Summer is here, you’re ready to head to the beach, don your swimsuit and walk around in your shorts in t-shirt. You also don’t want to be constantly shaving, so laser hair removal is just the thing for you. To make it safe, there are some precautions that are particularly important for summer laser hair removal.

The mechanism for laser hair removal works based on the hair shaft being darker than the surrounding skin and absorbing relatively much more light. This causes the hair follicle to be damaged while leaving the surrounding skin unharmed. If the skin is tanned, it may absorb too much light, making the laser hair removal either unsafe or much less effective in that circumstance.

You must avoid sun exposure and tanning, including spray-on tans prior to the procedure, so that you go in completely untanned. After the procedure, it is important to strictly avoid the sun and use sunblock on sun-exposed areas for several weeks.

At Tattoo MD Medi-Spa, the laser hair removal procedure is tailored to your specific skin and hair colors. We exercise the utmost caution to maximize safety.

As one ages, muscles and fat atrophy, causing some depressions and sagging skin in various places. One common location is the backs of the hands. Hollowing may develop between the bones of the hand and in the space between the thumb and the hand. There is no “face-lift” available for the hands, but a filler is the optimal treatment to reverse the appearance of this condition. Radiesse, a gel of calcium hydroxyapatite, is commonly used for facial rejuvenation by filling in deep facial folds and lines, such as the nasolabial folds. Now, Radiesse may also be injected into the backs of the hands, elevating the skin, smoothing out the depressions, and giving the hands a youthful look again. The effect is not permanent, but lasts up to 2 years.

In the procedure, Radiesse mixed with anesthetic is injected under the skin. Pain is minimal. The material is then massaged into the necessary areas. Initially, moderate swelling may develop that is treated with ice and elevation, but generally subsides within a week. Some bruising may also occur. Typically one 1.3 cc syringe is used per hand for significant muscle atrophy, but would depend on the amount of filling desired.

In addition to Radiesse, treatment of sun damage and skin discoloration may be desired as part of the rejuvenation procedure. A chemical peel such as a glycolic or a Vi Peel may be very beneficial to achieve a completely revitalized look to the hands.

Tattoos are treated with q-switched lasers of various wavelengths. The most commonly and successfully used laser is the q-switched Nd:YAG. It functions mainly at 1064 nm and 532 nm wavelengths. These wavelengths are absorbed by different colored ink pigments. For instance, black absorbs 1064 best while red absorbs 532 best. Other colors of ink may absorb these wavelengths of laser very little. Other lasers or filters, such as the ruby laser, are better for other colors. The ruby laser functions at 694 nm and is best absorbed by sky blue and green. Other colors, such as yellow, do not absorb any readily available laser light well.

These different wavelengths are also differently absorbed by the natural skin pigment, melanin. 1064 nm is virtually not absorbed by melanin., but 532 nm is most strongly absorbed by melanin. That means that a darker-skinned patient has higher risks of skin-pigment lightening, called hypopigmentation, when the shorter wavelengths of laser are used. A red tattoo is best treated with the 532 nm laser. In a caucasian, if there is mild hypopigmentation that may or may not occur, it will not be noticeable. In a darker-skinned patient, such as African-American, the removal of a red tattoo may leave a mark that is more noticeable than the original tattoo.

The hypopigmentation is not necessarily permanent and often returns to normal, but the risk of a persistent light spot where the tattoo used to be has to be considered. Therefore, when getting tattoos removed with a shorter wavelength laser, such as 532, we inform the patient of the risks of hypopigmentation. For dark-skinned patients, this occasionally factors against getting a tattoo removed.

Microdermabrasion is a non-invasive alternative to face lifts and even lasers and Botox. It works by removing the topmost layer of skin cells, known as the stratum corneum. This process, known as exfoliation, removes fine wrinkles, minor blemishes, and gives the skin a healthy, radiant glow. Over multiple treatments, even deeper discolorations are improved as the process of skin turnover is sped up.

Microdermabrasion is performed using a either crystals or a diamond-tipped tool. The traditional method involves crystals that are shot out through a cannula, similar to sandblasting. The suction portion of the cannula removes the used crystals and the skin debris. The disadvantage of this method is that not all the crystals are able to be removed by suction. Some of them fly into the air, into your hair, or may be inhaled. It’s a messy process. Somewhat newer is the crystal-free microdermabrasion technique. This uses a vibrating diamond microcrystal tip on a cannula that performs the same function as the aluminum crystals. It works just as well without the mess and potential for respiratory problems.

During the treatment, the skin is stripped not only of dead skin cells and debris but moisture as well. An important part of the treatment is to apply a moisturizer afterwards. Sun avoidance and sunblock are also important to help prevent hyperpigmentation. After the treatment there may be some facial redness or irritation. This usually doesn’t last more than a few hours but could occasionally last longer.

Generally, microdermabrasion is part of a skin care regimen that may include chemical peels, Botox and regular facials, as part of a treatment regimen that is customized to a particular person’s needs. It is a good way to maintain your skin’s youthful appearance and combat the effects of sun damage, environmental toxins and natural aging. Contact TMD Medi-Spa for more information and to make an appointment.

If you are unhappy with a tattoo, you should look at all the options available for getting rid of it. Besides removing a tattoo, another option is to cover it up. If you are simply unhappy with the appearance of the particular tattoo but don’t mind having a tattoo in that area, then this may or may not be a viable option.

Getting a cover-up tattoo is a complex design process in many cases. There are various factors to consider: the color, size, and pattern of the original. Are there open spaces with which to work with? Also, scarring may be present in the area of the old tattoo. Lighter colors are easier to cover up than darker colors or black. The color covering up may need to be black depending on the original color.

One cannot just stroll into a tattoo shop and request any design one fancies. It may be possible to work the old tattoo into a new design, especially when there is a lot of remaining empty space, such as with cursive letters. Even with black cover-up, scarring from the old tattoo may still be visible through the new tattoo, especially when light hits the skin at a certain angle. The cover-up tattoo will usually be twice the size of the old tattoo. In general, large tattoos with wide areas of dark color are very hard to cover up. An attempted cover up may end up looking like a large black blob. A scrupulous tattoo artist will be able to tell you if a cover-up is a good option.

So if you are alright with a larger, darker tattoo in the same area, then a cover-up may be a reasonable option, depending on the characteristics of the original tattoo. However, many people rightly choose to remove the original one than take the chance of getting a larger tattoo that looks just as bad or worse. Laser tattoo removal may be a less risky option for this reason. Once a tattoo has been covered up, there may be much more ink there than originally. This will make it harder, sometimes impossible to remove it completely if you change your mind and decide to get it treated with laser after the cover up.

What should the average consumer make of the recent FDA warning in February about botulinum toxin products, such as BOTOX Cosmetic? At this time, this communique was a warning without any change in prescribing instructions for the products. It noted that there have been some adverse outcomes both in children and adults, with the deaths or serious effects only seen in children. The dose range among adults who had problems, such as weakness in the legs, was 100-700 units. It has not been specified how common these side effects were.

What this means is hard to calibrate since there is no incidence number given. If a million treatments for Botox are given in a year in the U.S. but only handful of cases have some kind of adverse effect, then the chance of the adverse effect is extremely small. Furthermore, the only deaths were in children, and all adults with serious side effects had doses upwards of 100 units. Although 100 units is within the range of a typical Botox treatment, most patients receiving injection for wrinkles receive a lower amount.

For now, we should continue to observe the prescriber cautions and await further notification from the FDA.