Testimonials

CoolSculpting: The Hottest New Cosmetic Treatment Is Freezing

CoolSculpting. It may be on your mind or in the air — this hottest new thing in cosmetic treatments for getting stubborn fat off your tummy or out from under your jaw. Here’s what you need to know about this noninvasive way to lose excess fat cells, permanently and safely.

What is CoolSculpting?

It’s probably best to start with what CoolSculpting isn’t. This proven technique for body contouring is not plastic surgery. It’s not invasive, like liposuction. CoolSculpting is a patented, FDA-approved treatment that gently freezes and eliminates stubborn fat cells.

Who can benefit from CoolSculpting?

Those of us — women and men — who have fought the good fight to lose weight and/or maintain a healthy body weight with diet and exercise, but who still have stubborn deposits of fat in certain areas, are possible candidates for CoolSculpting. That little belly pooch, the last bit of underarm flap, the upper thigh ripple that simply won’t respond to traditional weight-loss strategies — these are the things that bring people to CoolSculpting. Your cosmetic practitioner can let you know whether CoolSculpting is right for your particular needs.

How does it work?

This diagram gives an overall view of how the CoolSculpting technique works.

What is a treatment like?

Everyone’s body is different. Your CoolSculpting experience begins with a consultation with your provider. You will discuss your expectations for treatment, and areas to be treated will be identified. At your CoolSculpting session, you will recline comfortably while the technician applies a gel pad (containing the cooling gel) and applicator (supplying the freezing energy to targeted fat cells below the skin’s surface) to the area to be treated. During your procedure, feel free to read, check email, or even take a nap. You may feel some discomfort from the intense cold at the start of the treatment (as you would when applying an ice pack), but this will subside as the treatment area numbs. The applicator also uses mild suction to draw the fatty tissue into the cup area, so you may feel a slight tugging or pulling sensation. Because the procedure is noninvasive, there is no downtime involved. You may experience redness and tenderness in the treated area for a few days, but most patients return to work or regular activities right after leaving treatment.

Will I need more than one session?

Depending on your expectations and the number of areas to be treated, you may require more than one CoolSculpting treatment to achieve your desired results. For example, you may want to treat both your inner and outer thighs, or reduce your muffin top along with your bat wings. Many practitioners offer treatment with dual devices, so you can have two areas treated in the same session.

Are the results permanent?

The destruction of the particular fat cells targeted by CoolSculpting is permanent. The targeted cells are frozen, crystallized, and eliminated. Non-targeted surrounding cells then compress or clump together to fill in the gaps, thus thinning the fat deposit even more. However, as with weight loss, the effects of CoolSculpting will be reversed if you gain weight and accumulate new fat-cell deposits. That is why CoolSculpting should be considered a fat-removal treatment, not a weight-less solution.

Comprehensive Dermatology Center of Pasadena is proud to announce that we’ll be offering dual-device CoolSculpting treatments beginning in mid-July. To find out more about CoolSculpting or to schedule your CoolSculpting consultation (available beginning July 13), contact our cosmetic consultant Mary Lou Brimecombe today!

FotoFacial Treatment: Your Face in a New Light

FotoFacial treatment is one of the most popular cosmetic choices for rejuvenating your healthy, beautiful skin. Here are the facts about this procedure.

What is FotoFacial treatment?

FotoFacial is a proprietary term for a rejuvenating treatment that combines the benefits of IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) and RF (radiofrequency) technologies to treat signs of UV damage and aging. These two forms of light energy work together when applied to targeted areas with a special handheld device.

What issues can FotoFacial treatment address?

Among the many reasons patients choose FotoFacial treatment are pigmentation and UV-damage issues — spider veins, pink and brown blemishes, age spots, and freckling — and signs of aging such as wrinkles, lines, and enlarged pores. FotoFacial treatment can also be of benefit in calming the redness of rosacea, smoothing acne scarring, and resolving melasma (“the mask of pregnancy”).

How does FotoFacial treatment work?

FotoFacial treatments are given in a series of 3 to 6, scheduled over up to 18 weeks, for optimum results. When the pulsed light waves of a FotoFacial are absorbed into the skin, they destroy areas of UV damage and absorb the blood that causes redness and inflammation. Surface areas of damage skin then dry, blacken, and flake off, exposing new, healthy skin. At the same time, the radiofrequency waves work below the surface to tighten tissues and stimulate supporting collagen for a smoother, more youthful look.

What should I expect during and after treatment?

