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The Concerns

Research the top cosmetic treatments, plastic surgery options, and procedures.

Acne

There are several types of acne that show up on your face, back, chest, shoulders, and neck. There are hundreds of tiny glands in the hair follicles, or pores, of your skin called sebaceous glands. Their function is to lubricate skin and hair by producing and excreting sebum. This natural exfoliation process is designed to keep skin healthy, but factors such as hormones, environment, stress, and improper diet cause an over production of sebum and prevent the skin from exfoliating itself correctly.

Acne Scars

A terrible reminder of the acne that once was, albeit from pubescent years or recent episodes, acne scars happen to 30 percent of people affected by moderate to severe acne, but is more prominent in severe cases where there are blemishes with large nodules and inflammation from cystic acne. Luckily, there are now several methods that can be used for improving the look and feel of acne scars. Choosing the right treatment for your particular case depends on the types of scars you have.

Body Contouring

Body fat is, of course, necessary for life. It is not only a main source of energy, it acts as a storage site for certain vitamins, is a major ingredient in brain tissue, and is a structural component of all cell membranes. It also provides a padding that protects internal organs and insulates the body against cold temperatures. However, heredity, body changes from weight gain or loss, pregnancy, and aging sometimes results in a change, or even distortion, in our body’s proportions and curves.

Cellulite

Cellulite is a condition that affects 90 percent of women and 10 percent of men. Cellulite occurs when body fat is gained and gets packed into existing fat cells. Cellulite appears when these packed cells swell and become large enough to see through the skin. As we age, our skin becomes thinner and less resilient, which causes the puffed fat cells to become even more visible. One of the primary reasons this happens to women is simply by evolutionary genetic design.

Crow's Feet

As we get older our skin become thinner and dryer as part of the natural aging process. Being the skin around our eyes is thinner in nature it is quicker to wrinkle than any other part of the face. These wrinkles that form around the corners of our eyes are most commonly known as crows’ feet, and can start to take shape as early as our 20’s. Aside from genetics, the most common factors that accelerate the formation of crows’ feet are frequent sun exposure and cigarette smoking.

Dark Spots

Darks spots are darkly pigmented patches on the skin, also known as sun spots, liver spots, or age spots. Dark spots are a cosmetic concern that begins to appear around age 40. They most commonly appear on the face, backs of hands, upper chest, and shoulders, and are typically caused by years of sun exposure. While dark spots are usually a harmless, aesthetic matter, it always pays to investigate whether other forms of damage might be present, as well.

DIET

Eating a healthful diet can impact a person’s well-being in many ways. When we incorporate a diet consisting of foods and beverages that help achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle, it can reduce the risk of major chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, and some cancers.

Dull Skin

The loss of our youthful glow is often the first thing we notice about ourselves as we begin to age. Skin is the largest organ of the human body and it’s the most visible, too, so when it’s tired, stressed, or dehydrated it looks just that, and in a major way. Dullness is one of the first extrinsic signs of aging. For the most part, it is the result of excessive buildup on the outside layer of the skin that is not properly exfoliated on a regular basis.

Enlarged Pores

Pores are tiny openings on the skin that cover your entire face and body. The pores on your skin act as a portal from where hair grows; they allow sweat to pass, keeping you cool, and they allow the body’s natural oils to be released onto the skin, keeping skin hydrated. Everyone has pores on their skin, but only some people have facial pores that appear enlarged. There are many factors that contribute to enlarged pores. Luckily, some of the causes can be easily combated.

EYE REJUVENATION

A very many of us will experience dark circles or under-eye “bags” as we age. These occur because the skin under the eyes is among our body's thinnest and most sensitive layer. As we age, we lose volume in the area, which may cause a hollow that appears as a shadow and is also prone to fluid buildup or swelling that causes a puffy crescent beneath the eye. This is typically only a cosmetic matter that can be remedied by topical creams, noninvasive treatments, or in more severe cases, cosmetic surgery.

Frown Lines

Frown lines (also known as glabeller lines) are one of the most prominent signs of aging. These are the lines, often vertical, that appear between or above the eyebrows. These lines occur as a result of the facial muscles interacting with sun-damaged or aging skin.Frown lines are dynamic and form over time. Repeated contraction and tightening of the facial muscles, such when you are frowning or squinting, cause skin to lose its elasticity.

Hand Rejuvenation

Second-only to the face, hands can be the first telltale sign of aging. The visible signs of aging hands come in the form of skin that appears dry, worn-thin, chapped, wrinkled, veiny, uneven in color, or with noticeable age spots. Very often, the hands are faster to show signs of aging than any part of the body, and it’s no wonder. They are the most sun-exposed part of the body and often endure other elements such as wind and dry weather.

Leg Veins

An estimated 50 percent of women and 40 percent of men in the US develop visible leg veins. In most cases leg veins are simply an aesthetic concern, but sometimes they can cause significant discomfort in the form of pain, itching, burning, fatigue, and swelling of lower extremities. There are a number of contributing factors that contribute to leg veins, including Genetics, obesity or weigh fluctuation, excessive sun exposure, prolonged sitting and standing, hormonal changes, leg injuries, and lack of exercise.

