It’s like cosmetic surgery, just not with a scalpel
Linda is turning back the clock. After a lifetime of looking after others, the Winnipeg-based 58-year-old retired marketing manager (whose last name is being withheld at her request) is spending time, energy and money on herself to zap away years of stress and aging that were leaving her looking tired and older.
“I never really looked after myself,” she says. “I had a hectic job that was always about other people. Since I retired, I really have started looking at doing things for myself. I was still feeling fairly young, but my skin was not looking it.”
Linda says she was bothered by the wrinkles on her forehead, her jowls were dropping and she had discolouration around her eyes.
When she first walked into Dr. Earl Minuk’s Cosmetic Skin Clinic & Laser Centre, she wasn’t planning on getting anything done. She was just there to ask questions and do some research.
“It was something that I actually thought I would never do,” Linda says. “I told him I didn’t want to come out of there looking like Goldie Hawn [from the First Wives Club].”
Today, although Linda might not have Goldie’s fortune, she certainly feels like a million dollars after treating herself to Botox, Juvederm and laser therapy.
“I look younger and my skin looks fresher,” Linda says. “People comment on how good I look. It’s definitely given me more confidence.”
Anti-aging procedures make up a big chunk of the cosmetic world as millions like Linda try to turn back the hands of time.
Wrinkle-preventing Botox and facial fillers such as Restylane and Juvederm are still top contenders in the fight against age but there are new kids on the block joining the battle against Father Time.
“The latest trend in cosmetic anti-aging procedures is laser resurfacing,” says Dr. Gidon Frame, medical director at the Anti-Aging Medical and Laser Clinic in Vancouver.
“It used to be a really invasive, painful procedure that removed the top layer of skin but now the lasers are fractionated. They are like little pixels of laser energy. So there’s less downtime but it still achieves a smoother effect.”
The fractional laser therapy can be used to smooth out and tighten the skin. It can also be used to smooth out crepe-like skin on the hands and neck — otherwise known as age giveaways.
“The procedure takes about 45 minutes and patients require four treatments over four months,” Frame says. “The downtime is manageable. People can expect two to four days of pink or redness, opposed to two to four weeks of oozing bloody redness that was often the result of the old laser treatment.”
The results are permanent, although Frame recommends a once a year touch-up because “the aging process still continues.”
Another new anti-aging treatment is called Sculptra.
Referred to by some physicians as a “facelift in a bottle,” Sculptra represents a new and unique non-invasive option that helps facial skin naturally regain a more youthful and natural-looking appearance.
“It’s like a non-surgical facelift,” Dr. Earl Minuk says. “It takes the jowls and lifts them right up and replaces sagginess. The result lasts much longer than other fillers like Juvederm and Restylane. For some of my patients, it has lasted two-and-a-half years.”
The treatment, which was approved by Health Canada in 2006, has just received full cosmetic approval in the U.S. The treatment requires three sessions that are four to six weeks apart. Although Minuk says patients shouldn’t expect to see results until close to the third treatment, he says the results are well worth the wait.
“If you look at the before and afters, people who have real aging faces can really rejuvenate their appearances,” Minuk says. “They look 10 to 15 years younger.”
In addition to saggy and wrinkled skin, with aging often comes melasma, a brown discolouration that can appear on face. To treat the condition more aggressively, doctors have been using the newer technology found in SilkPeels.
It is the only procedure featuring Dermal infusion, the non-invasive exfoliation and delivery of skin-specific solutions, leaving patients with fresher-feeling and better-looking skin.
“People come in and say they have a moustache on their upper lip area,” Minuk says. “This takes 20 minutes to do and it’s a light exfoliation with dermal infusion of a syringe in the skin that allows for the break-up of discolouration as well as a topical cream to lighten up the skin. The combination is very helpful.