FotoFacial treatments are particularly popular because they offer many of the same benefits as more invasive laser rejuvenation or cosmetic surgery without the expense or risk and with no downtime. Patients generally experience a gentle “zapping” sensation in the targeted areas as treatment is applied. Following each treatment, the affected skin will turn dark and flake off naturally over a day or two. Your skin care provider will recommend procedures for keeping treated skin clean and moisturized. You will need to use a high-SPF broad spectrum sunscreen and avoid prolonged sun exposure during the course of your treatment schedule, as treated skin will be more sensitive to UV damage until it is healed. On treatment days, avoid wearing any lotion, cream, perfume or makeup on skin to be treated as these may interfere with or block the FotoFacial light waves.

How successful is FotoFacial treatment?

Each patient’s results are individual, but most people see an immediate improvement after each treatment and a 50% to 70% improvement in the appearance of treated areas over the full course of treatment. Patient satisfaction rates for FotoFacial treatment approach 90%, making it one of the most popular treatments in cosmetic dermatology.

If you’d like to learn more about what FotoFacial treatment can do for you, contact our cosmetic consultant Mary Lou for a complimentary consultation. She’ll help you design a treatment plan that fits your skin, your schedule, and your budget. It’s time to see the light!

Nightly Skin Care: Sleeping Beauty

Nightly skin care isn’t just a luxury you save for a Girls’ Night In spa indulgence. You may be totally committed to the 3 daily skin care essentials — cleanse, moisturize, protect — in the morning. But when it comes to the end of the day, many of us shirk our duty to our skin in favor of falling into bed with a good book, a good movie, or of course a good partner. Ignoring nightly skin care takes its toll, though, making it harder to maintain healthy, beautiful skin. Even worse, skipping a nighttime skin routine means wasting the best opportunity we have to let skin heal and rejuvenate.

Once you get in the habit, nightly skin care need be no more burdensome than caring for skin in the morning. It’s still a case of 3 essential steps, but tailored to the way your skin works while you’re sleeping. Yes, that’s right — we said works. You may be snoozing prettily in dreamland, but your skin cells work the night shift! Here’s how to give those busy cells the tools they need to get the job done.

Cleanse

Nightly skin care starts with the same first step as your morning routine. But there’s a bit more to it, because at the end of the day your skin is carrying a lot more debris than it does when you wake up. Before using your preferred cleanser (which can be the same one you use in the morning, and may perform gentle exfoliation with AHA/BHA acids), however, you need to break up with your make up. (Sleeping in makeup is an invitation to irritation and inflammation, as bacteria easily multiply in makeup residue.)

Thoroughly remove makeup from your face, lashes, lips, neck, and decollete before cleansing. Use a specially formulated makeup remover — there are many disposable wipes and makeup removing liquids available, some incorporating micellar water. Once your skin is makeup free, cleanse and rinse thoroughly.

Treat

The second step in nightly skin care is custom-made for the night shift. While you sleep, your skin has time to absorb and make use of topical treatments that address particular skin issues, such as redness or dark spots, and work their rejuvenating magic on wrinkles, lines, puffiness, and other signs of aging. Retinols, the ingredients that work so powerfully to smooth wrinkles and stimulate new skin cell growth, do their best work at night because they break down quickly when exposed to light.

See your skin care practitioner (or contact our cosmetic consultant, Mary Lou Brimecombe) for treatment recommendations tailored to your skin’s specific needs. In addition to retinols, night treatments deliver peptides (special nourishing proteins), antioxidents, brighteners, and other refreshing and rejuvenating ingredients, These treatments are available in various combinations and forms. Serums are concentrated liquids. Apply these first after cleansing, to allow them to penetrate. Follow with creams or lotions in the order recommended by your skin care specialist. Apply treatments to the skin around the eyes last before moisturizing.

Moisturize

The third step in nightly skin care is to provide your skin with the moisture it craves. You can use your regular moisturizer, or choose a nighttime formula that is more dense and creamy. You may also use a combination product, like Neocutis’ Micro Night that includes nutrients, hydrating glycerin, and lipids — treatment and moisturizer in one. Apply moisturizer over your face, neck, and chest.

Every so often, give your hands and feet an extra moisturizing overnight treatment, too. Slather on a rich moisturizing cream or lotion (or even the old faithful petroleum jelly), pull on cotton socks and cotton gloves, and reward your hands and feet for their hard work all day long with a good night’s renewing rest.

Those few extra minutes of nightly skin care will pay off in years lost from your looks and healthy, beautiful skin 24/7!

Men’s Skin Care: Healthy and Handsome

Men’s skin care is about a lot more than aftershave. Since June is Men’s Health Month, we’re sharing some tips on how men can keep the largest organ of the body — their skin! — healthy and handsome.

