Top 10 aesthetic medical procedures: heroes of our time

aesthetic rejuvenation of facial skin

Each year, the American Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), one of the most respected professional societies, publishes statistics on the demand for services. In 2016, the most popular areas of non-surgical cosmetology included injectable and laser techniques: botulinum therapy, hyaluronic acid injections, laser hair removal, laser skin resurfacing, as well as photorejuvenation, microdermabrasion and more.

In our article we will talk about the most popular methods of "beauty therapy".

Injection technique in cosmetology

Injectables are popular primarily because they allow you to achieve the desired results without surgery. The types of injections differ depending on the depth at which they are performed: from the superficial layers of the skin to deep muscle layers. The duration of the effect also varies: from a few weeks to several years.

Let's characterize the main injection methods used today in cosmetology.

Botulinum treatment

This is an introduction to drugs made from botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Its action blocks the transmission of nerve signals to the muscles, so they relax. Initially, botulinum toxin therapy was used to treat disorders associated with seizures, such as tics, and later began to be used to smooth out wrinkles.

Indications for the use of botulinum toxin in cosmetology are wrinkles on the face - in the corners and around the eyes, on the forehead, in the corners of the mouth, nasal folds, as well as changes in the oval face. Medium-deep wrinkles are smoothed out with the help of botulinum toxin, which reverses a number of age-related changes.

The procedure is not performed if the patient has inflammatory skin diseases, bleeding disorders or has been treated with antibiotics and anticoagulants. Contraindications are also kidney or liver failure, individual intolerance to botulinum toxin and inhibition of facial muscles. Women are not injected during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Doctors treat patients with caution who tend to deal with inflammation, eyelid hernias, and cerebrovascular accidents.

Preparation for the operation does not require serious restrictions: it is recommended to avoid physical exertion and not to drink alcohol. Injections with fine needles usually do not cause discomfort. The doctor can perform up to 25 injections in one area of the face during the procedure. This takes 10–15 minutes. The effect can be evaluated after 2 weeks. Wrinkles are smoothed out due to muscle relaxation, but with professionally performed injections, expressions and expressions are preserved.

The result of botulinum treatment is reversible, the effect lasts from 3 to 6 months. After this, the mobility of the facial muscles returns completely.

Interest

One unit of activity is equal to 3 × 107 molecules of botulinum toxin. The dose (number of units of action) is determined by the beautician. On average, we are talking about the following numbers:

  • forehead area - 20-30 units;
  • chin - up to 10 units;
  • area around the eyes - 24 units;
  • nose and bridge of the nose - 10 units.

Outline plastic

During the procedure, the doctor uses special fillers (fillers) to correct wrinkles, contours of the face and its individual areas. Modern cosmetic injections are performed with fillers, which make it possible to achieve the so-called 3D modeling effect while preserving all facial features.

Interest
Most modern fillers are based on hyaluronic acid. It is part of the intercellular material and plays an important role in maintaining the water balance of tissues and restoring them in case of damage. Hyaluronic acid injections not only help to moisturize tissue, but also stimulate the body's own production of framework proteins - collagen and elastin.

Indications for contouring plastic surgery include wrinkles, folds and a vaguely oval face. Contraindications: cancer, diabetes, connective tissue diseases, skin diseases, blood coagulation diseases, pregnancy and breastfeeding, individual intolerance.

Contour plastic surgery does not require special preparation. A number of medications for that include anesthetics, or your doctor may administer local anesthesia. After contouring, swelling, bruising and swelling may occur at the injection site, which will resolve on their own within a few days.

The effect of contouring can last up to two years.

Biofortification

Hyaluronic acid has been used in bioreinforcement, a special procedure that leads to the formation of the "inner frame" of the face. If the patient's skin has lost its tone, looks dull, dull, if there are fine wrinkles and signs of ptosis, then the doctor injects drugs after "sagging lines" that maintain skin tone from within. In this case, the doctor can predict exactly how wrinkles will form and, by introducing hyaluronic acid preparations, prevent them from appearing.

CPR

Injections are also intended to moisturize and saturate the skin in a specific area with nutrients. In this case, we are talking about the bioresuscitation method. With its help, you can improve the condition of the skin on the hands, neck, throat and face.

