Best Cosmetic Treatments for Winter
When your skin is protected by clothing and the sun’s rays are not as strong, the fall and winter might be the best seasons to treat your skin to a cosmetic procedure.
Treatment: Fraxel
What it does Treats acne scarring, fine lines, hyperpigmentation, and reduction of melasma/sun spots. Why do it in the winter Fraxel 155O (used for scars/wrinkles) usually results in an average of 3 days of redness and swelling, while Fraxel 1927 (used for pigmentation) results in rough darkened skin that peels off in an average of 5-7 days.
“It is especially important for those treating melasma or sun spots to do this in the winter so they aren’t likely to experience a reoccurrence. Even small amounts of sun exposure in those prone to melasma can cause the pigment to come back. The inflammation caused by the laser causes extreme sensitivity to sunlight and risk of sunburn and pigmentary changes. Intense heat will also slow or impair healing.
Treatment: Intense Pulsed Light {IPL)
What it does IPL is great for treating blood vessels, background redness/rosacea, acne and sun damage on the face, neck, chest and hands. It can also be used for hair removal. Treatments typically are done every 3-4 weeks for an average of 4-6 treatments. Though there is little downtime, sun protection is crucial to proper healing. IPL is not idea for darker skin types.
Why do it in the winter IPL can be done any time of year, but it is ideal in the winter because most people spend less time outdoors. Sunlight can lead to possible darkening of treated spots if sun avoidance isn’t practiced and rosacea is usually worsened by sun exposure.
Treatment: Photodynamic Therapy or Blue Light Therapy
What it does This treatment improves the cosmetic appearance of sun damaged skin while also killing any pre-cancerous cells. A medication is applied to the entire face and soaks in for around an hour. “This allows any sun damaged skin and pre-cancerous cells to ‘suck up’ the medicine, while the normal cells do not. Then shine LED lights at the face which activates the medicine, killing the damaged cells that absorbed the photosensitizer medication. This seeks out not only visibly damaged cells, but also microscopically small pre-cancers that haven’t even shown up on the skin yet.
Why do it in the winter Patients need to strictly avoid the sun since traces of the photosensitizer medication remain on the face for several days.