There are a number of things important to helping achieve not only the best cosmetic results, but the fastest recovery and longest duration of effect. Making a choice to invest in improving your appearance either through non-invasive, minimally invasive, or surgical means is costly. Therefore, to protect your investment it is helpful to know what you can do before, during recovery, and following your procedure(s). The good news is that knowing this information and following these guidelines will truly help.
One’s age, medical history, UV skin damage, medication/supplement use, genetic makeup, and pre-existing conditions all impact procedure outcomes and how long the results last, but lifestyle factors also are an important determinant. Smoking and drug use can impact your overall health, but can also impact healing after procedures because of the microvessel damage that can occur. Poor nutrition also has an impact. Oral consumption of certain vitamins such as Vitamin C may be helpful, but not as much so as topical application. Other vitamins (e.g., Vitamin E) and other supplements (Garlic, Ginkgoba, Fish Oil, and others) can cause increased bleeding, poorer healing, more swelling, and other complications.
Facial plastic surgery and procedure results are largely determined by the skill of the surgeon/proceduralist, but the skin quality and a patient’s genetic makeup going into these procedures have a large impact as well. Our skin is under constant assault by environmental factors including the sun’s harmful rays as well as environmental factors such as pollution. Damaged and aged skin is less elastic causing results to not last as long and impacting healing as compared to healthier skin.
What are the lifestyle and behavior approaches to maximize cosmetic procedure success?
- Sun Protection. Proper sun protection preferably from a physical sunblock, as compared to only chemical, is essential to help incisions heal properly and with less scarring. New sun damage to healing skin can make scars much more noticeable. In many ways, proper sunblock is very important and more beneficial than many other over-the-counter or prescribed ointments and creams. Dr. Burroughs recommends an SPF of at least 30-40 or higher. EltaMD and SkinCeuticals offer sunblocks that are a physical type of block, which provides the most protection from both the damaging sun rays of UVA and UVB. High quality makeups usually carry some SPF protection, but it is important to remember that reapplication is necessary frequently when outdoors and especially if activities are in the water or cause heavy perspiration.
- Smoking Cessation. In addition to the well-known detrimental health effects of smoking, it also causes decreases in circulation, oxygen levels and healing, and an increase in free radicals that impact healing and the needed collagen production for optimal healing. Dr. Burroughs advocates complete cessation permanently, but quitting even 4 weeks before surgery can have a beneficial impact on healing. Because Dr. Burroughs practice in Colorado, he recommends this for marijuana smoking as well.
- Maintaining a consistent weight. Our skin become less elastic as we age and it becomes further damaged by repeated weight gain stretching and contraction from weight loss. Women notice after the enlargement of the breasts with pregnancy and the fall of their breasts as the quit nursing, have reduction in the size of their breasts, and with postpartum weight loss. Regarding the face, a substantial weight loss can lead to deflation and sagging and falling of the facial tissues. After substantial weight loss or to maintain the structural skin supports, there are “buttresses” under our facial tissues that can be reinforced or rebuilt up with dermal fillers.
- Pursue a healthy lifestyle. Eating clean foods, preferably organic, with a sufficient fruits, nuts and vegetables is a great place to start. The over-processed foods in our society lose much of their nutritional value and can carry harmful components and additives. Getting sufficient sleep is also important for our overall health and healing following procedures. Regular exercise promotes blood flow to all the tissues and can further enhance our skin health. Skin hydration through adequate drinking of water throughout the day is also critical. Dr. Burroughs even advocates before major procedures that patients avoid alcohol consumption for 2 weeks as it can cause increased bleeding during procedures and surgery.
- Use medical-grade cosmeceuticals. Dr. Burroughs at Springs Aesthetics has carefully researched and chosen top quality products that have undergone research and been clinically shown in peer reviewed scientific publications to work. For this reason, SkinCeuticals is our exclusive line of professional skincare products. SkinCeuticals carry not only the best concentrations of the active ingredients, but have been carefully developed to be mixed in the most optimal liquid carrier, accompanying inactive ingredients, pH, and even the container to ensure the best penetration into the skin for real effect and results. High quality cosmeceuticals can prepare the skin for procedures, but also be helpful following procedures. For example, CE Ferulic is a fantastic antioxidant that can speed healing from Fraxel-type (e.g., Fractora) skin resurfacing).
Dr. Burroughs and his skincare team are often asked what can be done to help their skin be the best it can be. The have come up with 10 helpful strategies to achieving and maintaining healthy skin.
10 Critical Steps For Healthy & Beautiful Skin:
- Nightly cleansing of skin, especially the face. Removal of makeup and environmental particles, which can contribute to premature aging. We carry multiple SkinCeuticals* cleansers depending on your skin type.
- The proper toner can be used to remove excess residue and debris, restore skin pH, as well as rid the skin of bacteria. We recommend SkinCeuticals Equalizing Toner.
- Application of a quality moisturizer, such as SkinCeuticals Triple Lipid Restore 2:4:2, which creates long lasting hydration, has anti-aging benefits and protects the skin’s protective barrier. Daily use of hyaluronic boosters (e.g., SkinCeuticals HA Intensifier) can help improve the quality and levels of this important substance in your skin, which can lead to thicker, smoother, and healthier skin leading to reduction of superficial wrinkles and even the dark circles under the eyes.
- Wear appropriate attire to protect exposed areas of skin (long sleeves, hats, sunglasses etc.).
- Minimize outdoors exposure on air pollution days.
- Apply topical antioxidants such as SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic and Phloretin CF.
- Consume antioxidant-rich foods (berries and leafy greens), which help combat the free radicals and drink plenty of water to help hydrate the skin and foster healthy cell production.
- Don’t excessively or harshly scrub your skin, which can lead to damage to your skin barrier. Instead use SkinCeuticals Retinol 0.5 at night 3x/ week for anti-aging benefits and collagen production.
- High quality mineral-based makeup acts as a barrier to UV rays, and can act like a web trap airborne particles.
- Regularly apply high quality broad-spectrum sunscreen with zinc of at least SPF40 (We offer the SkinCeuticals/EltaMD as our preferred sun protection products) every morning and reapply throughout the day.
Every person has different skin care needs, and while there are overarching principles generally helpful to everyone, the best skincare regimen is custom tailored for each individual. At Springs Aesthetics, we wish to help our patients and clients prevent sun and other environmental damage, correct and restore damage, and to protect and optimize their skin health. The skin is the largest organ in our body and requires a lot of care to maximize its health and appearance. This helps us look great, but also is important for aesthetic surgical and procedural success and longevity.
Besides do it yourself skincare as outlined above, Dr. Burroughs and his team offer a variety of both non-invasive and minimally invasive procedures to improve one’s appearance and self-image. Our services include: wrinkle blockers/fillers; IPL photofacials (e.g. Lumecca); dermal infusion peels; SkinCeuticals pigment correction peels; TCA peels; Fraxel-type skin resurfacing (e.g., Fractora); collagen remodeling and stimulation (e.g. Forma); cellulite reduction (BodyFx and MiniFx); Radio-frequency assisted liposuction and skin tightening (SkinTite, BodyTite, NeckTite); and ThermiVa feminine (vaginal) rejuvenation. Dr. Burroughs is a skilled and experienced eyelid, forehead, neck, and facelift surgeon. Call us if any questions at (719) 749-3606.