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Your Complexion.

Consumer Info.

As you age your skin thins and your complexion becomes hidden behind tiny blemishes, spider veins, sun damage and unwanted pigment. Thermage and collagen lasers keep your skin thick and healthy to prevent wrinkles and loose, sagging skin. FotoFacials, Chemical Peels and Microderm can clear your complexion, leaving you with skin that's clean and clear.

Fotofacials: Fotofacial - before & after
FotoFacials are a light pulse technology that treats both pigment and color by using two separate light frequencies that effect unwanted or excessive pigment as well as small veins and redness. Rosacea, sun damage, freckling, broken capillaries, and redness, can all be removed. The effect is much like wiping the dust from a TV screen. Skin tone is enhanced, small defects are eliminated, and pores become smaller. The end result of FotoFacials treatments is smoother, healthier and younger-appearing skin.

FotoFacials clients experience little discomfort and no downtime or disruptions to normal activities. FotoFacials treatments can also be used in conjunction with chemical peels, microdermabrasion, collagen lasers and Thermage to enhance the results of these procedures.

Fotofacials take approximately 30 minutes for the entire face and varies for different areas of the body. Immediately following the treatments you may notice slight flushing and darkening of the brown spots. Over the course of several days these darkened spots will fleck off you will continue to see gradual improvements in the color and texture of your skin. The result is a clearer, smoother complexion.

There are several FotoFacials devices on the market. Surface uses the Palomar system exclusively because of its safety and versatility. Unlike most other devices, it uses a unique hand piece design that does not require technician safety measures or special precautions to prevent burns.

	We use complimentary technologies to treat the structure of your skin as well as its clarity.

Sun Damage & Unwanted Pigment: Sun Damage
Age spots, freckles, sunspots, birthmarks and the mask of pregnancy are all forms of or excessive skin pigment (dyschromia). In the past various treatment methods have been used with varying degrees of success. The most common treatment is bleaching the skin with either over-the-counter or prescription medications. The most effective of these creams seem to be "tri-luma" creams which combine three separate ingredients including Hydroquinone. Hydroquinone blocks the production of melanin to lighten the skin.

FotoFacials type treatments remove or diminish unwanted pigment and color, fragmenting and dispersing the unwanted melanin in the skin with light energy. This fragmented pigment is then absorbed by the body and eliminated. Some superficial pigment migrates to the surface and crusts over and flakes off. These two mechanisms effectively eliminate pigment from the skin.

Unwanted pigment can be removed anywhere on the body. The face, neck, chest and hands are the most common treatment areas.

Excessive Redness: Rosacea - before & after
Sun damage and disease such as Rosacea can cause excessive redness of the facial skin, usually in the cheekbones and nose area. Damaged skin and genetics can cause "spider veins" similar to those found in the legs. Facial telangectasias are usually smaller than leg veins and are most effectively treated with light based devices (Fotofacials) that target the hemoglobin in the blood. Absorption of the light energy by the hemoglobin destroys the blood vessel which is then quickly absorbed by the body.

Some success is possible with over-the-counter topical treatments but the results, if any, are highly variable and unpredictable. Medical grade topical creams and treatments in addition to light based therapies have proven to give the best results

Microdermabrasion and chemical peels: Both achieve their results by removing the top layers of the skin and stimulating new skin growth. Microdermabrasion does this by "sandblasting" and vacuuming. Microdermabrasion treatments are effective in treating acne scars, fine lines and wrinkles, sun damage, minor pigment problems, large pores, and uneven skin tone. A series of 5 to 7 treatments is recommended, each visit requiring approximately 15 to 30 minutes. You can return to your normal activities immediately after the microdermabrasion session. Microdermabrasion is most effective when combined with other "deep" treatments.

	Surface uses medical grade microdermabrasion units rather than the usual over-the-counter models that some spas are now using.

Peels use a controlled chemical reaction to smooth the surface of your skin, improve your skin tone and color, diminish wrinkles and shrink blood vessels and pore size.

Several types of peels are available. Light peels are made of a glycolic acid solution in concentrations much stronger than those available in over-the-counter products containing alpha hydroxy acids. Medium peels go deeper within the skin using a solution of trichloroacetic acid or TCA. (The Obagi Blue Peel has dramatically improved the administration of this peel.) The harshest peels use phenol acid. This type of peel may only be administered in a hospital setting, due to the potential of dangerous side effects and are rarely used any longer.

A light peel of glycolic solution will leave your face red, but it probably will not actually peel. A TCA peel causes your facial skin to turn white shortly after the peel is administered. By the next day your skin will turn red and then start to peel off. Your skin will scab over and then reveal healthier, new skin. The recovery time usually takes about two weeks. Discomfort can be managed with over-the-counter analgesics or prescription pain medications.

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