Few things are better than a summer day spent out in the sun. Whether you’ve enjoyed the relaxation of days at the beach, the exhilaration of long hikes, or the excitement of an amusement park this summer, signs of sun damage are often visible as we move into fall.
At Cary Laser, Aesthetics, and Center for Hair Restoration, Vijaya Polavaram, MD, goes to great lengths to bring the very latest aesthetics treatment technology to the practice. That gives the men and women of Cary, North Carolina, an exciting range of treatment options, including a noninvasive and incredibly effective way to reduce the signs of sun damage.
When your skin is exposed to sunlight, ultraviolet (UV) rays penetrate into your skin and trigger a number of changes. The most dangerous are changes to your DNA, which can eventually trigger skin cancer.
But UV rays also cause photoaging, more commonly known as sun damage. These changes can include pigment shifts that create dark spots, uneven skin color, lines and wrinkles, and changes in your skin’s texture.
You can dramatically reduce your risk of sun damage by wearing a high quality sunscreen every day, even when you don’t expect to spend much time in the sun. But let’s face it, no one is perfect when it comes to remembering to apply sunscreen.
It’s easy to miss areas, and even the best sunscreen options wear away over time. If you wear hats or sweat, your sunscreen won’t work as well along your hairline. That’s why so many people still develop sun damage even when they take care to protect their skin.
Once dark spots and other hyperpigmentation issues develop, the very best way to treat them is an approach called intense pulsed light (IPL). Also known as a photofacial, this treatment uses scattered beams of light to disrupt areas of concentrated pigment.
While both treatments rely on the power of light, IPL and laser treatments take a different approach. Many people prefer IPL treatments because they create impressive results without damaging the skin and therefore have a far shorter recovery time.
At Cary Laser Aesthetics, we offer IPL using the Icon MaxG™ system from Cynosure®, an industry leader in medical aesthetics technology. This platform penetrates into the deeper layers of skin, essentially “pushing” areas of concentrated pigment closer to the surface of your skin.
The light-based treatment then blasts apart those pigment clusters, making it easy for your body to process and eliminate them. Some of that highly pigmented skin rises to the surface and is sloughed off as your skin cells naturally turn over. Other pigment is eliminated through your lymphatic system, along with other cell debris.
Even better, IPL treatments can also trigger your body to create new collagen, which helps plump, smooth, and tighten your skin from within. Treatments require no advance preparation (other than pausing retinol products and certain medications) and no downtime. You might experience some minimal redness, swelling, and tenderness, but nothing that would cause a change in your normal routines.
If you’d like to learn a bit more about Icon MaxG IPL and other advanced treatment options for sun-damaged skin, we’re excited to meet with you and go over your choices. Just give us a call at 919-296-1280, or use our easy online booking option. You’ll love the welcoming office environment at Cary Laser Aesthetics, and our team always enjoys meeting new clients.
