Skin Care Services

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Description
Our practice offers skin care advice and treatments to improve the overall health of the skin, the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and pigmented skin blemishes associated with aging and sun exposure (commonly called  'age spots,' 'sun spots' or 'liver spots').

Treatments and Procedures
As a facial plastic surgeon, Dr. Pearson's practice offers comprehensive treatments for each aspect of aging skin including:

• Treatment of surface changes with resurfacing (chemical peels, dermabrasion, laser resurfacing)
• Treatments of volume loss (with fat transfer or office-based dermal fillers such as Juvederm, Perlane, Radiesse, Restylane or Sculptra.
• Liposuction for fat accumulation in the neck or jowl
• Treatments for sagging skin with surgical lifting procedures (Facelift, Neck Lift, Blepharoplasty, Browlift, others)

The Aging Process
As we age, the skin undergoes multiple changes concurrently. Certain skin care practices and procedures can delay, minimize or reverse the appearance of many of them. Some of the changes are unique to or exacerbated by sun exposure (photoaging). The outer skin layer (epidermis) thins. The skin appears thinner, more pale, and translucent. Large pigmented spots (called age spots, liver spots, or lentigos) may appear in sun-exposed areas. Changes in the connective tissue reduce the skin's strength and elasticity in a process called elastosis which is especially pronounced in sun-exposed areas (solar elastosis). Elastosis produces the leathery, weather-beaten appearance common to those who spend large amounts of time outdoors. The blood vessels of the dermis become more fragile, which in turn leads to bruising, bleeding under the skin, cherry angiomas, and similar conditions. Sebaceous glands produce less oil making it harder to keep the skin moist, and resulting in dryness and itchiness. There is thinning of the subcutaneous fat layer.

Observable signs of aging include:

• Fine wrinkling
• Dryness
• Either deep furrows or severe atrophy and volume loss
• Irregular dark / light pigmentation
• Sallowness (discoloration including gray / green / yellow)
• Elastosis (a coarse, yellow, cobblestoned effect of the skin)
• Development of benign growths (seborrheic keratoses and angiomas)
• Premalignant lesions
• Telangiectases (small visible blood vessels)
• Actinic purpura (easy bruising related to vascular wall fragility in the dermis)
• Leathery appearance
• Laxity

At the microscopic level, the following age-related changes occur in aging skin:

• The epidermis becomes more thin and atrophic, with flattening of the junction between the dermis and epidermis
• The dermis becomes thinner, with decreased numbers of fibroblasts and decreased amounts of collagen
• In photodamaged skin, there is an accumulation of elastin-containing material just below the dermal-epidermal junction, known as solar elastosis
• Collagen, which composes over 90% of the skin's total proteins, becomes disorganized

Candidates
You may be a candidate for skin-based treatments if you notice:

• Static wrinkles: These wrinkles are visible at all times and do not necessarily change in appearance with facial movements.
• Dynamic wrinkles: These are expression lines that may appear as folds when the skin is not moving, and deepen with facial movements or expressions.
• Generalized volume loss or facial deflation
• Pigmentation: Freckles, sun spots, melasma, or other darkened patches of skin which result primarily from sun exposure.
• Scars: As the result of acne or injury to the skin, scars may be pitted, discolored, or have raised borders.
• Vascular conditions: Blood vessels visible on the surface of the skin, vascular lesions that appear as tiny blood filled blisters or even a constant flush of facial redness.
• Loss of skin tone: Weakening of the supportive skin structure (collagen and elastin fibers) that results in a loss of skin firmness, or the development of cellulite.

Recovery
Most popular skin-based treatments involve rapid recovery and little or no downtime.

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