Category Archives: microdermabrasion

Day 3 Vegas Cosmetic Surgery Aesthetic Dermatology Conference

Today’s highlights involved meeting the worlds most prolific injector of Botox.  He works in Singapore.  He gave a great lecture about injecting Botox in a certain way which could work for some Keloid scars.  The protocol is detailed and he shared it with the attendees of the Vegas Cosmetic Surgery and Aesthetic Dermatology Conference.

I attended a few sessions on laser and Cool Sculpting.  Cool Sculpting is a method of non surgical fat reduction.  It uses the idea of cryolipolysis.  CoolSculpting is a trademark owned by Zeltiq.  They hosted a cocktail hour at the conference at around 6:15pm tonight.

I got a chance to greet the reps for Allergan at the Convention.  What was interesting today for me was getting more information about doing virtual patient follow ups.  I didn’t think I was ready for such a thing, but it’s out there.  It’s kind of like recording your post op visit on a secure youtube website and then having the doctor review it later and write you some secure email.

I particularly liked the sessions on TCA peeling.

We also spent some time with another cosmetic plastic surgeon from Modesto, CA.  It was good to see another familiar face at the meeting.

In the evening, there was a dinner program put together by Valeant – the owners of Restylane, Perlane, Sculptra, Dysport, Obagi, and Renova (a form of Tretinoin).  We saw some live amazing cosmetic injection techniques by some legendary doctors.

I am getting so overloaded with all this great information!

 

Microderm For Skin Is Like New Sago Palm Leaves

It’s June here in Modesto, CA.  In my backyard, I have several Sago palm trees which are developing new leaves.  These new leaves are very soft – very much like the new skin that is encouraged to grow via microdermabrasion.  Perhaps the same analogy could be made for old skin before microdermabrasion – it would be like the older leaves on the plant which are somewhat rough and prickly.

Sago Palm New Growth

New growth from our Sago Palm. The new leaves are soft to touch, just like the new skin that is encouraged to grow after microdermabrasion.

Sago Palm New Leaves - opening up even more

This is the same Sago Palm tree as above. The new leaves are almost opened up completely. At this point the new leaves are still very soft and silky to touch.

Below pictures are closer up pictures of the new growth on the sago palm tree.  These pictures are in between the stages of the first and second picture.  The pictures below show how the sago palm leaves uncurl.  It has a scroll like appearance – somewhat like the scroll head of a violin.

a uncurling of alien fingers 2

a uncurling sago 2

Closeup of one of the earliest stages of new palm leaf growth for our Sago Palm in our backyard in Modesto, CA

Closeup of one of the earliest stages of new palm leaf growth for our Sago Palm in our backyard in Modesto, CA

Sago Seed (not really related to Microdermabrasion or Sago Palm new leaves, but nevertheless a nice picture)

Sago Seed (not really related to Microdermabrasion or Sago Palm new leaves, but nevertheless a nice picture)

 

Learn more about microderm in Modesto, CA.

dr-wu-and-dr-lee

Sunscreen UVA vs UVB Protection Chart

Obagi Sunshield 50. 10.5% zinc oxideSummer time – that also means SunScreen time!  I consider sunscreens even more important than Botox for anti-aging.  And of course there’s no reason why Sunscreen and Botox can’t be used at the same time.

Sunscreen vs. Sunblock: Sunscreen is the modern term.

The term Sunblock seems to be going out.  It’s considered to be somewhat misleading because the term “block” implies total protection.  Sunscreen is used in place of sunblock these days.  A while ago, sunscreen was used to talk about chemical sunscreens and Sunblock was used to describe the ingredients titanium and zinc.

UVA vs UVB

Both are ultraviolet light spectrums – which are really part of a singular continuum.  But for the sake of categorization, UVA is longer wavelengths than UVB.  UVA has more penetration ability.  Both aren’t entire good for your skin in regards to aging and cancers.  So you want to shield from both.  SPF unfortunately only reflects UVB blocking ability.

Mineral vs. Chemical

I like the idea of mineral sunscreens where it doesn’t form a chemical compound with your skin and that it works more like a mirror.  But if you really dislike ultraviolet light damaging your skin, consider both.  My favorite is Zinc Oxide.

Here’s the Chart for Sunscreen active ingredient and it’s action against UVA and UVB.

zinc chart and other sunscreen ingredients against uv-a and uv-b

 

I found this wonderful chart on the internet.  I’m not sure of the source and I’ve seen it repeated in several different places.  I had to write this blog just so that I could have a copy of this picture somewhere so that I could refer to it when talking about Sunscreen.  As you can see from the chart, it is easy to have Zinc Oxide as your favorite because of its broad spectrum.

What about Vitamin D from the sun?

The Academy of Dermatology current position updated in 2011 recommendation on Vitamin D:

There is no scientifically validated, safe threshold level of UV exposure from the sun
or indoor tanning devices that allows for maximal vitamin D synthesis without
increasing skin cancer risk.

They basically recommend oral supplementation of vitamin D.

After Microdermabrasion and other skin procedures

After a Microdermabrasion or a chemical peel, we recommend that patients protect their skin with a zinc oxide sunscreens.  We also reinforce that with sunscreens, thicker is better – in other words – the strength of a sunscreen is dose dependent.

More Sunscreen Resources:

Thank you for reading my little review of my knowledge of Sunscreens.

dr-wu-and-dr-lee

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