Men’s Skin: The 411

Gender does make a difference when it comes to skin care. Due to hormonal differences, men’s skin is generally coarser and rougher in texture than women’s skin. The cleansers, moisturizers, and serums that women rely on don’t have the same effects on men’s skin. In terms of lifestyle, men have not (until recently, anyway) been willing to invest even a few minutes in a daily skin care regimen that goes much beyond a shower and a shave. As we know to our regret, 79% of men — even today, even with pervasive messages about the dangers of unprotected UV radiation! — don’t use sunscreen regularly or effectively. That’s a real problem, because men as a group spend more time outdoors working and recreating than women do, a statistic that accounts for the higher rates of skin cancer among men.

Men’s skin is also paradoxical. Despite being generally thicker-skinned than women, a full 65% of men report having sensitive skin. And when it comes to the aesthetics, men actually retain younger-looking skin longer than women do, possibly because regular shaving has an exfoliating effect that keeps skin cells turning over and helps avid dullness. Men even have the edge over women when it comes to carrying off the signs of aging. What would be dismissed as frown lines, crows’ feet, and wrinkles in a woman often pass, in a man of the same age, as rugged good looks. Not fair!

Men’s Skin: Real Care and Rejuvenation

Times are changing. As more product manufacturers develop skin care lines formulated especially for men, there’s competition at those double sinks morning and evening. Men are recognizing (and the women in their lives are helping them recognize) that healthy, handsome skin for men requires the same daily basics as skin care does for women: cleansing, moisturizing, and protecting. Today the market for men’s skin care products is large and growing, with 7 out of 10 men purchasing skin care products for themselves. The founder of Estee Lauder’s Lab line for men noted that initially, web searches for men’s skin care products surged between midnight and 2 a.m., indicating that men might be hesitant about admitting interest openly. But that’s changed.

Men are also taking advantage of the many cosmetic treatments and products that subtract years from a man’s face. It’s not vanity, most say, but the need to maintain a youthful, competitive edge in a tight job market. Acne and rosacea treatment, hair removal, peels and facials, laser rejuvenation, injectables for the reduction of wrinkles and double chins — all of these contribute to a man’s healthy, handsome self-confidence.

At Comprehensive Dermatology Center of Pasadena, we celebrate men’s skin all year long, with medical, cosmetic, and aesthetic treatments and products suited to each man’s skin type and needs. Until June 30, we’re offering Men’s Health Month specials for first-time male patients, including 15% off BOTOX Cosmetic (to address frown lines and crows’ feet), 15% off KYBELLA (the injectable treatment that dissolves fat cells under the jaw, disappearing the double chin), and 20% off our indulgent Gentlemen’s Facial. Contact us today to learn more about how you or the man in your life can achieve healthy, handsome skin!

Summer Skin Care: Lighten Up!

Summer skin needs a whole different level of care than winter skin, and summer beauty is all about lightening up. Here are a few tips, now that school’s out and vacations are in, for keeping your skin healthy and beautiful all summer long.

Lighten up your daily skin care routine. You still need to stick to the basics — daily cleansing, moisturizing, and protecting — but you can switch to lighter formulas. A mild exfoliating cleanser like SkinMedica’s AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser will keep skin cells turning over for a healthy glow. For moisture, choose a new-age hydrator like SkinMedica’s HA5, which helps lock in moisture without the buildup of thick creams. Neocutis’ JOURNEE combines daily anti-oxidant care, photo protection, and hydration in one one-minute application. Summer means never slacking on UV protection for all exposed skin, but you can explore lighter-weight but still full-coverage options like EltaMD’s UV Aero spray and EltaMD’s UV Lotion for the body. Don’t forget those lips! Though summer sun doesn’t chap delicate lip skin as obviously as winter winds, you still need to protect against the invisible drying and aging effects of UV radiation. We recommend EltaMD’s UV Lip Balm.

Lighten up your beauty bag. Summer skin doesn’t need much makeup: a touch of blush to accent your natural glow, a smudge of shadow for glamorous nighttime eyes. LATISSE lash enhancement gives you longer, fuller, darker lashes naturally, without clumpy mascara. If you feel naked without foundation, choose a BB cream or tinted moisturizer with sunscreen. Revision’s Intellishade provides UV protection and moisture in a sheer tinted formula that perfectly matches your skin tone.

Lighten up your skin’s issues. Summer’s heat and activities can cause flareups in acne-prone skin. Our Comprehensive Acne Kit includes all the essentials for staying flare-free on the go. If redness is a problem, try Revision’s Anti-Redness Kit, to calm, dry, and protect your summer skin. For dark spots, often made more pronounced by sun exposure, we recommend SkinMedica’s Lytera Skin Brightening, for an even, bright complexion without hydraquinone. Treat dark circles and fine wrinkles around the eyes with Neocutis’ LUMIERE. For powerful all-in-one anti-aging, apply SkinMedica’s TNS Essential Serum morning and night.

For more on how we can help you lighten up your healthy, beautiful summer skin care, contact us today!