Cosmetic Dermatology

Enhancing one’s natural beauty helps people develop a positive self-image and boost self-confidence, leading to an overall better quality of life. Through a variety of non-surgical options, we help our patients look and feel their best every day. Working with an experienced dermatologist can dramatically reduce your chances of complications and improve your clinical results. To learn more about your desired cosmetic procedure, schedule a facial rejuvenation appointment at the Houston Institute of Dermatology today. We are here to keep your skin looking healthy, and you feeling great about how you look. 

Acne Scar Treatment

If your acne scars bother you, safe and effective treatments are available. Treatment options include laser treatments, minor skin surgeries such as punch excision, chemical peels, and injectable fillers. As we age, acne scars often become more noticeable because our skin loses collagen.The key to effective treatment is to select the best one for each scar type. Before getting treatment for acne scars, it is important to clear your acne. New acne breakouts may lead to new acne scars. The use of a topical vitamin A creams (which help with exfoliation as well as stimulate collagen) or antioxidant-packed rejuvenating creams (often containing vitamin C) have also been shown to help stimulate collagen bundle formation.

BOTOX® and Dysport® 

BOTOX® and Dysport® injections are the most popular non-invasive cosmetic procedure performed in the United States.  The popularity of BOTOX® is due to its ease of use and effectiveness in treating common types of wrinkles. These injections can reduce wrinkles of the brow (frown lines), eyes (crow’s feet), and lips. Neuromodulators may also be used to treat bunny lines (when you crinkle your nose), temporomandibula (TMJ) pain and smoker’s lines. It can be used to shape the eyebrows, correct facial asymmetry, and smooth vertical and horizontal neck lines by relaxing the platysmal (neck) muscles. BOTOX® and Dysport® injections are popular because of the numerous advantages they offer, including safe and effective treatment of many types of wrinkles, quick procedure with little recovery time, quick clinical results, and ideal complement to laser skin resurfacing or dermal fillers.

Chemical Peels

A chemical peel involves the application of medical acids to remove the damaged skin layers in order to produce more youthful appearance. A healing response to the peel can also trigger new collagen formation so the skin appears tighter and more elastic. Chemical peels are most commonly used on the face, but can be used on other body areas such as the chest, back, shoulders and arms to eliminate lines, freckles, age spots, wrinkles, uneven skin coloration, and a dull complexion. It may stimulate new collagen to be formed improving skin texture. Patients with more extensive sun damage on the legs can also be treated with chemical peels. Chemical peels are typically performed as an outpatient procedure in an office setting. Depending on what is being treated, you may often see results immediately with little or no recovery time.

JUVÉDERM®

JUVÉDERM® provides a smooth, long-lasting correction of moderate to severe facial wrinkles and folds. Dermal fillers are used to restore volume and fullness to the skin, giving a healthy, youthful appearance. JUVÉDERM® is manufactured using HYLACROSS™ technology, creating a smooth-consistency gel. It is infused with lidocaine to improve comfort during treatment. JUVÉDERM® is available in two formulations to allow for a tailored treatment to your unique needs. JUVÉDERM® Ultra provides versatility in contouring and volumizing facial wrinkles and folds. JUVÉDERM® Plus is a more robust formulation for volumizing and correcting deeper folds and wrinkles.

Restylane®

Restylane® products include Restylane Refyne®, Restylane Defyne®, Restylane Lyft®, and Restylane Kysse®. This family of products can be used to restore cheek contour, soften dynamic lines, enhance the lips, and refresh the under-eye area. Restylane® is a dermal filler made of hyaluronic acid, a natural substance that already exists in the human body. The hyaluronic acid also creates volume and fullness in the skin, giving it a healthy, youthful appearance. When Restylane® is injected directly into areas where the body’s collagen has been weakened, it smoothes and minimizes facial lines. It can also be used in some types of scars, including depressed acne scars. In addition, skin texture is improved and has a softer and more even tone.

Laser Hair Removal 

Laser hair removal is a safe alternative to remove unwanted facial or body hair, while eliminating razor burn and the “shadow” effect caused by shaving. Laser light targets the pigment in the hair follicles, and converts it into heat. This causes follicular destruction during the anagen, or “growing phase” of the hair growth cycle. Laser hair removal can be performed on all parts of the body, including the face, upper lip, legs, arms, underarms, and back. Sensitive areas may also be treated, such as the bikini line, ears, nose, chest, and legs. The number of sessions depends on the area of the body being treated, skin color, coarseness of hair, underlying conditions such as polycystic ovaries, and gender. For optimal results, we recommend 4-6 treatments varying between four to eight weeks apart.

Photofacial/IPL

IPL therapy is considered a non-ablative resurfacing technique, which means that it targets the lower layers of skin (dermis) without affecting the top layers of skin (epidermis). The results are not as dramatic as ablative resurfacing, where both the dermis and epidermis are injured to produce a much more noticeable overall outcome. The advantage of IPL therapy is its minimal downtime – a patient can often have the procedure done in their lunch break and return to work immediately afterwards. IPL is utilized to improve the appearance of the following skin problems: small vascular lesions (including spider angiomas, broken facial veins, rosy cheeks, and rosacea), freckles caused by sun damage, wrinkles, and removal of unwanted dark hair. The procedure of rejuvenating aged skin is referred to as photorejuvenation, and requires a series of IPL treatments.

Tattoo Removal

The common functionality utilized by all tattoo removal lasers is the ability to break large tattoo ink particles into smaller fragments. To do this, tattoo removal lasers use a combination of speed and heat. The laser has to introduce heat to tattoo ink particles in order to expand them. The laser concentrates this heat solely to the ink particles, significantly heating the ink while not effecting the surrounding tissue. With the formerly large tattoo ink particle broken down into smaller sized chunks, the white blood cell army can perform their duty: they absorb the broken ink particles and transport them to the liver where they will be expelled from the body. The number of sessions depends on the area of the body being treated, color of the tattoo, and size of the tattoo.

Vbeam/Pulse Dye Laser

The Vbeam laser uses Pulsed Dye Laser (PDL) technology to deliver intense but gentle bursts of light onto the targeted areas of the skin. The light is absorbed by the blood vessels in the dermis, causing the pigment to disperse.  We primarily use this laser to treat rosacea. Rosacea is a chronic skin condition that causes redness of the skin, especially on the face, and can also cause skin sores that resemble acne, and possibly swelling. While rosacea is harmless, it can create embarrassment and self-consciousness in those who suffer from it. Though not covered by health insurance, laser photorejuvenation therapies, including IPL and Vbeam, can safely and effectively address the redness and discoloration caused by rosacea.

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