment that damaged your skin-this can cost ten times more in the long run.

A “liquid face-lift” using cosmetic dermal fillers can be performed on several areas of the face or focus on “trouble spots” such as the deep naso-labial folds (laugh lines) around the nose and mouth. This treatment can give one high cheeks again, mask bags under eyes, lift brows, lift jowls and reshape and restore plump lips, rounded faces and plump cheeks.  Once corrected this procedure can make women and men look 10-15 years younger instantly.

A non-surgical Liquid Face Lift involves the use of advanced dermal fillers, usually in combination with BOTOX and Dysport The injectables used are among a group of 2nd generation dermal fillers that provide more enduring results than earlier products. The new group of 2nd generation, advanced dermal fillers includes JUVEDERM Ultra Plus, Radiesse, Restylane, and Perlane .

While all of the products work slightly different; all dermal fillers replace volume which is something that not even an actual surgical facelift or lasers can do.  This is am amazing “lunch time” procedure that when performed by an experience and licensed Nurse Practitioner, Physician’s Assistant or physician can yield amazing results.

Concern #1: The term Chemical peel sounds intimidating&scary.

The term ‘Chemical’ makes many people think of it as an un-natural process. Actually chemical peels are naturally derived with AHA’s such as lactic acid comes from mikl, mandelic comes from almonds and so on. It features good things like naturally occurring fruit acids and enzymes to prompt your skin to increase its cellular turnover. This means that the collagen production, which slows as we age, is sped back up and with the increase in collagen production, the top layer of your skin cells will gradually “peel” off.

Concern #2: Chemical peels might be painful.

Most chemical peels have mild tingling sensations that do not last longer than a few minutes and are quickly cooled down with cold water or a peel neutralizer.  Many advanced stronger chemical peels such as the VI Peel even have numbing agents built into the peel.  Most peels are over in 25-45 minutes and leave very little discomfort.

Concern #3: Will I look scary after the peel and can I go in public?

There are 3 types of chemical peels-mild, medium & strong.  Mild peels leave your skin refreshed with very little down-time except for some flaking for 24-48 hours.  Medium peels don’t start peeling for 48 hours and mild peeling can occur for 2-3 days.  However all of the peeling can be controlled with the correct post-procedure products.

Chemical peels should be performed monthly as part of your skin care routine. They are an easy way to improve the texture of your skin, and to slow down the aging process.

The Lux1540 laser hand-piece improves the unsightly color and skin texture associated with stretch marks, leaving clients with smoother, better-looking skin in four to five treatments there is a 50%-95% removal of white or red stretchmarks on areas such as the abdomen, hips, breasts, buttocks, thighs, arms, or calves.  For stretch mark treatment, the Lux1540 hand piece delivers an array of high-precision micro-beams to create deep, narrow columns of coagulation in the epidermis and dermis. This triggers a restorative natural healing process that creates healthy new tissue, including the deposition of new collagen.  This treatment improves the tone and texture of the skin while tightening the area and removing unwanted stretch-marks.

This treatment is finally giving hope to new moms, body builders, those who have gained and lost weight as well as young girls who experienced a sudden growth spurt to remove unwanted stretch-marks and regain their confidence.  For more information on this treatment go to www.winterparklaser.com, or www.palomarmedical.com

The closest non-surgical treatment to an actual face-lift is Ablative laser skin resurfacing.  At it’s birth a decade ago the pain was intense and the down-time was 3-4 weeks with risk of infection and local anesthesia.  However, thanks to the modern technology and intelligence of laser companies like Palomar Medical laser resurfacing is not re-born with less pain, faster treatments and minimal downtime & bleeding with maximum results for fine lines, wrinkles, sun damage and loose skin.

Palomar Medical has patented the only bloodless laser resurfacing treatment available-it combines the ablative 2940 hand piece with the non-ablative 1540 hand piece on the Artisan platform for an amazing 1 treatment non-surgical facelift! This treatment is perfect for those with fine lines, wrinkles, large pores or skin that is in need more tightening but don’t want the downtime of surgery or older dot lasers that took 2-5 weeks of downtime. The Palomar fractional laser resurfacing only requires 4-7 days of healing and the holes close in 6 hours (most lasers the holes close in 96 hours) which offers less risk of infection. Fractional ablative wrinkle treatment from Palomar uses pulses of laser light that deliver excellent long-term results in just one simple treatment. The laser light penetrates skin to just the right depth and with just the right level of heat to evoke a dramatic healing response that promotes collagen production, diminishing the appearance of fine lines around the face, especially the eyes and mouth which are most prevalent in clients. It’s a wrinkle treatment that’s easy for the patient.
Benefits of ablative & non ablative laser resurfacing for Clients is One treatment with as little as four days of recovery time, excellent improvement in appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, & minimal treatment discomfort compared to full surface CO2 resurfacing treatments.

“Dermal cosmetic fillers such as Perlane, Juvederm, Radiesse or Restylane are used to replace volume loss in the lips, cheeks & naso-labial folds around the nose and mouth that are usually caused by natural fat pad loss in the cheeks. Fillers act as an instant liquid face-lift to replace loss volume” informs James Farrell M.D.-plastic surgeon & medical director of Winter Park Laser. Botox and Dysport have also become increasingly popular amongst men as they are finally realizing they have to get in the “cosmetic game” to keep up with their younger looking counter parts.

“Men are starting to get concerned with their physical appearance, and it is only becoming more popular, many laser treatments like ablative or non-ablative fractional laser resurfacing or IPL (intense pulsed light) photo-facials to erase sun damage and wrinkles are very popular” says Dr James Farrell, plastic surgeon, Winter Park Laser & Anti-Aging Center. They can now have treatments performed that erase wrinkles within 20-60 minutes and have very little down-time so that no one knows what they have had done.

At Winter Park Laser at our medical spa in Orlando we treat men of all ages and walks of life-from typical masculine construction workers to male models-dermal fillers, laser treatments and Botox offer all men a simple alternative to looking older than their partners-it also helps in a competitive job market where looking younger could help seal the deal on a job contract. For more information on treatments go to www.winterparklaser.com.