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A youthful face is a bright face. It reflects light. It does this because it is more like a mirror than roughened glass. The youthful face is smooth without surface or deeper imperfections. A damaged face has sunspots, raised "age" spots, fine wrinkles and other imperfections that scatter light or cause more of it to be absorbed, rather than reflected. The pictures of the children on this page illustrate this. The adults in the pictures on this page have fairly normal appearing skin for their ages. But compare with the skin of the children. As you view these pictures squint your own eyes until their facial features disappear. This will demonstrate the difference in facial brightness. The effects of photodamage are readily apparent. Sun damage causes several changes which result in an overall darkening of the face.

Sun spots are pigmented lesions, much like a freckle, that develop within the skin. They are darker than the surrounding skin. The skin surface over a sun spot is not raised, but is still flat. They can be small, like freckles, or can be large, sometimes up to an inch in diameter or more. "Age" spots are rough, raised lesions almost like a flat mole. They are usually a dull color, often medium brown to grey or even dark brown. They have less to do with age than with prolonged and repeated sun exposure.

Wrinkles are another imperfection that dulls the face. "Dynamic" wrinkles occur mainly in areas on the face where movement, such as smiling or squinting, causes the skin to be folded in the same spot over and over again. The fold eventually develops into a permanent wrinkle. "Static" wrinkles, on the other hand, occur in areas where the skin is not folded by movement. These wrinkles occur because of a loss of the collagen matrix that forms the building blocks of the skin. As the collagen is damaged by sun exposure and other factors, it reduces in amount. This loss of "volume" in the substance of the skin results in a "prune" effect and the development of fine wrinkles.

Fortunately, there are treatments available for this condition. At the low end, cosmetics with active ingredients and spa facials incrementally reverse these changes to some degree. At the aggressive end laser resurfacing and potent chemical peels can achieve very dramatic and satisfactory results, at a price. The price is measured in pain and temporary disfigurement, weeks off work "hiding" in the house while healing occurs, and occasionally complications which can result in permanent disfigurement. In addition, these aggressive treatments often cost $3500.00 to $5000.00 or more!

Imagine what our lives would be like without technology Now technology has given us the FotoFacial. This is a revolutionary new treatment which combines intense pulsed light with radiofrequency energy to cause a significant superficial peeling of damaged layers, and a penetrating treatment into the deeper skin layers to stimulate the production of new collagen! It seems that every new cosmetic claims to stimulate collagen formation. The cosmetic industry is not regulated by the FDA. Cosmetics can claim almost anything. The FotoFacial is a treatment that has received FDA approval. This required it to PROVE that it actually accomplished the things that it claims. In clinical trials, skin biopsies demonstrated the increased amount of collagen formed as a result of FotoFacial treatments.

The FotoFacial is a series of six treatments given over a twelve week period of time. Each one is a simple 30 minute procedure done in our office with minimal discomfort and a prompt return to normal activity. It could be performed during your lunch hour and you could return to work. Between treatments, a regimen of cosmeceutical agents is prescribed to be used on a daily basis to promote exfoliation of the superficially treated areas, to nurture the development of the new collagen that results from the deeper treatment, and to protect the skin from sun exposure during the treatment period. The results are as good as a laser resurfacing and are essentially permanent, although time and sun exposure continue to take their toll and many patients return for a touchup treatment once or twice a year.

Here are some examples of what the FotoFacial can achieve:

Before

After

A single FotoFacial treatment will not accomplish anything, so treatments are not sold individually. A package of six treatments can be purchased for a very affordable price - less than half the cost of a laser resurfacing. Purchases can be made on a time basis with payments charged to a credit card over several months.