Not everybody looks as young as they feel. For those who want to change that, modern dermatology offers various possibilities for visual and biological rejuvenation.
Two proven, conservative methods that the physicians at DERMATOLOGIKUM BERLIN have longstanding experience with are, on one hand, hyaluronan for the mitigation of wrinkles and the correction of volume losses and, on the other hand, the medicinal product botulinum toxin for the treatment of mimic wrinkles.
Peelings are also used at DERMATOLOGIKUM BERLIN to optically rejuvenate the skin. They can have different intensities depending on application and goal (superficial and medium depth).
Treatments with different medical lasers (here also the so-called Skin Rejuvenation using an ablative or non-ablative Fraxel laser) complement the conservative spectrum of aesthetic dermatology.
In case you want to know more about the reasons of age-related changes of the face and the conservative aesthetic treatment possibilities of hyaluronan, botulinum toxin and peelings, here is some more information:
Every human’s face changes in the course of their lives. Reasons are manifold and can be genetic predispositions, hormonal effects, the exposure to natural UV light (the sun) and artificial UV light (solarium), environmental factors like heat and coldness, consuming goods such as cigarettes and alcohol, the effects of skin diseases, side effects of drugs and so on.
Many of the changes occurring during our lives are not perceived as positive but as unavoidable, unattractive or disturbing. Most people want to look fresh and relaxed and prefer to appear younger than their actual age. This is understandable as our brain associates positive qualities such as attractiveness, intelligence, performance capabilities, healthiness and so on with a fresh, relaxed, young face. It is of course impossible to avoid or remove all signs of age but modern medicine offers a large variety of opportunities to improve the face’s appearance and structure. In recent years, conservative non-surgical techniques have strongly developed as an alternative to the well-known invasive, surgical methods.
To understand the therapeutic options, the changes to be treated in the face can be divided into three categories:
1. Wrinkles resulting from muscle activity
2. Alterations occurring on skin level
3. Alterations arising from volume changes or volume shifts
There are different therapeutic options depending on cause and exact location of the alteration:
- Wrinkles resulting from muscle activity: these are typically located in the upper third of the face between the eyebrows (glabella), horizontally on the forehead and laterally next to the lower eyelids (“crow’s feet”).
Therapeutic options: the causes can be treated with botulinum toxin (e.g. Botox, Azzalure), i.e. the activity of deep mimic muscles is lessened so that the wrinkles resulting from muscle tensions vanish or soften. Additionally, wrinkles can be filled with hyaluronan as appropriate and hence be further diminished.
The goal is always to reduce or remove the wrinkles while at the same time keeping the face’s mimic intact. - Alterations occurring on skin level: these are fine wrinkles, pigmentations, redness, scars, benign and malign skin tumours, increased hair growth and so on.
Therapeutic options: the variety of possible alterations is reflected by the number of different options available. They range from cremes, chemical peelings and needling to the use of different lasers or the excision of skin tumours.
By means of a medium deep chemical peeling that is applied in a series of several treatments with increasing intensities, many of the listed alterations can be improved.
Lasers can be used for the removal of delicate veins and singular pigment spots, the refinement of the skin’s structure or for scar smoothing.
For some procedures, no requirement for a sick leave is to be expected while others make a break from normal public life for a few days necessary. - Alterations arising from volume changes or volume shifts: during our lives, the face loses volume (bones, muscles, subcutaneous fat and skin are thinning) and the facial soft tissue lowers due to gravitational forces. The originally rather triangularly shaped face appears more rectangular; the soft tissue forms deep nasolabial folds and accumulates in the form of “jowls” above the lower jaw which is promoted by the tissue’s slowly diminishing elasticity.
Therapeutic options: depending on the individual patient’s clinical findings, the conservative procedure of augmentation using hyaluronan (volume concept) is possible.
By developing various hyaluronan types, the possibilities of a sophisticated conservative therapy with hyaluronan have strongly expanded in recent years. For example, it is nowadays possible to rebuild the volume of the midface while at the same time realising a lifting effect on the face’s soft tissue using high-strength hyaluronan. Using softer hyaluronan, eye circles can be precisely targeted and corrected and the volume of the lips can be gently increased.
The conservative therapy approach is complimented by surgical measures like a permanent volume increase via a fat tissue transplantation (lipofilling with the patient’s fat tissue), a localised volume reduction (e.g. liposuction of submental fat pads) or surgical lifting procedures (upper eyelid lift, lower eyelid lift, face lift, neck lift), i.e. the surgical relocation of the soft tissue into a more “youthful position”.
Upon the patient’s initial consultation – and of course also at later stages – a thorough examination and analysis of the patient’s individual questions and problems is conducted. In consultation with the patient, the physicians at DERMATOLOGIKUM BERLIN will then develop a for the patient optimal treatment plan which often consists of a combination of different procedures.
At DERMATOLOGIKUM BERLIN, hyaluronan and butolinum toxin are exclusively injected by physicians.
The medical peeling is performed by medical cosmeticians under the supervision of a physician.
Treatments with real lasers are also only conducted by physicians. Epilation using a flash lamp (IPL) is partially delegated to our medical cosmeticians.