Injections must not be used if the patient has inflammatory skin diseases or is allergic to the ingredients of the medicine. The period of pregnancy, breastfeeding, as well as the aggravation of physical diseases are also obstacles to both bioresuscitation and biofortification.

No special preparation is necessary before hyaluronic acid is administered. Slight redness of the skin after resuscitation disappears within a few hours. The effect lasts up to 12 months. CPR is usually performed once every 1-2 months.

Vector lifting

To tighten the skin of certain areas (for example, in the cheekbones, chin), doctors use vector lifts. It's similar to bioreinforcement, only the drug is injected along several parallel lines towards the desired lift.

For lifting with a vector, preparations of hyaluronic acid and calcium hydroxyapatite are used. The choice in favor of the latter is made if it is necessary to lift an area prone to inflammation. The absorption time of this drug is longer than hyaluronic acid - up to 3 years.

Plasma lifting

The essence of this technique is to give the patient his own plasma containing platelets. Plasma contains many biologically active substances that stimulate cell growth, participate in metabolism, and, very importantly, its plasma is not a foreign substance for the body. This means that it is not rejected and does not cause an allergic reaction.

Plasmolifting improves microcirculation in the skin, normalizes water balance and strengthens local immunity. The procedure is performed if the patient begins to develop fine wrinkles, the first signs of age, to restore the health of the skin (for example, after a sunburn). Plasma lifting can also enhance the effect of other cosmetic procedures.

Plasmolifting also has several contraindications, although they are few:

  • cancer diseases, hepatitis, blood diseases;
  • pregnancy and breastfeeding;
  • infectious and inflammatory diseases of the skin;
  • exacerbation of chronic diseases, acute infections.

To perform a plasma lift, 20-40 ml of blood is taken from the patient's vein. Next, it is centrifuged in a special mode to obtain a plasma fraction with a high platelet content. Then the doctor injects the resulting part of the skin into a micropowder throughout the treatment area. A standard course includes 4 sessions 7-14 days apart and the effect can last up to two years. However, it is recommended to repeat the course once a year.

Mesotherapy

Administration of medication by microinjection directly into the skin to improve its properties. Mesotherapy is used to nourish and hydrate the skin and prevent aging. It is also used to fight stretch marks and stimulate hair growth and vitality. For injections, you can use not only single drugs, but also mesotherapy cocktails that have a complex effect. With superficial administration, biorevitalization and plasma lifting are also considered as mesotherapy options.

For large areas to be treated, doctors use special devices - injectors. The need for anesthesia is determined by the patient's individual sensitivity.

Injection technology is attractive primarily to patients who are afraid of surgery. But it is worth considering that it is always possible that an individual reaction to a drug may occur, which is difficult to predict in advance. In addition, injections carry the risk of hemoglobin formation, changes in skin color, fibrosis - the formation of a seal at the injection site. All these risks must be discussed with your doctor beforehand.

As statistics show. . .
. . . women between the ages of 35 and 64 make up about 60% of all those who seek help from beauticians.

Laser technology in aesthetic medicine

The essence of laser exposure can be understood by deciphering the acronym LASER - Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation - "light amplification by stimulated emission. "That is, a laser is a device that "focuses" electromagnetic radiation into a very powerful direct beam. It is becausethat the laser beam can be aimed precisely and pulsed.

The use of lasers in cosmetology is possible in several areas.

Laser rejuvenation

The technology is based on heating the skin with radiation. These effects are short-lived, meaning they do not cause serious damage. However, it is enough to cause inflammation as a reaction. As a result, the production of collagen is stimulated in the skin and it is a structural protein that gives elasticity and tone. With this effect, wrinkles are "pushed" outwards.

Indications for laser resurfacing include fine lines, visible vascularity, enlarged pores, soft tissue ptosis, reduced facial contours, presence of scars on the skin, post-acne, double chin, excessive pigmentation. The procedure must not be used if the patient has inflammation and tumors in the treatment area, psoriasis or skin diseases. Laser rejuvenation is not performed during pregnancy or if the patient has a strong tan. The procedure requires special attention in patients with diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris, in patients with blood disorders, etc.

