This week, we’re shifting gears away from the usual questions and answers about cosmetic surgery to discuss some of the other services Atlantic Coast Aesthetics offers. Many of these are less invasive than surgery or even injectable treatments such as Botox and fillers, and are indicated for patients whose primary concern is the surface of the body, including body hair, fine lines and wrinkles which are not severe enough to warrant more invasive procedures such as a facelift. Most of these procedures offer great results with little to no downtime, and help rejuvenate the patient’s face, skin and body without the expense and healing time required of more invasive cosmetic surgery options.
Joining Atlantic Coast Aesthetics is aesthetician Cherie Noel, who has attracted a broad patient following in the Palm Beach County and West Palm Beach area. She will be joining us on an upcoming Ask Dr. Pane segment to introduce herself and talk about her experience and practice in more detail. Cherie will be taking point on many of the minimally or noninvasive treatments ACA has to offer, and we’re very pleased to welcome her to the ACA family!
One service ACA offers which we don’t speak about very often is laser hair removal, or the use of intensely focused light to destroy active hair follicles. Dr. Pane notes it’s not really considered a “best practice” to call it that, because of the way in which it functions. Laser hair reduction is a more accurate term, because to achieve full or primary removal of the hair in a given area usually requires multiple sessions. ACA offers treatment packages which allow patients to purchase a range of sessions at one time, giving patients a substantial discount over individual session pricing.
Laser and intense pulsed light, or IPL, treatments target melanin in hair follicles in their growth phase, destroying the active follicles and preventing unwanted hair from growing back. Melanin is the chemical which creates freckles and gives darker-skinned people their color. By adding intense light exposure to melanin, the hair follicles become overheated and die. However, this only works during one stage of hair growth, which is why multiple treatments are often required to achieve the desired hair removal.
Laser and IPL aren’t limited to hair destruction, though! They can also be used to treat acne by destroying the bacteria which cause outbreaks, and to help treat hyperpigmentation, where an area of the skin is noticeably darker than the surrounding epidermis. Hyperpigmentation treatment doesn’t work on everyone, but most patients find it helpful, especially in conjunction with a good skin care regimen and daily use of sunblock, which is important in the Florida sun anyway.
Another service we offer is microdermabrasion, a minimally invasive procedure to help exfoliate and remove dead skin tissue, revealing the fresh, glowing, newer skin beneath. Microdermabrasion is an excellent choice for patients who want to present a more youthful appearance without undergoing more radical treatments, such as a facelift.
One new service we’re very excited to present is pulsed electromagnetic frequency, or PEMF, skin treatment. This treatment essentially uses radio waves fed into the skin to promote collagen rebuilding. You may already know collagen is the basic building block and framework of the skin, and gives the skin its elasticity and resilience. Over time, collagen in the skin wears out, causing sagging and wrinkling. PEMF allows us to stimulate collagen in the skin and cause it to regenerate, helping restore youthfulness and flexibility to the skin without the need for invasive surgery.
At ACA, we’re committed to making sure we offer the latest and best technologies and treatments around. We don’t want our patients to be limited to only the treatment they can receive on a surgical table, especially when that treatment may not be the best way to address their issues! With new advances in minimally and noninvasive cosmetic procedures, we also have access to new and better ways to serve our clients, no matter what their needs might be.
If you have a question about any facet of cosmetic surgery or the less-invasive offerings ACA has available, Dr. Pane and the ACA staff are always happy to discuss your points of interest and curiosity. Simply call us at (561) 422-4116; follow us on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and Facebook; or send us an email through our Contact page. Your question might even be chosen for the focus of an upcoming Ask Dr. Pane segment, where he answers your questions live in a Google Hangout to help us better educate and inform people about what cosmetic surgery can and can’t do. Remember, at ACA we believe the only bad question is the one you don’t ask!