ANTI-AGING FACIAL TREATMENTS
It’s amazing how many people are willing to have anything injected in their face with the hope of restoring their beauty. For the sake of beauty, women have been putting their health at risk for centuries. Being young and beautiful is much more important than protecting their health.
Is it vanity? The concept of vanity was developed in the 13th century coming from the Latin “ being empty”, and “valueless”. The vanity mirror stresses narcissism. Narcissus was a beautiful boy who loves his own reflection. He used the first mirror, the reflective surface of still water. A narcisstic personality is one where there is an excessive need for admiration and affirmation.
We constantly look in mirrors for our imperfections. The Egyptians and Greeks looked in mirrors made of polished metal. In the 15th century, placing colored glass on a metallic background, which created a clear reflection, discovered the modern mirror.
Historically women always wanted to look younger and more beautiful. In 3000 BC, nails were being colored. Women used powder to lighten their skin color since a pale complexion showed gentility. Japanese women used bird droppings to lighten their skin.
An attempt was made for the eyebrows to look like silkworms and lips like cherries. Lipstick was used to enhance the shape of the mouth, eyebrows were shaved, and olive oil was used to make hair silky and shiny.
Culture sends mixed messages to women next messages on what is considered attractive. Women always go with the flow of the current trend, and constantly wanted to change the shape of their bodies. Feet and breasts were bound, to prevent looking immoral. The Han dynasty considered slender women beautiful, while the Tang dynasty found heavy women more attractive.
Egyptians used a skin rejuvenating acid peel. Cleopatra used poultice made of donkey’s milk to smooth her skin. A supply of donkeys always traveled with her so she would not run short of her supply of donkey milk.
Egyptians, looking for the natural dramatic eye makeup, used crushed beetle wings for eye shadow. Makeup contained lead, mercury, malachite, chrysoolla, or copper. Rather than considering this makeup a danger, it was thought of as a medicine. Even mummies were given permanent makeup.
In our modern times, to fight the effects of aging, nose jobs began in 1950, breast augmentation in 1960, tummy tucks in 1970. Today, chin implants, hair replacements, pectoral enhancement, skin peels, and wrinkle fillers, are the rage.
ANTIAGING FACIAL THERAPIES TODAY
These include: Botox, Artefill, Radiesse, Dysport, Juvederm, Restlane, Scuptra, and Prevelle.
ARTEFILL
This is the first FDA approved permanent facial filler. It is a combination of purified bovine collagen gel and highly purified, carefully filtered homogeneous micro spheres made of polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA).
PMMA is a very inert non-reactive substance, used for over 50 years in surgery, to help stabilize total joint replacements, and to fashion synthetic bone plates. Unlike temporary skin fillers that are absorbed by the body, the micro spheres remain after the collagen is absorbed. If things don’t go well, the micro spheres of course must be removed surgically.
It is FDA approved for nasolabial folds (laugh lines), but is also used for lip, chin, and cheek augmentation as well as filling in acne scars and other facial wrinkles or creases. Cost $1500.
Artefill cannot be used for thick skin scarring, or in patients who are on immunosuppressive therapy, receiving ultraviolet light therapy, or on blood thinners.
RADIESSE
This involves injecting into the skin, a compound of calcium hydroxyl apatite microspheres suspended in a carboxy-methyl-cellulose natural gel.
Calcium and phosphate ions are naturally found in our bodies. The gel has an organic compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, as well as glycerin and sterile water. Thin connective tissue forms around the injected microspheres and act as filler. It is used for smoothing and shaping nasolabial folds and smile lines, vertical lip lines, and to provide more definition to the lips. Since it stays soft, it takes on the characteristics of the tissue around the area it is used. New soft tissue gradually replaces the filler over time.
As with most fillers, the results are not permanent, but Radiesse lasts significantly longer than most fillers, at least a year,
DYSPORT
A competitor of Botox, this filler is made from the same neurotoxin as Botox. Like Botox, it was originally, developed to treat neuromuscular disorders. It is injected into the muscles causing facial wrinkles. Since it travels further under this skin than Botox, fewer treatments are necessary.
Containing less protein than Botox, the body tends breaks it down slower, making it last approximately 12 months as compared to four months with Botox.
JUVEDERM
This filler is made from hyaluronic acid, a natural occurring substance in your skin. It increases skins volume and smoothes away facial wrinkles. It is used to plump lips to create smile lines. It is made by the Botox people, and the results last six months.
RESTLANE
Contains hyaluronic acid and has been used in Europe for the last 12 years. It is primarily used to enhance the lips as well as correct wrinkles.
PREVELLE
Also contains hyaluronic acid and is used for fine lines and wrinkles. It also contains a small amount of anesthetic.
SCULPTRA
This is not a wrinkle remover but increases natural volume resulting from fat loss. It creates fullness and roundness of the cheeks, under the eyes, and in the lips and around the mouth. It is used under the eyes at the cheeks and temples, but not around the lips. Unlike a facelift, it restores volume, and volume is what makes you look young.
It is made of polylactic acid, a synthetic biodegradable polymer that was used for years to make sutures dissolvable. It takes several weeks for this filler to work.
BOTOX
This is a toxin from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. It is the same toxin found in food poisoning, called botulism, and works by paralyzing muscles and blocking nerves.
Many problems have been reported following injections of BOTOX including: Bell's Palsy (facial paralysis or facial palsy, systemic muscle pain and weakness, including burning or tingling sensations in the arms or legs (diagnosed as paresthesia or Guillain-Barre syndrome), and impaired swallowing leading to aspiration, pneumonia, and in rare cases asphyxiation and death.
Other Botox side effects include: drooping of the eyelids, headaches, upset stomach, flulike symptoms, long term muscle paralysis severely decreased tear production, resulting in "dry eye" symptoms, and potentially permanent cornea damage (diagnosed as Sjogrens syndrome.
FILLER SIDE EFFECTS
Include swelling, shortness of breath, trouble swallowing, difficult breathing, dry mouth, headaches, neck pain, decreased vision, drooping and swelling of the eyelids. dry eyes, and Lou Gehrig disease
COMMENTARY
As you age, your hair will gray, skin will get drier, and become less smooth and stretchable. The skin will sag, and age spots will develop as your pigment cells become fewer in number. With age, the fat under the skin becomes thinner and has a loose look.
Other alternatives are available to ward off aging. Acupressure and acupuncture points all rejuvenate the skin. Cosmetic facial rejuvenation can be achieved with acupuncture, herbal remedies, and other anti-aging acupuncture treatments.
Above all, it is important to manage the causes of aging while you are still young, and before aging gets out of hand. Once your energy gets depleted, it is too late.
Today we have the knowledge and skills to stop the assaults on our bodies and can choose proper medical care rather than picking the many poisons currently offered for short-term skin rejuvenation.
RELATED POSTS
Visit www.drneedles.com for more discussion of controversial medical subjects.
1 comment:
Hi,
I have enjoyed reading this article.
Thanks
Raphael King
Post a Comment