Davis

We’re taking better care of our facial skin these days, which is great, but it’s spawned kind of an unnatural look, where a youthful face is paired with a neck and chest that show the signs of sun damage and premature aging.

Devoting some of your energy to that highly-visible part of your body, which is otherwise referred to as the décolletage (everything sounds better in French, right?), will eliminate the striking contrast and focus the attention on your glowing appearance.

Like the face, the best course of treatment for the décolletage is comprised of few different in-office treatments, each meant to target specific concerns.

So long dark spots

Dark spots become much more numerous and pronounced on the chest after years of sun exposure. An intense pulsed light (IPL) breaks up the pigment so that it can be absorbed by the body. It’s also effective for treating broken blood vessels.

Generally, people undergo a series of three to six IPL treatments, which are spaced about a month apart.

Halo is another option. It’s the first fractioned laser that combines both ablative and nonablative technology. In other words, it targets the epidermis and dermis layers of the skin, enabling it to minimize the appearance of pore size and cut down on dark spots.

What lines?

Injectable dermal fillers, like Sculptra Aesthetic, can plump the skin, minimizing and, often, even eliminating those vexing fine lines. It was approved by the FDA in 2014 for treating wrinkles on the face, but it has a number of off-label applications, too, including correcting chest, elbow, and knee wrinkles.

Sculptra’s main ingredient is poly-L-lactic acid, a collagen stimulator that creates natural-looking results that can last up to a couple of years. It’s not uncommon to see results after a treatment, but they typically take a few months to fully develop.

The contours of a young woman

The treatment for loose neck skin depends on the severity of the sagging. For those on the mild end of the spectrum, there’s Ultherapy, an ultrasound therapy which triggers a healing response that creates more collagen. In turn, the skin tightens and lifts gradually.

For those with very loose skin, there are minimally-invasive variations of the facelift that specifically target the neck.

What I’ve described here, essentially, is an investment of a few months for a return of 10 or even 20 years. It sounds almost too good to be true, I know. But it is.

Almost 16 million minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures were performed in 2018, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. That’s nearly nine times the number of cosmetic surgeries that were done over the same time.

Minimally-invasive treatments are trending in a big way for a few easy-to-appreciate reasons:

• They’re fast
• There’s little discomfort
• They don’t require general anesthesia
• There’s little to no downtime
• They’re economical

The “nonsurgical facelift” is kind of an umbrella term that’s used to describe a combination of minimally-invasive and nonsurgical procedures. The specific combination is tailored to the patient’s needs, but the general goal is to rejuvenate the appearance—and to do it much more quickly than a traditional facelift, which typically entails surgery, general anesthesia, and recovery time.

The various treatments that comprise a nonsurgical facelift can address anything from fine lines and deep creases to loose skin and large pores to acne scarring and sunken cheeks. These are a few of the most common elements:

Dermal Fillers

Dermal fillers are kind of the core of the nonsurgical facelift because a few injections can accomplish so much. By plumping thin lips and sunken cheeks, temples, and under-eye areas, dark shadows vanish and take years of aging with them. , but the plumping and smoothing derived from other dermal fillers can last from six to 12 months.

Botox

Botox, can also create definition and smooth tissues for a wrinkle-free look. The benefits of Botox last about three months.

Fat Injections

You can also use your own fat to also address loss of fullness in your face as you age.  The fat tissue is removed from another area of the body through liposuction, and reinjected into the face to enhance volume. Those cells will be naturally incorporated, leaving youthful contours that will last for years.

NeckTite (Radiofrequency Lift)

Radiofrequency lifts are being featured more prominently in the nonsurgical facelift as a means to instantly—and permanently—redefine the lower portion of the face and neck. It’s a minimally-invasive procedure where small incisions are made under the chin and behind the ears. A fine probe is then threaded under the skin, which will essentially melt the underlying fat and tighten the skin around it.

Chemical peels, dermabrasion, and microdermabrasion and Lasers

A chemical peel helps create a glowing complexion by shrinking large pores and improving the overall quality of the skin. While dermabrasion and microdermabrasion resurface and exfoliate the skin. As dry, damaged, and dead tissue is shed, fresher skin comes to the surface. And as it does, fine lines, wrinkles, and hyperpigmentation fade.

Most of the treatments will need to be repeated every few months for the best results. But, the more diligent you are about it, the less you may need in the future. The hyaluronic acid in dermal fillers, for example, increases the body’s own collagen production, meaning that, over time, you should need less of it—making a cost-effective procedure even more attractive.

