Before and after hand volumization with Radiesse.

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Most of the procedures advertised and touted have to do with rejuvenating and beautifying the aging face and neck.  This blog is to bring attention to the often ignored areas:  The Decolletage (chest) and The Hands.  There are some simple, quick, and little to no downtime procedures that can be performed to bring these areas up to speed with your face and neck cosmetic improvements.

Just as the other parts of the body, the hands and chest lose volume from fat loss, and thinning of the skin.  In the hands, the vessels and tendons become more apparent, and in the decollete, wrinkles form the “cleavage” area.  The easiest way to improve this problem is with filler.  Using micro blunt cannulas, the procedure becomes nearly painless and without any downtime.  Filler of choice for the hands would be Radiesse, and for the chest, Sculptra.  For the Sculptra treatment, it will take 2-3 sessions, but this will give 2 or more years of improvement.  It thickens the skin by stimulating the skin to produce collagen.

Most people these days protect their face from the sun, but the chest and hands are neglected.  Sunscreen is important fo r these areas as well.  Sun damage on these areas presents as:

• Hyperpigmentation, “sun spots”, lentigos
• Wrinkles
• Thinning of the skin
• Skin cancers and pre cancerous lesions

Hyperpigmentation is treated with skin care, peels, and lasers.  Proper skin care can include:  Sunscreen, Retin A or Retinol (for the chest), Growth factors like TNS Essential Serum (for the chest), and body skin care like Environ which exfoliates and hydrates.  For more extensive damage chemical peels can be done, or laser procedures.  If just wanting a few spots removed, the Spectra Q-Switched Laser is state of the art to remove individual spots.  They will darken and then flake off over 2-3 weeks.  If the skin is covered with pigmented lesions, the Fraxel Dual 1927 is required.  This will require 2-3 treatments and is a nice laser peel that rejuvenates the underlying skin as well and thickens the dermis.  Peeling from the 1927 takes about 2 weeks to resolve.  Subsequent treatments can be done after 1 month.  The Fraxel Dual is also a great tool to remove and prevent pre cancerous skin lesions called actinic keratosis.  It is FDA approved for this purpose and is equal in efficacy to the topicals used for this like: Aldera, Efudex, and Carac.

There are 2 technologies which have yet to be used extensively in the chest and hands but offer promise.  Ulthera (Ultherapy) and Infini.  These devices create small injuries in the dermis which lead to the body tightening the overlying skin, laying down collagen, and thickening the skin.  There are already FDA trials of the Ulthera on the chest.  Infini is a very new technology and Dr. Weiner is one of the first in the country to have it.  Soon hands will be done with the Infini at The Aesthetic Clinique and results will be posted.

Often people who look much younger than their stated age, the truth is seen in their hands.  Don’t ignore this area, as well as the chest!  There are several easy ways to get them to match your youthful facial appearance.

Dr. Steven Weiner is a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon practicing in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, between Destin and Panama City Beach, Florida. After laying down his scalpel in 2005 he has devoted his practice to Lasers and Injectables.

Blog: http://stevenfweinermd.wordpress.com/

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/StevenFWeinerFacial

Website: http://www.theclinique.net