A PhotoFacial Treatment is a series of full face, gentle pulsed light treatments intended to improve the appearance of sun damaged and aged skin, as well as reduce facial and neck redness and flushing.
PhotoFacial treatments result in a more youthful-appearing skin. All this improves the visible appearance of the skin with little or no down time.
What are the causes of red faces? As many as seventy million Americans have an undesirable redness and/or sun damage of the face. The more common causes are Rosacea (a condition in up to 13 million people), sun exposure, alcohol, medications, stress, emotional causes, time and aging of the skin, repeated blushing or flushing of the skin and is seen most commonly in fair skinned individuals of northern European descent.
Some of these individuals have a condition called Erythrophobia - a morbid fear of having a red face. A condition, in which some people are shy and embarrassed in public because of fear their face will get red.
An intense light is emitted in a series of gentle pulses over the entire face at intervals of approximately two to three weeks for a series of five treatments. This special light, which is different than laser treatments, emits light over many wavelengths allowing the light to penetrate to all the levels of the skin where abnormal easily dilated vessels can be found.
Lasers produce only a single wavelength of light and are limited in depth of penetration and what they can treat. What if I don't have visible vessels only general skin redness.
Typically 75-95%, on average 90% see improvement and it is seen in most patients. Are there any other conditions that can be treated with the PhotoFacial? Yes, PhotoFacial treatments will also help patients who suffer from photo-aging of the skin, pigmentation from sun exposure (Age Spots), irregularities of skin texture, improves some mild acne scars, reduces large pores and dark circles around the eyes and helps reduce fine lines, especially around the eyes and mouth.
Will I need additional treatments? After your initial series of 3-5 treatments it is possible to require a follow-up treatment in 2 or more years. Your surgeon will educate you in ways of caring for your skin to help diminish the likelihood of future treatments.
Are there any conditions that this treatment won't help? It won't treat frown lines, sometimes known as lines of expression on the face, especially the forehead and between the brows.
It is not a substitute for a face-lift and will not help baggy or sagging skin. It won't cure the puffiness around the eyes for which blepharoplasty surgery is needed. It is not a treatment for skin cancer, but can treat pre-cancers called actinic keratosis. It won't remove bumpy moles, but can remove their pigment. It will remove, however, acquired freckling.
Genetic freckles usually return after treatment. It won't remove those strands of deep parallel blood vessels occasionally seen on the lower cheeks, which can be removed in other ways. It will not remove seborrrheic keratosis including the tiny genetic ones on the upper cheeks and around the eyes sometimes called dermatosis papulosa nigra. It also won't remove sebaceous hyperplasias a benign growth of some oil glands in mid life.
Are there any contraindications to this procedure? Yes, it is not indicated in patients with connective tissue disease or auto immune disorders. It cannot be done during pregnancy, nor can it be done on recently sun-tanned skin or in those who may receive excess sun exposure for a few weeks following treatment.
It cannot be used on patients taking Accutane or for six months after stopping Accutane. The procedure is not usually done on patients with active acne cysts and large pustules. The same is true for highly active rosacea.
Most photosensitive medications such as antibiotics, anti anxiety, sulfa drugs, birth control pills and anti-hypertensive medications are not a contraindication. Care must be taken in patients who get fever blister attacks on the face. An anti-herpes medication can be taken thus avoiding the problem.
Are there any side effects? Yes. Most side effects are mild and of short duration. These can consist of short-term discomfort during the actual treatment. There is usually additional redness immediately following treatment, lasting less than 24 hours in most people, on rare occasions it may last up to three days.
Mild blistering and bruising is possible but in our experience occur in less than 1% and usually clear very quickly. Post treatment pigmentation has been noted on occasion, but is highly treatable and fortunately very rare.
Even more rare is a decrease in pigmentation of the skin after treatments. This also clears in time as well. We have never seen a scar or an infection of the skin after treatment but it can occur. Swelling of the face for 3-5 days occasionally occurs and is most common in severely sun-damaged skin due to reduced quality of connective tissue around the blood vessels.
Author Resource:-
Dave Stringham, the President of LookingYourBest.com writes about plastic surgery in Long Beach, California and cosmetic surgery procedures such as long beach photo-facial, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, tummy tuck, facelift, liposuction, and arm lift.
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