Deep laser rejuvenation does not require special preparation and is performed without anesthesia. To get a lasting effect, you need to do 3-4 procedures with a monthly interval.

Fractional photothermolysis

Wrinkles, age spots, enlarged pores, scars on the skin, crow's feet, stretch marks, small varicose veins - all these problems can be solved by undergoing refracted photothermography.

This is also a laser technique for aesthetic medicine, but here the beam has its own characteristics. It is divided into several microrays (fragments), each of which is no thicker than a human hair. All of them affect microscopic areas of the skin and thus a kind of "mesh" treatment is obtained - areas that were affected by the laser beam are replaced by areas that were not affected. In the treated areas, collagen and elastin are destroyed and in the intact cells that remainprocesses to recover "losses" have been initiated. This renews the skin, increases its elasticity, tone and improves its appearance.

Fractional photothermolysis is a procedure that can be performed even on sensitive areas of the face, such as the eyelids. Contraindications for it are pregnancy, cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases or acute skin diseases.

Recovery from fractional photothermia occurs quickly, literally within a week, and the base layer of the epidermis returns to normal on the first day. To make the effect more noticeable, doctors recommend attending 3-4 sessions at monthly intervals.

In case of increased sensitivity, the patient undergoes an operation with numbing gel, but in most cases this can be avoided.

SMAS lifting

The English abbreviation SMAS - superficial muscular-aponeurotic system - stands for "subcutaneous muscular-aponeurotic layer". It is formed by muscles and ligaments. Lifting this layer allows you to achieve good results. That is, by tightening the skin we fight against superficial wrinkles and by acting on the SMAS we smooth out deeper folds.

SMAS lifts are performed using an ultrasound machine. By heating the deep layers of skin and muscles, the ultrasound wave causes them to contract and activates the formation of structural proteins. Acceleration of metabolic processes leads to improved appearance.

SMAS lifts are often recommended for patients who, for one reason or another, do not want to undergo surgery. Another category of patients who are suitable for SMAS lifts are those who have undergone surgery and are looking to prolong the results.

During the procedure, using ultrasound, the beautician "sees" the deep layers and assesses the condition of the muscles and brain. Accordingly, the therapeutic effect of energy ultrasound is directed by the doctor to the necessary depth on the affected muscles, brain and ligaments.

SMAS lifting does not require special preparation. The procedure is moderately painful; taking pain medication will allow you to tolerate it comfortably. The effect is partially visible immediately after the operation, and the results of lifting can be fully evaluated after three months.

Injection technology in cosmetology and laser aesthetic cosmetology make it possible to solve many problems that just a few years ago required surgery. Extending youth is not only a dream of women, today both young people and men who previously rarely visited beauty salons seek the services of beauticians. And the opportunity to solve many problems without surgery, of course, makes aesthetic medicine more and more attractive and in demand.

How to choose a salon

Probably, all visitors to beauty salons will say that one of the key points in choosing "your" clinic and "your" doctor is an individual approach implemented (or not implemented) by a specialist. A cosmetologist will tell you about the nuances of combining personal and objective approaches:

"When we work in cosmetology, we cannot act only based on our wishes and viewpoints. We must take into account the patient's expectations, his mood, including his doubts and fears. Here, the experience of experts plays a decisive role. For example, the Gradient clinic employs beauticians with higher medical education, specialization in the field of aesthetic medicine and also trained in modern technology. This makes it possible to look at the problem more broadly.

And we cannot fail to mention the importance of modern equipment. Manufacturers are aiming to improve devices, and clinics, as well as patients themselves, are certainly noticing this. "

Aesthetic medicine and cosmetology make it possible to correct many appearance defects such as wrinkles, scars, acne, which improves appearance and prolongs youth.

Expression wrinkles that show age can be eliminated by using cosmetic products such as facial lines.

Modern medical technology helps to solve many cosmetic problems without using drastic measures.

The cost of cosmetic surgery depends on the complexity of the project, the area of correction and the amount of work.

You can ask any questions you may have during your first consultation with an esthetician.