What is a microdermabrasion?
Microdermabrasion is the second most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedure performed today.
The process is used to treat areas subject to fine lines and wrinkles. Most often, these are the areas the cheeks, the forehead, and the area around the mouth. In addition to fighting lines and wrinkles, this procedure can help to smooth and reduce the prominence of pigment problems like age spots, brown spots, and melanosis.
Microdermabrasion can also be used on a person's neck, arms, and hands.
How is it performed?
During microdermabrasion, Dr. Cheski will use a special microdermabrasion machine to resurface areas of your skin. The microdermabrasion machine disperses abrasive crystals through a hand piece. The crystals are usually aluminum oxide, but other types of microdermabrasion crystals – notably baking soda – may also be used.
The abrasive crystals are pulled from a reservoir inside the machine and pass through a hose into the hand piece. The hand piece is passed back and forth over the skin, abrading the top layer. In addition to the crystal emitter, the hand piece also contains a vacuum that is used to remove the used abrasive crystals and the dead skin.
Is microdermabrasion right for me?
The best people to receive a microdermabrasion are individuals with:
Not all wrinkles can be treated using microdermabrasion. If you have deeply wrinkled lines or deep acne scars (pocks), then microdermabrasion may not be a strong enough treatment.
What can I expect from microdermabrasion?
Used to treat surface imperfections or achieve a deep level of exfoliation, microdermabrasion has many benefits. The procedure:
There are some considerations, however. Microdermabrasion requires multiple sessions and maintenance treatments to help you keep the fresh look that you want. The procedure also works best for patients who already have a good skin tone to begin with.
After the procedure, you may feel like you have sunburn or windburn in the treated area. This may be accompanied by a felling of tightness or dryness of the skin. Don’t worry, this is only temporary.
You may experience peeling in the treated areas. Keeping your skin moisturized and wearing sunscreen with an SPF or 15 or higher will help keep peeling to a minimum and to protect your skin from the harmful effects of sun exposure.
If you have a deep treatment or if you have microdermabrasion to remove blemishes, you may experience some redness, depending on how sensitive your skin is. This redness, if it occurs, is usually mild occurs a few hours after your microdermabrasion treatment. The redness may persist for a few days and is similar to sunburn.