Cosmetic Laser Advances Gain Momentum

For many people, diet and exercise successfully keeps them healthy and looking good, but for some men and women, no amount of exercise and 'weight watching' can get rid of those stubborn love handles or lower belly fat.  Fortunately there are many new non-invasive (non-surgical) treatments available to help combat those stubborn areas.

The Body Contouring Institute offers the most complete range of services for removing fat pockets; offering Ultrasound, Mesotherapy, Radio Frequency, CoolSculpting, Thermage, and Liposuction.  Sometimes, it may be beneficial to undergo a combination of treatments to achieve overall desired results.

The American Academy of Dermatology provides an explanation of some of the latest advances on reducing body fat in this article: Cosmetic laser advances gain momentum | aad.org

Fraxel Laser for Stretch Marks

Did you know that Fraxel laser treatment can do more than skin resurfacing?

True, it is great for skin texture and making skin look younger, but it is also the treatment of choice for acne and surgical scars and can reduce the visibility of unwanted stretch marks.  Stretch mark treatment with a fractional laser, which promotes collagen production and thickening of the dermis, can reduce their appearance.

Fractional laser treatments can dramatically improve stretch marks and improvements in texture and color can be achieved with a series of treatments.  A series typically consists of 5 to 6 treatments.

 Before and After courtesy of Fraxel.com

Buttock Aesthetics

A Classification For Buttock Aesthetics and Its Relevance To Beautification Procedures

Opinions of what is beautiful serves an age-old controversy.  This is the case for both facial and corporal beauty.  Indeed, it is epoch, ethnic, and celebrity sensitive.

Thin lips were the ideal in the 50’s; now lip augmentation is one of the most widely performed cosmetic procedures.  Likewise, the 50’s idealized a higher waist to hip ratio than the nineties. However, a shift is being felt in body aesthetics.   

Probably, motivated mostly by the idolization of voluptuous celebrities such as Beyonce Knowles and Kim Kardashian, a greater, lower body curvature is increasingly desired by many women.   However, just as various facial contours are seen by different observers as prettier than others, buttock enhancement candidates often have a wide variety of expectations regarding their buttock contours. 

Concomitantly, it is risky for cosmetic physicians to assume that their own assessment for lower body beauty corresponds to that of the patient.  Mutually understandable reference points can be very helpful in achieving the result that is satisfactory to the patient.

Example Buttock Enhancement Index

 

MELASMA AND PIGMENTATION TREATMENTS

Melasma (also referred to as Chloasma) is a very common skin disorder.  Melasma and hyper-pigmentation  is the  darkening and discoloration  of the skin caused by an excessive production of melanin.  This darkening of the skin appears mostly on the face, but can also be present on the neck.

Melanin is the body's natural darkening pigment, but when it is focussed in one area it creates uneven skin tone and dark brown patches.  It is most common in young women with darker skin types, but it can affect anyone.  Common causes include pregnancy, birth control pills, prolonged outdoor sun exposure, and hormonal imbalances.

For women, concealing these patchy brown areas can sometimes be achieved with makeup, but this is not entirely effective and is often time consuming and expensive. For men, the use of concealer and makeup is generally not a desired option.

Melasma treatment on dark skin with Fraxel

Our office has treated many patients successfully with various approaches, including: Caracas chemical masque, high potency bleaching agents for home use, Fraxel laser, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL).

We currently offer all the above treatments in our office.  After treatment, you can help prevent Melasma from returning by wearing sunscreen everyday.

Non-surgical body contouring with minimal downtime please!

Recent advancements in non-surgical technology have lead to more readily available options to remove unwanted fat, shape your body and tighten skin.

Many people (men and women) are now interested in reshaping and contouring their bodies without surgery. Those that may have been deterred by the length of time in surgery, long recovery periods and the possible risks of side effects are now turning to non surgical body contouring procedures.

Technologies such as ultrasound, radio-frequency, and cryolipolysis have made it possible to remove small areas of unwanted fat without surgery and with either no or very limited recovery time. In most instances normal daily activity can resume immediately.

Non-invasive, non-surgical body shaping treatments such as Thermage, Therma Sculpting, CoolSculpting, Mesotherapy and Lipodissolve can provide men and women with their desired body shape.  These treatments, depending on the candidate, may take several sessions to reach the desired outcome, but this is a trade-off many are willing to make to forgo surgery.

