Category Archives: Anti aging treatments

What is a Med Spa?

Medical spas, are a kind of a hybrid between the traditional day spaand a medical clinic. Medical spasstrive to blend the best of two worlds — a relaxing spaexperience with the procedures and expertise typically only found at a doctor’s office.

MedSpas offer medical grade aesthetic procedures in a relaxing environment. Such treatments can include botox for wrinkles on the face, fillers for restoring volume loss in the face, laser treatments for repairing sun damage, broken capilarities, spider veins, and medical-grade facials and peels.

How Does a Medical Spa Differ from a Traditional Day Spa?

The biggest differences between a traditional day spa and a medical spa are the types of procedures that are offered. Medical procedures that can’t be done at the average day spa can be performed at the medical spa.

Unlike day spas, medical spas must be affiliated with, overseen, or run by a medical doctor.  While not every procedure is done by a doctor, they are performed under the supervision of the doctor.

Medical spas themselves can vary widely, depending on where you go.  Some are as posh as the day spa you visited during your last vacation; others are decidedly more clinical.  While day spas focus on relaxation, most medical spas are driven by results.

What is IPL Photofacial

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) technology is a safe, nonsurgical, non-invasive and versatile treatment that uses light energy to rejuvenate the skin. Because IPL is capable of emitting light at various different wavelengths, different types of skin conditions can be treated by using different filters in the machine.

IPL can be used for the treatment of sun damage, abnormal pigmentation of the skin, redness, rosacea, broken capillaries (“telangiectasias”), and vascular or pigmented birthmarks.

Laser treatment is ideal for patients with active lifestyles because the procedure requires no downtime and has a low risk of side effects. The gentle, non-ablative treatments use broad spectrum light to treat the face, chest, neck and hands—virtually anywhere that sun damage shows.

BENEFITS OF IPL:

  • IPL treatments are quick, gentle and non-invasive. There is no interruption of routine activities.
  • By helping to remove the age spots (sun-induced freckles) and broken capillaries, the result is overall more even, luminous, younger looking skin.
  • Patients can see dramatic results within a very short time.

The treatment works as light penetrates the tissue and is absorbed by either blood (when treating vascular lesions) or melanin (when treating pigmented lesions). This technology damages the unwanted blood or melanin, while protecting the surrounding healthy tissue. The body’s natural processes then remove the injured tissue, giving the skin a more even tone and youthful appearance. The energy produced by IPL works directly on the top layers of the skin without penetrating deep enough to harm deeper structures.

IPL therapy is recommended as a series of 3-6 treatments which can be done 3-4 weeks apart. IPL photofacials can truly create a marked difference in the patient’s skin over time, since the skin continues to improve for weeks after the actual IPL treatment. Patients can expect mild redness and/or a sensation of warmth during and shortly after the procedure. Freckles, areas of sun damage, and hyperpigmentation may become darker temporarily (similar to the appearance of coffee grounds dusted on the skin), but this will resolve gradually over the next 7-14 days. IPL-generated pulses of light are very short in duration, so discomfort is minor, and no pain medication is necessary for the treatment.