Cosmetic Clinics

It doesn’t matter how old a woman becomes, if she is unhappy with her appearance she will feel just as awkward and insecure as she did as a teenager. There is only so much that make up and stylish, well-fitting clothes can do for a woman who is concerned about her appearance, particularly when she is nowhere near ready to consider having a facelift.

Women concerned about their wrinkles can contemplate Botox; a woman who hates her acne scars could think about having a chemical peel, a woman who is self-conscious about her cellulite could have mesotherapy. The list of non-surgical treatments on offer has grown at an incredible rate as science has progressed extraordinarily quickly in this area of expertise. Yet, in spite of all these treatments being readily available, women are still not taking advantage of the science available to them. Why might this be?

Typically, women will put the needs of their families well before their own. The kids always need something, new shoes, money for school trips and the list goes on ad infinitum. Many mothers neglect themselves to the point that they do not recognise the women they have become... and they don’t like it.

When a woman will not take the steps to improve her appearance and her confidence, it affects the rest of the family. I have heard stories of women who will not go swimming with their children or avoid school sports days purely because they do not feel confident enough in their own skin to be seen by the world. This lack of self-confidence is crippling to not only mother, but also the children who pick up on these insecurities.  Partners can also suffer in that they miss the lovely and vivacious woman they fell in love with, somehow, she became self-conscious and unhappy.

This is why the answer to this problem is to be comfortable with the idea of buying cosmetic treatments as a Christmas gift. With Christmas fast-approaching, we have received an unprecedented amount of enquiries regarding gift vouchers for non-surgical cosmetic treatments.

Of course, do try and discretely check that the special woman in your life would be pleased with such a gift, some women may see such a gift as an insult even if it is made with the sweetest possible intentions!

I can remember having cellulite from when I was a teenager. It seemed as though from the moment I hit puberty I had been cursed with this disgusting dimply skin all over my bottom and thighs. At a time when I should have been enjoying my teenage years, having fun at the beach or the swimming pool in brightly coloured bikinis, I was sat on the sidelines. A girl has got to keep a smile on her face so I just pretended I couldn’t swim and wore sarongs to cover my thighs.

As I got older, I became interested in boys and relationships. As I was shy about my body, I was shy around boys and I would never let anyone see me naked. I felt painfully self-conscious about stripping off and I always made sure that I was either in bed before my partner or that the lights were off before I changed and quickly slid into bed. When I got married, I didn’t need to lose anymore weight as I was a super-slim size 10 but I was still blighted by horrific cellulite. Even after we married, my husband had never seen me naked in normal light but I would wear sheer nighties that covered my bottom and light candles to make my appearance softer. I literally know every trick in the book to cover my thighs and hide them from view.

When I hit my early thirties, my husband became frustrated with my lack of self-confidence. I wouldn’t go swimming with our young son and beach holidays were entirely out of the question. He had NEVER seen my bottom in normal light and my self-esteem was at rock bottom. That’s when he offered to pay for a course of cellulite treatment for my birthday - on the proviso that I changed my lifestyle to complement the treatment. That meant I had to cut down of caffeinated drinks, begin body brushing and drink more water. Combined with the mesotherapy, my cellulite all but disappeared and I was thrilled. I went swimming with my son for the very first time. I felt like the yummiest mummy in the leisure centre!

After years of enduring low self-esteem, I can’t for the life of me imagine why every woman isn’t having these injections. It only takes 10 minutes to complete one session and depending on how bad the cellulite is, you’ll need at least one session of injections per week for 4-8 weeks.

The number of clients having medical cosmetic treatments is increasing each year. Much of this is due to more affordable procedures as well as increased awareness and knowledge. Not only is demand for the more well known treatments such as Botox and dermal fillers increasing, but there is considerable demand in the number of clients requesting treatments to rejuvenate the hands and the décolleté.

These areas are often neglected and whilst most women are now very aware of the risks of sun damage to their faces, they often neglect their hands, neck and chest. Many of our clients complain that their faces look great, but their age is given away by their hands, neck and chests.

Dr Lucy Glancey recalls one of her patients proudly showing her new 4 carat diamond ring, a present for her 60th birthday and she commented that life wasn’t fair! “How so?” I asked, “Well just as you are able to afford a huge diamond ring your hands look so aged that you are embarrassed to show them off.”

“These types of comments have prompted cosmetic Doctors to look at rejuvenation procedures available and develop new techniques” says Dr Glancey. “First and foremost we ensure that our patients protect these areas from the sun by using a good sun protection of at least an SPF of 30. Most of us are so careful about putting sun block on our faces, but how many remember the neck and décolleté? While driving in the car on a sunny day our hands are exposed to the sun light and if unprotected can become pigmented. While in our twenties and early thirties we get a nice even chocolate tan which looks attractive, later on in life our sun damaged melanocytres tend to produce patchy pigment which results in ‘sun spots’. The natural ageing process also causes our hands to lose fat and again this can give a very aged look. The décolleté can be easily damaged by spraying perfume on the neck and chest area and then exposing it to the sunlight. This causes a photosensitive response and increases the ageing process. As we sleep the décolleté can become ‘squashed’ and particularly in larger breasted ladies. This produces the lines and wrinkles running up from the breast as well as creepy looking skin. The hands, neck and décolleté are areas of the body that ladies like to be able to show off and therefore they are looking for effective anti ageing treatments.”

