The Beauty Calendar
Recovery is the key to your anti-ageing result
An often-asked question from our regular clients at SAI is about duration between treatments. How long should one wait before returning for the next treatment in the cycle, or how long before we can add another treatment to eradicate another problem area caused by premature ageing? We all know and understand that post treatment healing is as much a part of the treatment cycle as is the treatment itself and we know that the skin needs to fully heal before returning for the next treatment to further enhance the aesthetic result. But sometimes the question of “how long” goes beyond simple skin healing.
Here are a few ideas to swirl around your mind when planning you perfect treatment calendar. Of course, this will all be discussed with you during the SAI consultation with either Dr Marks or Dr Clark, but our belief is that patient education is of paramount importance.
Why the wait? I feel great!
The world of aesthetic medicine is rapidly succeeding in achieving the holy grail: Zero downtime. That being said, this is not always possible, simply due to the semi-invasive nature of treatments but in the cases where we at SAI promote zero or minimal downtime, we are in most cases referring to social downtime. This means that we have discovered treatment techniques that will allow you to head off for a drink or host a cocktail party shortly after undergoing an SAI treatment without anyone being the wiser. But this unfortunately does not mean that the processes beneath the skin we are activating for anti-ageing purposes are not yet in full swing.
Just because you cannot associate the ongoing anti-ageing benefit due to visible healing or downtime, does not mean the treatment cycle is not in full effect. In these instances you will still need to follow strict post treatment advice from Dr Clark or Dr Marks for the ultimate treatment results.
What is going on beneath the skin?
There are many treatment options, and numerous treatment variables to discuss for these different skin indications including the healing & anti-ageing processes that we at SAI try to stimulate, and these will be discussed with you. Understanding exactly what the treatment is doing on a cellular level, offers you peace of mind. For the most part however, much of what we are trying to achieve is this:
- Stimulate the “Healing Cascade” – most treatments, either beneath the skin or at its surface stimulate a healing cascade. This is a cause and effect anti-ageing treatment whereby your body reacts to a treatment (chemical peel, laser, Botulinum toxin, dermal filler etc.) by flooding the treatment area with plasma, collagen & elastin to aid in healing – which of course has the unique benefit of creating an anti-ageing result. The trick in this case is to “injure” the skin sufficiently to stimulate the cascade, but not too much to trigger a more sever shock response.Depending on the severity or scope of these treatments we must wait for full healing before continuing with the next treatment or risk over stressing the area. In most cases your skin will be fully healed within 3 weeks to a month.
- Increase collagen & elastin production in the skin – by creating an increase in production of collagen and elastin the doctors at SAI are effectively turning back the hands of time to a more youthful skin. Both collagen & elastin are responsible for supple, elastic & dynamic skin that is resistant to wrinkle formation. As we age we lose collagen & elastin cells and this give rise to visible age.The joy of collagen & elastin induction is that the results continue to improve long past the healing cycle, and obviously, the more that can be stimulated the better.We do, however, need to wait between treatments for skin healing, as should the process be repeated too regularly the healing cascade, mentioned above, will alter the type of collagen being produced to one that is not as beneficial to the skin. Collagen & elastin induction treatments will always be based upon the healing cascade treatment above.
- Hydration – skin hydration or lack thereof is a root of skin ageing and is caused by both chronological & environmental factors. There are a few treatment options to simulate hydration in the skin, but the most effective is the injection of Hyaluronic acid. This can be in the form of e.g. perfecting your pout by injecting the lips or 3D volumising the cheeks, or even as a dedicated HA hydration treatment.There are two healing elements that need to be considered before undergoing the next treatment cycle: first, the method of injection will always create some social downtime to the surface of the skin, which will need to fully heal before any other treatment can be performed. Second, further treatments may have an adverse affect on the injected HA in the skin, making treatment order of paramount importance. This will need to be discussed with either Dr Clark or Dr Marks, as often the introduction of HA for hydration is more beneficial following a few minor treatments sessions and complete healing.
The treatment cycle or cycles, as most of our SAI patients discover, has everything to do with correct treatments, matched with recovery cycles. To achieve the most impressive results you need to work with doctors who understand not only correct treatment technique, but also how lifestyle & healing can affect treatment results. Always be open & honest with your aesthetic doctor to allow them to make the best treatment & healing choices to suite you, your skin and your lifestyle.
If you are interesting in working with either Dr Marks or Dr Clark at SAI, simply make an appointment on 011 883 3116 for SAI Sandton or SAI Waterkloof 012 460 7047 and let the SAI doctors prescribe the perfect treatment & recovery treatment matrix for you.
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