Look your best at any age...
It's only natural that as we age, fine lines, wrinkles, age spots and sagging skin start to appear. Whether aging skin is caused by your genetic make-up or factors such as environment, sun damage or lifestyle, there are many options available for anti-aging that provide younger, fresher looking skin for all ages.
The average adult has about 20 square feet of skin which compromises the epidermis and dermis. This weights approximately 6 lbs. and the epidermis is replaced every 27 days, however, from the third decade on we gradually decrease our ability to replace the epidermis and developing an aged appearing skin that is lifeless and sallow as we get older.
Skin changes through the ages:
Ages 20 - 30: Although the skin is still smooth and supple, expression lines begin to appear on the forehead and around the eyes. Acne can develop even though absent in teenage years, and some scarring may occur from acne flare-ups.
Ages 30 - 40: "Crow's feet" appear around the eyes and forehead lines deepen. Glabellar Frown lines (lines between the eyebrows), naso-labial folds (lines that run from the nose to the mouth) smile lines and lines at the corners of the mouth (marionette lines) begin to appear. From years of sun damage the appearance of brown spots (lentigos), liver spots, freckles and other signs of sundamage begin to appear.
Ages 40 - 50: "Smokers" lines appear above the vermilion border (along the top of the lip) even if you never smoked and "commas" at the corners of the mouth deepen and lengthen to the chin. The vermilion border itself loses definition. Expression lines deepen around the mouth, forehead, and brows. The neck and "jowls"begin to sag.
Ages 50 - 60: During these years you'll begin to notice several changes, including the redistribution of facial fat and softening definition of the cheeks. Sun spots and brown spots worsen and increase. "Frown" lines and expression lines continue to deepen and the neck becomes pouchy, lax and increase in prominent neck lines.
Which treatments do I need?
To determine the appropriate treatment for anti aging, Dr. Caglia will first discuss your desired level of correction for wrinkled skin and then recommend the appropriate procedure that will give you the proper result. Dr. Caglia will thoughly evaluate your skin and recommend several laser treatments for wrinkled skin such as, Mini Resurfacing or a full thickness, multiple pass resurfacing with CO2 fractional (carbon dioxide) resurfacing laser. Some places advertise CO2 laser resurfacing for extremely low pricing. This is fine for those who require single pass Mini-Resurfacing. However, this is generally reserved for those patients in their 30's that have generally taken care of their skin. However, those patients in their 40's - 50's who have lax, sun damaged, wrinkles or more almost always require multiple pass high powered resurfacing to shrink or tighten lax or loose skin and remove deep wrinkles and scars, including acne scarring. To do a Mini Resurfacing on this particular group of patients is doing them a disservice and they will not get the results they should and in the long run will be an unhappy group of patients. So the consumer should be aware that not all resurfacing is equal. Therefore, a patient should have a consultation and see a physician for evaluation and be completely informed of the procedure and the expectations of the procedure they are preparing to have.
Fine to moderate wrinkles, broken blood vessels, age spots, acne scars and mildly sagging skin respond well to many laser procedures. For changes related to gravity and redistribution of facial fat and dynamic wrinkles (caused by muscle contraction) Botox Cosmetic and dermal fillers such as Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, Sculptra, Radiesse, and a more permanent filler such as Artefill can complement your fractional CO2 laser skin resurfacing procedure. Together these procedures will set your physical appearance back by 10-15 years all without invasive surgery.
Dr. Caglia performs a variety of anti-aging skin treatments for patients from Dallas, Richardson, Plano, Frisco, Allen, Southlake, Garland, Addison, Mesquite, McKinney, Grapevine, Rockwall, White Rock, Fort Worth and throughout Texas.
Wrinkle prevention treatments
As Baby Boomers have entered their 50's and 60's, the demand for cosmetic dermatology procedures has grown along with the advances in anti-aging technologies. Younger patients in their 30's and 40's have steadily gained more interest in new aesthetic treatments to stay young and fight off the effects of aging. One of the most basic drugs available to us and have had the most studies done on anti-aging is Tretinoin (Retinoid products). In a nut shell tretinoin reverses the aging of skin by thinning the statum corneum, thicken the epidermis, and reversing the changes that take place in the skin with advancing age and sun damage by increasing new collagen production and decreasing the production of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP). Tretinoin also decreases areas of hyperpigmentation and lentigines (brown spots).
Botox is one of the most recognized wrinkle fighters for anti-aging. It actually prevents wrinkles from appearing by relaxing the underlying muscles so they don't contract. Botox blocks impulses from the nerve to the tiny facial muscles that are related to expression lines. After treatment, the overlying skin remains smooth and unwrinkled while the untreated facial muscles contract in a normal fashion, allowing your normal facial expression to be unaffected.
Treatments for wrinkles, texture, and tightening
Tretinoin (Retin-A, Differin, Tazarac, Refissa etc.) reverses the skin damage caused by sun damage causing leathery texture, wrinkles, laxity and sallowness.
Microdermabrasion removes only the outermost layer of dead skin to reveal softer, smoother and fresher looking skin.
Wrinkle Injections using soft tissue dermal fillers (Juvederm, Restylane, Perlane, Sculptra Aesthetic, Sculptra, Radiesse and Artefill) can improve the appearance of facial wrinkles by injections under the skin that plump up the skin where the wrinkles were and give you a more youthful appearance. Botox can be placed in certain areas to relax the muscle under the skin that is causing the wrinkle and minimize this.
Tissue Tightening uses safe, radiofrequency volumetric heating (Thermage) to cause the collagen in the skin's dermis to contract and tighten. Loose and sagging skin can be tightened, fine lines and wrinkles can be softened without downtime. These procedures have less predictability and intensity than does the gold standard of Fractional CO2 Laser Resurfacing with SmartXide DOT.
Photo Rejuvenation is a system that uses intense pulsed light (IPL) to treat age spots caused by sun damage and broken capillaries. This procedure is generally in a series every 4 weeks to get the desired improvement. With repeated treatments over many months there tends to be and improved texture of the skin and coupled with the use of topical antioxidants and Trentinoin (Retin-A, Differin, Tazarac).
Light Chemical Peels (Jessners, Glycolic Acid) gently exfoliate, smooth and soften the skin while they gently remove the outer skin cell layer. Light chemical peels can renew your skin's texture and improve its clarity. Combined with topical medication such as Retin-A, Trentinoin, Differin and "bleaching creams" (Hydroquinone) are great choices for treatment of melasma and hyperpigmented skin conditions.
Fractional Lasers produce tiny microthermal zones, penetrating into the mid to deeper dermis and leaving the surrounding skin unaffected and intact. These areas treated are much like pixels seen on your television and the pixel is the treated area. Because of fractional treatment of the skin it heals much faster because of the stem cells that surround each treated hole are left untouched. Therefore, healing is much faster.
What is recovery like?
After Dr. Caglia performs your anti-aging skin treatment he will explain your aftercare. This generally involves using a post laser type of cream for a few days depending on the treatment you have. You may experience some redness and/or swelling with various treatments.
Maintaining your results
For optimum results, it's important to follow up your skin care rejuvenation treatments with the appropriate home skin care program. Your skin care program may include the best prescriptive and nonprescriptive products to help you reach your goal. Our staff is trained to help you select the correct skin care products based on your skin type, your desired level of improvement, your tolerance to ingredients and your lifestyle.
Find out if you could benefit from these procedures. Schedule your consultation with the skin care expert at our practice today. Call 972-690-7070
[Page Last Edited on January 30, 2012]
