As nice weather comes to an end, our skin is usually in need of some tender loving care, and it is a good time to think about repairing your summer skin damage.
Outside of using good medical grade skin care at home, my top three treatment recommendations to accomplish this task are microneedling with exosomes, IPL laser treatments, and Chemical peels. These treatments that we offer in our medical office are by far the most effective ways to reverse damage from thermal energy safely and effectively.
We all know that UVA and UVB radiation from the sun is stronger in the summer, although it affects our skin all year long. This radiation produces free radicals in our skin and slows our skin’s ability to repair itself. When damage persists and the skin cannot keep up with the repair backlog, wrinkles, poor texture and skin laxity are formed.
Microneedling, also referred to as collagen induction therapy, utilizes a device with multiple small needles which penetrate the skin, stimulating the skin to repair itself. Through these new open channels in the skin, products can also be introduced into the dermis without any barrier. At our office, we like to put exosomes, a building block of collagen, into the skin while the microneedling channels are still open. Exosomes are recognized by our body as plasma. The components of human plasma (platelets, fibrin and interleukin) are what heal our skin and create new skin. Since the skin is 70% collagen, microneedling with exosomes creates significant amounts of new collagen which thickens the skin and helps with lines, wrinkles and crepey skin. It can also help remove deep pigment from the skin which we see as troublesome brown spots. Microneedling is done with topical numbing medicine making it very tolerable. There is some initial redness after the procedure, but special make-up can be applied, if necessary, to cover it. Results are gradually seen over time as it takes our bodies about 3 to 6 months to make new collagen. The degree of skin damage a patient has accumulated over their lifetime determines how many treatments are needed.
When the sun is closest to the earth during the summer, we are not only exposed to UVA and UVB radiation that directly contributes to older looking skin, but also heat. Heat stimulates our pigment cells which produce pigment or melanin. These pigment deposits create our “tan”, but also freckles, and worse yet, age spots. A laser treatment called Intense Pulse Light (IPL) is the most effective way to destroy superficial pigment that has accumulated in the skin. The treatment is quick and feels like a few warm rubber band snaps. You will be a little red right after the treatment and perhaps feel a little wind burned. We ask you to avoid wearing make-up until the following day. In 7-14 days, you begin to see the pigment slough off. Depending how much pigment has been deposited in the skin over time, determines how many IPL treatments you will need. However, in our office, even one IPL treatment can make a significant improvement in your brown spots.
Medical-grade chemical peels are performed to treat unwanted pigment deposits in the skin as well as lines, skin texture and skin laxity. A combination of acids is applied to the skin for a brief period of time in multiple layers. The acids stimulate the skin to repair itself. A medium to deep chemical peel stimulates skin cell turnover which is important in treating aging skin. “When we are 20 years old, our skin cell turnover to repair damaged skin is 10 days. Every 10 years, the time it takes to produce new skin goes up by 10 days. This is the physiologic reason that we gradually look older. Chemical peels decrease our time for new skin production resulting in reversal of facial aging. Chemical peels are usually done in a series and are customized to each patient. If done correctly, chemical peels are not painful, and you may experience a few days of mild flaking after the procedure.
I think many patients are fearful of these medical-grade skin rejuvenation procedures because of what they see on social media or on tv shows of the past. They are all tolerable procedures with very little downtime and visible changes to the skin. I encourage anyone interested in improving their appearance, repairing their summer sun damage, or deciding NOT to age gracefully to try these procedures under the supervision of a qualified physician. If you are looking to try one of each of these procedures before committing to a series of them, consider trying our NNMD Turbo Flight. This package includes one microneedling with Exosomes, one IPL and one chemical peel done a minimum of 4 weeks apart and is extremely popular among patients in my office.
Nicole Norris, MD