Gone are the days of extensive, invasive plastic surgery, the kind that kept people grounded for months together. Celebrities, public figures - and just about all of us who want to look our best - can little afford to put our lives on hold and withdraw into our homes.
To help ourselves look young faster and in a less stressful manner we now have a host of quick beauty treatments. These beauty procedures can be performed in a matter of hours, avoiding major surgery and still making facial skin in particular look younger and tighter. Yes, surprising as it may seem, it’s actually becoming easier to take away that tired, worn look…
Prominent among these quick beauty treatments is facial resurfacing: procedures like facial toning, laser skin resurfacing, CO2 laser skin resurfacing, and more. It’s easy to see why these procedures are fast growing in popularity – many of them are proven to be safer, and less expensive. Let’s take a quick glance at a few:
· Facial Toning
One of the many new beauty treatments finding favor with celebrities is facial toning. Facial toning is a non-surgical procedure that tones and tightens facial muscles, smoothing out fine lines and decreasing wrinkles. It also increases fibroblastic activity and stimulates collagen.
Various types of facial toning procedures are being developed. Some involve removing the outermost surface of the skin by light abrasion, firing jets of fine particles directly onto the person's face. Another type uses wavelengths of light to stimulate skin cells. Micro-current facial toning uses safe, painless electrical impulses to reconstruct facial muscles, relaxing over-stressed muscles and strengthening underworked ones. All these procedures reduce wrinkles, lift saggy skin, and ‘tone’ the face into a much more useful appearance. And the best part – most of these facial toning procedures take as little as an hour-and-a-half to complete.
Many celebrities from the world of TV, movies, music, media and even royalty have been known to use facial toning. Little wonder then, the blaze of publicity that surrounds it!
· Laser Skin Resurfacing
Laser skin resurfacing is a cosmetic procedure used to treat wrinkles and skin irregularities, typically on the face. It utilizes concentrated light beams aimed at the skin and pulsing in a short pattern to burn away layers of skin. This procedure is also called ‘laser peel’ or ‘lasabraision’.
This innovative laser treatment produces less discomfort than many alternatives, and the results last much longer. Laser resurfacing is still a very new procedure, but has already been shown to produce less bleeding, bruising, and postoperative discomfort than other resurfacing methods.
Laser skin resurfacing is an out-patient procedure and begins with local anesthesia to block the pain. Some doctors will administer sedatives as well to keep you calm during the procedure. A full-face treatment takes between an hour-and-a-half and two hours, while a partial procedure is done in 45 minutes or less.
Recovery takes between one and three weeks. Most patients are able to return to their normal activities as soon as their pain allows, but the treated area will be red and tender for a few weeks after treatment.
· CO2 Laser Skin Resurfacing
CO2 laser resurfacing uses ultra-pulsed or short pulsed light energy to scan the area and remove skin layers. It can be used on most facial abnormalities, including enlarged glands, skin cancers, warts, scars, birthmarks, and wrinkles. It works best on abnormalities that are somewhat superficial.
CO2 Laser Skin Resurfacing has been around for over 20 years and is proven to work well. There are various types of CO2 Laser Skin Resurfacing techniques, and some have a longer downtime which can last up to two weeks. Some techniques also leave a long-term whitening of the skin. Many lasers cannot be used in darker-skinned individuals, while some laser treatments can be safely used by an experienced physician on most skin types.
It is important to note that not all of these beauty procedures are equal in technology. But if you got to a well trained and experienced physician he/she should be able to advice you on the beneficial effects of each of them for your specific case.