Booty Boost

It seems everyone is wanting to boost their booty lately! 

We have seen many butts in the past few months, perhaps it is because summer has been fast approaching!  Our P-FAB treatment does not involve silicone in any way.  We use only FDA approved long duration permanent fillers by injection only.  The best thing (aside from your free consultation) is that the buttock tissue enlarges naturally to achieve the desired contour.

Surgical or non-surgical fat removal?

According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, liposuction was the 2nd most common plastic surgery procedure performed in 2012 with 313,011 procedures. Liposuction is very effective at body shaping, however it also has risks associated with it such as sensation changes, scarring, bleeding, infections, long down time, blood clots and even fatalities.

If you are wanting to get rid of those stubborn fat pockets, but don't feel comfortable with the idea of Liposuction/surgery, there are other options available such as non-invasive fat removal procedures CoolSculpting or Mesotherapy/Lipodissolve.

CoolSculpting is a FDA-cleared procedure that exterminates fat cells underneath the skin by freezing them. It takes a few months for the effects of your first treatment to become apparent (it can take several months for your body to naturally dispose of the fat cells). There is little to no down time with CoolSculpting.

LipoDissolve is a specific type of Mesotherapy that targets spot fat reduction using injections of phosphatidylcholine (a supplement derived from lecithin).  It is great for smaller fat pockets such as: under the eyes, facial jowls, double chins, abdominal pouches, bra fat and love handles.

It can be beneficial to combine services for removing fat pockets; including CoolSculpting, LipoDissolve, Ultrasound, Radio Frequency and Thermage as part of your overall treatment plan.

CoolSculpting is a breakthrough, non-invasive procedure that uses cooling technology to noticeably eliminate fat without surgery. - See more at: http://www.coolsculpting.com/how-it-works/patient-faqs#sthash.bS4m3Xe

Lasers and Acne Scars

Acne scars are very effectively treated only by a non-ablative (no shedding of skin and no down time) fraxelated lasers. We have seen dramatic improvement with such treatments. These layers penetrate much deeper than the ablative, skin peeling ablative CO2 and erbium lasers which can not safely reach the bottom of most acne scars. Ironically the latter are the treatment of choice for wrinkles; the former are often promoted for wrinkles for which they do nothing. The flip is true for acne scars.

Do you have loose body skin?

A clearer sign of aging than anything the face can show us is loose skin of the elbows, knees & abdomen. 

Thermage ( radiofrequency ) in appropriately selected patients can yield significant results without surgical scars or downtime. 

We offer free Thermage consultations in our Beverly Hills and Woodland Hills office to determine if you are a good candidate for treatment.

Buttock Augmentation

Buttock Augmentation is an area of cosmetic medicine which can be a cautionary tale ( no pun intended ).

Let's look at what goes on:

BUTTOCK IMPLANTS: Most plastic surgeons refuse to do these any longer because they will spend too much time having to remove them in patients whose implants have moved or become infected.

SILICONE INJECTIONS: Several deaths have been reported from these: silicone migrates and can clog essential blood vessels. End of story.

BIOALCAMIDE INJECTIONS: The use of this plastic is not approved in the US for any use and for good reason: it often induces late onset inflammation and infections with disastrous results.

Appropriate Treatment of Cellulite

The appropriate treatment of cellulite is dependent on its severity.  For mild cellulite, ultra sound can be very beneficial.  We perform it weekly for a series of 6-18 treatments.  The cost is moderate and there is no downtime.

For more severe cases it is necessary to eliminate the bands which hold down the fat into depressions: for this we use Cellucision℠ which is done with a needle sized blade. There is a healing period of about a month when compression garments must be worn.  There may be some bruising.  Results in our Center and in Brazil appear to be permanent for those treated areas. Our website has more information on Cellucision.

Fraxel Laser for Stretch Mark Removal

STRETCH MARKS

There has been absolutely NOTHING that has improved stretch marks until now. The Fraxel laser ( both 750 & 1550 ) has shown remarkable uniformly reproducible results on white stretch marks anywhere on the body. 

We at the Skin Rejuvenation & Body Contouring Institute have treated 100's of patients with the Fraxel laser for over 4 years with many gratified patients.

A series of 5 treatments spaced a month or more apart is optimum, though improvement is frequently noted after the first treatment. There is no downtime: merely some redness & mild swelling for a few days.

Fraxel for Stretch Mark Removal