A survey conducted not too long ago by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery found that two-thirds of those polled were self-conscious about their double chins.

The technical name for it is submental fullness. The causes vary. In some, it’s just something they’re born with, passed down through genetics. In others, it can appear later in life, as a result of aging or weight gain. Either way, the double chin is one of those conditions that never really goes away, no matter how much you diet or exercise.

For a long time, the only available treatment for a double chin was liposuction, which struck many as fairly invasive considering the size and location of the area of concern. But a new option entered the picture a few years ago, and it’s completely revolutionized the experience.

When Kybella is injected into the fat beneath the chin, it destroys the fat cells, which results in a significant reduction in the fullness under the chin. It’s fast, it’s noninvasive, it’s permanent, and there’s little to no downtime.

Approved by the FDA in 2015, Kybella uses a synthetic form of deoxycholic acid, which aids fat digestion. When Kybella’s injected into subcutaneous fat, the acid breaks down fat in the targeted locations.

In more than 20 clinical studies involving over 1,600 patients treated with Kybella, nearly 70 percent reported physical and emotional improvement.

Kybella’s effectiveness in treating other small pockets of fat, beyond the double chin, is being investigated. Studies involving the upper knees and the roll of fat that can be present under the bra line or between the bra and armpit are underway.

What’s the procedure like?

You’ll receive a series of injections over about 15 to 20 minutes. How many injections you’ll receive and treatments you’ll need will depend on the amount of fat under your chin and your aesthetic goals. In the studies, 59 percent of patients underwent six treatments. Each treatment is given at least a month apart, but there are patient’s that love the results after one treatment for a double chin.

Is there any downtime?

There can be some minor swelling, numbness around the treated area following the injections, but it’s usually short-lived and nothing that would prevent you from, say, returning to work following a treatment or running some errands.

Your double chin will improve gradually over the next few weeks as the dissolved fat is cleared naturally. And within a few months, maybe even less, it’ll be as though it never existed.

No two scars are alike, yet they all share something in common: Every scar feels like it’s overstayed its welcome.

How do you get rid of them, then? To answer that, I need to explain first what a scar is, exactly.

Scars are evaluated by their size, location, and texture. Scar tissue is made of collagen, a tough, fibrous protein. When the tissue forms, it can appear red and raised and feel hard, but with time, it usually fades, flattens, and softens.

Almost every kind of cut results in a scar, but we don’t all form scars the same way. A keloid, for example, occurs when the skin creates an excessive amount of collagen while it heals and the scar tissue grows beyond the boundaries of the original wound, creating a puffy, round protrusion.

It’s thought that genetics may play some role in keloids, but it’s still not understood why some form them and others don’t.

Stretch marks are their own kind of scar. We know what they form: as a result of the skin expanding quickly during pregnancy, weight gain, and growth spurts. They also sometimes crop up when a wound’s near an elbow or a knee.

Now that we have an idea of what a scar is, let’s get into how we can treat them.

Beneath the surface

At first glance, it looks like there’s no shortage of remedies for stretch marks. But here’s the thing: A recent meta-analysis (a study of a bunch of studies) found that over-the-counter topical skincare products are ineffective at preventing and reducing stretch marks.

But, really, that’s only confirming what we’ve long suspected. Stretch marks occur deep in the dermal layer of the skin, so moisturizers and oils were never going to have an impact.

The good news: retinol sprays and creams, which contain 0.1 percent tretinoin, better known by its brand name, Retin-A, do penetrate the upper layer of the skin and rebuilds collagen. They’re available only by prescription, and not everyone seems to benefit to the same degree, but those who’ve responded the best have had new stretch marks. So, if you’re considering it, seek treatment sooner rather than later.

Sculptra Aesthetic, a dermal filler, works in a similar way, gradually rebuilding collagen at the dermal layer of the skin. It’s made from a biocompatible, biodegradable, synthetic material called poly-L-lactic-acid, which is gradually and naturally absorbed by the body during a series of treatments.

A one-two punch

One of the most effective treatments for keloids is Botox used in combination with laser therapy.

The Botox temporarily halts the excess collagen production. But in doing so, it can cause the skin or surrounding fat to atrophy, which leads to indentations around the site of the injection. So, a laser’s used to create channels in the skin, which will allow the Botox to penetrate the skin evenly.

The laser also reorganizes the collagen fibers, which helps to smooth and flatten the keloid.