There are various procedures for hand rejuvenation and one of the more drastic ways is to remove the veins on the back of the hands. Because of the loss of fat the veins become more prominent so rather than this drastic approach it is better to replace this lost volume. “Another reason why we do not like to remove the veins” says Dr Glancey “is because the veins can be life savers and should you collapse on the street you may need the intravenous access”.

One way of replacing the volume in the hands is by redistributing the patients’ own fat. Autologous fat transfer can be performed with a device called Lipivage. A small amount of fat is harvested from areas such as the inner thighs, tummy or knees. The fat is then ‘washed’ and then immediately injected back into the treatment area. The patients are required to wear bandages for a few days after the procedure and there may be some bruising. However, once this has all settled the hands look beautifully plump and rejuvenated.

A disadvantage of this technique as with any procedure involving the patients own fat is that the body may metabolise it quickly and therefore we cannot predict how long the effects will last. An alternative to using fat is to replace the volume using synthetic soft tissue filler. A technique known as Mesotherapy which involves multiple injections used to plump up the hands and décolleté with a product that re-hydrates and replaces hyaluronic acid. A new product called Restylane Vital® can be used in both the hands and the décolleté area over three sessions. Dr Glancey comments “we are getting really nice results which can last from 6 months to a year.”

Restylane Vital® a crystal clear gel which is injected into the dermis to moisturise the patients own skin from within. The active ingredient, hyaluronic acid, is found naturally in the body, but its production decreases with time. Restylane Vital® stimulates skin cell activity to increase the production of collagen and elastin, so hands and the décolleté looks plump and youthful.

Another procedure that can be very effective on these areas is Intense Pulsed Light. This treatment modality not only rejuvenates the skin, but eliminates any pigment such as age spots and broken capillaries. “A typical condition that patients complain about on their neck and décolleté” says Dr Glancey “is telangiectasia and poiklioderma. This condition is characterised by matted broken capillaries either side of the neck and across the chest. Intense Pulsed Light will target the dilated capillaries as well as any sun spots. Another great advantage of using IPL is that is stimulates collagen production and when combined with Mesotherapy the results are fantastic.”

If you require further information about Mesotherapy or have any other questions please visit www.cosmeticclinics.co.uk

Mesotherapy is a technique designed to introduce a small amount of active ingredient/product into the superficial layers of the skin (mesoderm) in order to achieve a protector aim depending on the type of product used.

Mesotherapy is used in various areas of medicine for example rheumatology and also in support medicine; it is used for pain relief and cosmetic medicine for rejuvenation purposes.

It is particularly good to rejuvenate the superficial layers of the skin and target fine lines and wrinkles that are usually seen on the surface as a criss-cross pattern which is very difficult to treat via other means.

It can be used to treat such lines on the face, not only on the face but also décolleté, neck and hands, which are very popular areas.

Depending on the active ingredient used for the purpose there are different goals that can be achieved with mesotherapy. For example, their products are aimed at treating alopecia, and there are other products that contain small amounts of non-cross linked hylauronic acid which is very pure and by injecting this into the skin it plumps up the fine lines and just gives a very hydrating effect on the skin without making it look lumpy.

Also products like polilatic acid can be injected to achieve some skin tightening and salmon calcutoning can be injected to give the skin a nice healthy glow because this product has a vasial dilatory property.

Recently, a new technique was developed by which a very small amount of Botulinum toxin or Botox is diluted into a larger amount of skin hydrating agents like vitamins and minerals and injected into the skin in a mesotheraputic fashion in order to achieve filler effect of reducing fine lines and wrinkles which are due to attachment of small muscle fibres to the skin that pull the skin and create both lines which cannot really be treated by any other means. By adding vitamins and minerals to the skin that achieves re-hydration and the total effect is smoother and plumper skin without the very fine criss cross pattern of lines that can be seen especially if using a magnifying mirror and that worries a lot of women when they look at the mirror and again the decollette is a very specific area which very rarely responds to anything else rather than mesotherapy.

Considering the small amounts of Botox that I have given via this technique it does not by any means achieve any so called frozen look and only effects those very superficial muscles that sometimes pull on the skin creating very fine lines sometimes even puckering effect on the skin. The patient is able to fully move all muscles and there is no changes in expression. If they want to treat things like frown lines or crows feet properly then they should have a proper Botox treatment which involves much higher doses and it is a completely different type of treatment form meso-botox.

Usually the treatment will involve a course of six every 2-4 weeks depending on the problem and then again maintenance every 6-12 months depending on the problem and the amount of sun damage that the patient incurs in the interim period.