Sagging, Sun Damage and Wrinkles, Oh My!

New ThermaFrax Treatment Treats Just About All of your Skin’s Aging Issues

One of the most common complaints that bring people to my practice is, “I hate my saggy skin!”  Professionally, I would describe this as a loss of elasticity due to age. Personally, I would describe it as just a loss-or turkey neck and jowls!

Some sagging is related to what is known as intrinsic aging. Intrinsic aging occurs despite all of your good efforts. The Buddhist monk who has lived a lifetime within a monastery (and away from the sun) may have no sun damage, yet will still have laxity-though of course he may not care.

The companion to intrinsic aging is regrettably extrinsic aging. This encompasses all of the bad things we do to our bodies-mostly in the pursuit of fun. Sun bathing (including tanning beds), drinking and smoking are the main villains. Extrinsic aging appears as finer wrinkles, age spots, liver spots, broken veins and rough patches.

Add extrinsic to intrinsic and aging is just no fun.

How Can you Treat Both Extrinsic and Intrinsic Aging?
The cure for laxity is skin tightening. The cure for sun and environmental damage is laser resurfacing.

To address the skin’s laxity, a facelift was the only ticket for a very long time. This means, cutting out the extra skin and pulling things tight as a drum. The problem with it is that old-looking skin is just being moved around, redraped so to speak. The skin itself isn’t being addressed.  

To get the best results, skin needs to be renewed at the surface to compliment the redraping. This calls for the blending of two proven cosmetic dermatology procedures, Thermage skin tightening and Fraxel, a kinder and gentler laser resurfacing. When used together, the treatment is known as ThermaFrax.

Skin Tightening with Thermage
Thermage is the gold standard non-invasive treatment for tightening. It has been continuously improved over the last 6 or 7 years and uses radiofrequency energy to gently heat the collagen layer of the skin. This causes an immediate tightening effect followed by long-term continued tightening. New collagen replaces and adds to existing collagen, resulting in a more youthful glow and firmer looking skin.

Skin Resurfacing with Fraxel
Fraxel is the gold standard treatment for laser resurfacing. It is a non-ablative fractional resurfacing laser. This means that no skin is vaporized as it was with older lasers and only a fraction of the surface is treated in order to speed healing. Fraxel removes much of the surface-signs of aging skin including fine lines, wrinkles, brown spots and roughness with only a couple of days of pinkness and puffiness.

Skin Tightening and Resurfacing with ThermaFrax
Add Thermage and Fraxel and you get 1 + 1 = 3. More youthful, lifted, healthier looking skin is the result. My recommended regimen starts with a single Thermage treatment followed immediately by a Fraxel treatment. Two to 8 weeks later an additional Fraxel treatment is performed. In total, 3 to 5 Fraxel treatments delivered over several months is optimal.

 I often recommend specific skincare to compliment and enhance the treatment results. Clinique Medical makes an excellent pre- and post-treatment skincare line available through your physician.

My patients have seen some great results with ThermaFrax treatments, but remember, the best place to find out if it’s right for your skin is to consult with a cosmetic dermatologist. To get the best results, always make sure that the medical professional performing your treatments is well-qualified and has a lot of experience.

If you would like to learn more about Thermage, Fraxel, ThermaFrax and other skin care options, you can attend Van Dyke Laser & Skin’s Skincare Event this Wednesday, June 10^th in Scottsdale, Ariz. Dr. Van Dyke will be giving her famous “Cosmetic Dermatology 101″ lectures on treatment options for the skin and there will be refreshments and treatment demonstrations. For more information, visit http://www.vandykelaser.com/ or Dr. Van Dyke’s blog at http://www.skinenvymd.com/.

About Dr. Susan Van Dyke
Susan Van Dyke, M.D. is a board certified dermatologist who has performed more than 10,000 non-invasive cosmetic procedures and has received the “Physician’s Recognition Award” from the American Medical Association each practicing year. She is a top consultant and national physician trainer for Medicis, Allergan, Lumenis and Solta (manufacturers of Thermage and Fraxel); on the advisory board for Valeant Pharmaceuticals; on the speakers’ bureaus for RevaleSkin, Clinique Medical and Obagi; a “Platinum Plus” BOTOX Cosmetic and Juvéderm Provider; and her practice is designated as a BOTOX Cosmetic National Training Center. Dr. Van Dyke has been honored as a faculty member by the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and is typically one of the first to launch the latest proven therapies in cosmetic medicine. For more information on Dr. Van Dyke and her practice, Van Dyke Laser & Skin, visit www.VanDykeLaser.com.

Hours of operation for Van Dyke Laser & Skin are Tues.-Fri. from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sat. from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. Consultations and appointments can be booked by calling 480.948.5045.