Melasma

Melasma is a common skin problem that occurs when sun exposure causes brown to grayish-brown patches to appear on the skin. Melasma most often appears in areas of the face that are more frequently exposed to the sun, such as cheeks, forehead, bridge of nose, chin, and above the upper lip; it sometimes occurs on other body parts, such as shoulders, forearms, and neck, after extended or concentrated sun exposure. Melasma usually appears uniform and symmetrical on both sides of the face.

Redness

Facial redness can be a momentary blushing or flushing on the skin or in certain cases it may last for days, weeks, or months at a time. The primary cause of all types of skin redness is hyper-reactivity of the skin’s vessels; this is when the skin’s vessels dilate quickly, causing a flush of redness to appear on the surface. Additionally, when skin becomes irritated, the skin tissue may become inflamed, which causes redness. A variety of underlying conditions can provoke or worsen skin redness.

Rosacea

Rosacea is a non-infectious chronic skin condition that causes redness of the skin, particularly on the face, that may come and go. The primary signs of rosacea include redness of the face, small visible spider vein-like blood vessels, a burning or stinging sensation, a red or bulbous nose, watery or irritable eyes, and acne-like sores. While rosacea is a harmless cosmetic concern, it often causes a loss in self-esteem and embarrassment during social and professional encounters.

Scars

Scarring is the result of the skin’s natural healing process. Scars are caused by the growth of fibrous tissue (collagen) over and around wounds as they heal. Scars are formed due to a variety of reasons, including injuries, burns, surgery, an inflammation of tissue, or a result of skin infection (like chicken pox or acne). They can appear anywhere on the body and they vary in structure; they may appear sunken, lumpy, flat, discolored, smooth, ridged, etc, and will change over time.

Skin Cancer Prevention

The Skin Cancer Foundation warns that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime. Over the past three decades, more people are diagnosed with skin cancer than all other cancers combined. If these statistics aren’t daunting enough, it’s proven that skin cancer can happen to absolutely anyone, even the most health-conscious among us, with chances increasing for those with prevalent skin cancer diagnoses in their family history.

Skin Laxity

Laxity of the skin can occur anywhere on the body. Lax facial skin is often the most noticeable, but loose skin may also be prevalent on the neck, jawline, hands, abdomen, and thighs. Skin laxity affects targeted areas by causing puffiness and bags under the eyes, increasing fine, crinkly lines and wrinkles, and intensifying the appearance of cellulite. But regardless of where and how skin laxity appears, the condition can exacerbate the appearance of age and detract from one’s natural beauty.

Smile lines

Smile lines, with their many names—nasolabial folds, laugh lines, parentheses lines—are those, often deep, wrinkles that run from the sides of your nose down to the corners of your mouth. These lines appear naturally when you smile or laugh, but with age they become a permanent, visible facial feature regardless of expression. Straight-faced smile lines are the result of the loss of skin elasticity and facial volume, and are often one of the first indications of premature aging.

Stretch Marks

A staggering 80 percent of women will experience stretch marks in their life, and they could be one of the least-pretty skin concerns of which we lament, but thankfully, their effects are strictly aesthetic. Stretch marks (striae) are caused by stretching of the skin and first appear as pink, red, or purple indented streaks on the abdomen, breasts, buttocks, hips, and thighs; they will eventually change to white or gray color and continue to fade over time.

Sun Damage

Nothing beats a real sun-kissed glow, but the damage we do to our skin while we are basking in the sunlight may not be worth that temporary sizzle. In fact, sun damage can occur whenever your skin is exposed to the sun, even when you’re not sunbathing. With any amount of sunlight, comes ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and with any amount of UV radiation, comes the risk of your skin being damaged. This means that even everyday exposure to sunlight is a risk, even when you're shopping on Madison or have the top down while cruising.

Unwanted Hair

Unwanted hair is one of our biggest gripes, and it starts fairly early in life. It is common for it to appear on the legs, under arm, bikini zone, upper lip, chin, cheeks, back, fingers, feet, and even toes. Aside from genetics, there are other causes for unwanted hair growth including overactive hormones, stress, obesity, medications like steroids, oral contraception, thyroid complications, insulin residence, and more. Luckily, there are non-invasive ways to rid the unwanted hair.

Volume Loss

As we age, our faces lose some of the natural structure that keeps a face looking young, supple, soft, and taut. Volume loss occurs as we age because of collagen loss, fat loss, redistribution, and bone density loss. As the skin ages the middle layer of skin thins due to collagen loss reducing the skin's ability to retain elasticity and moisture. A youthful look depends on having the right amount of facial fat in the proper places, and this loss or drooping volume can make our faces look sunken or tired.

Wrinkles & Aging

Fine lines and wrinkles are the result of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. Intrinsic aging naturally occurs regardless of outside influences. After we hit our 20's, our collagen production steadily decreases, and overtime, the skin structure becomes thinner and weakened. We also gradually produce less and less oil and elastin, which also attributes to aging skin and wrinkles, but only mildly. Extrinsic aging occurs as a result of sun and environmental damage (smoking, exposure to ultraviolet rays, and pollution), as well as repetitive facial expressions and regular sleeping positions. Extrinsic aging accelerates the loss of collagen and elastin, and shows up as dark spots, rough texture, uneven tone, thinned skin, and deep set wrinkles.