• Intense pulse light: Also known as photorejuvenation, this procedure uses light to treat brown spots, broken capillaries, and rosacea and to tighten pores.
• Photodynamic therapy: This remedy for extreme sun damage and precancers uses Levulin, a topical solution applied to the skin, prior to treatment with a laser or intense pulse light.
• Lasers: A multitude of lasers can treat various skin problems. For antiaging, there are nonablative lasers (Cooltouch), minimally ablative lasers (erbium, or Laser Peel), and ablative lasers (CO2). Ablation refers to removing the top layers of the skin.
• Fractional skin resurfacing: This procedure, which uses a laser to produce thousands of tiny, deep columns in the skin, is a treatment for acne scars, brown spots, fine wrinkles, and melasma. Fraxel and Affirm are examples.
• Radio-frequency treatments: Avoid the knife with devices such as Thermage, which uses radio waves to revitalize collagen and elastin, tightening the skin.
• Infrared-based tightening procedures: Titan is an example of this technology that uses infrared radiation to heat collagen, causing the skin to contract.
Making Changes
Dr. Debra: Make a list of your three top cosmetic priorities (fat reduction, skin improvement, wrinkle reduction, acne treatment, teeth bleaching, hair coloring, etc.). Create a budget and a time line for accomplishing them. Gone are the days when women waited until a certain age to enhance and improve their looks with some judicious cosmetic surgery. Today's women need a life plan for beauty maintenance that includes small cosmetic replacements and enhancements along the road, ranging from as early as the teens to seventy and beyond. Take your list to your facialist, hairdresser, dentist, and dermatologist, as appropriate, and get an honest assessment of the risks, benefits, and costs of each procedure.
Dr. Eva: Make sure that your pursuit of beauty is coming from a healthy place. These enhancements should make you look and feel better. Signs that your beauty regimen is becoming unhealthy include the following: spending money you don't have; being repeatedly dissatisfied with treatments; feeling that no matter what you do, you will never look good enough; spending excessive time on grooming; and allowing your appearance to negatively affect your work or relationships.
Read more:
• 9 ways to look good in photos
• Does your hair look old?
• Timeless beauty
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Excerpted from The Beauty Prescription, copyright 2008 by Debra Luftman and Eva Ritvo. Used by permission of McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.
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