If you’re in your 20’s, there is much you can do, and continue to do, to slow skin ageing. If your skin is healthy, it should have a translucent glow as cells from the dermis (lower layer) find their way up through the epidermis and exfoliate naturally. The skin, supported by elastin and collagen in the dermis, should also be elastic and full, with a smooth texture, few wrinkles and a small pore size on the face.

This not your generation? Perhaps you’re two or three decades ahead? Is your skin loose and wrinkled, showing signs of sunspots, freckles or other pigmentation? Well, you’ve probably come from a generation in which being in the sun (with minimal screening) was considered “healthy”, where the hazards of smoking and other drugs were not as widely documented and information about a healthy diet with lots of water, wasn’t so readily available.

How YOU respond to the march of time will also be influenced by genetics and loss of hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone which are influential in producing collagen. Hence wrinkles and lines start to appear around eyes and forehead due to collagen loss, pores are larger and cells coming up from the dermis are coarser and no longer naturally exfoliate at the same rate, leaving a dull, flat sometimes sallow complexion.

So how can Laser Clinics Australia help?

Remembering that attention to diet, exercise and sun protection is essential to maintain on-going success of treatments, our trained staff can, for example, use injectables ( * see article on anti-wrinkle injections) to fill sagging from collagen loss. Laser Clinics Australia can also augment lips where collagen loss has made them thinner. Pigmentation, age and liver spots, broken capillaries, bags under the eyes and sagging eyelids can all be treated. The degree of success may reflect the degree of damage to the skin but we are proud to have achieved some amazing results.

A consultation may really change your life!

Do they ask questions?

Cosmetic procedures like dermal fillers, laser acne treatment and laser hair removal might be safer, and more widely applicable, than ever. However they aren’t for everyone! Beware of any cosmetic clinic that fails to ask you any medical history questions or to make any initial examination of your problem area.

Are there options?

There are actually quite a few different cosmetic procedures that can help get rid of acne; there are different ways to tighten up the skin and remove wrinkles, and there are different ways to treat scarring as well as pigmentation. A cosmetic clinic should use the information they gained from your thorough consultation to create a personalized solution for you – there are so many different treatments nowadays that there is no need to settle for a one-size-fits-all service.

Pay attention to personal recommendations

It can be difficult to find personal information about the worth of a particular acne treatment or laser hair removal clinic. Testimonials from ‘previous clients’ provided on site could quite easily be completely fabricated. Personal recommendations are worth their weight in gold, and if you don’t have any, see the next point …

Look at the before and after photos

Before and after photos are a great way to get an idea of how your acne, wrinkles, freckles, hair growth etc will change over the course of treatment. The best Before and After photos will have non-identifying case-related information attached, like ‘18 year old male with previously severe levels of acne, after undergoing 5 treatments with the 1450nM Candela Smoothbeam laser’. This info might not be available publicly, but your cosmetic practitioner should be able to let you know a bit more about the photos at an initial consultation. If the photos seem too good to be true (but there are no other red flags), why not book a trial session first, rather than paying for your full round of treatment upfront?

Look for specific expertise

Unless you’re dealing with an exceptionally large company, your cosmetic practitioner should show some degree of specialization in their work. For example, administering anti-wrinkle injections is different to aromatherapy … both might make you feel good, in a small practice specialization is the mark of expertise, and therefore of sound knowledge and results.

Know your product

The machinery or the product is just as important in the success of your treatments as the people administering it. There is quite a lot of information available about particular brands of lasers, different brands of dermal filler and different types of scar treatments. Find out what you can – knowing your product will help you judge your potential results.

There were two newspaper articles about wrinkle removal in the weekend papers of August 14-15, 2010. If you didn’t see them, this is the essence of what they had to say.

The first, by Jane Hansen in the ‘The Sunday Telegraph’, notes that rejuvenation of skin using injectables in no longer the domain of celebrities. There were some quotes from some well-known women including:
• Sonia Kruger, Radio and TV Star,   “If it makes you feel better about how you look then why not?”
• Anna Bligh, Queensland Premier, says she has used injectable wrinkle treatments to erase frown lines, stating it “makes her feel better”
• Rebecca Gibney, the ‘ Packed to the Rafters ‘  star says, “ I just believe in trying to make the most of what you’ve got”

But what was really most interesting was the endorsement of injectable wrinkle removal and collagen-replacing dermal fillers, by real women, living in the suburbs, just like most of us. Kathy Naseby, a 50 year old mother and grandmother from Richmond says that when she “looked in the mirror, I looked tired and my cheeks weren’t as full as they used to be. I’d put make-up on and blusher and think, well it doesn’t look any better.”

The article says that Kathy is already a fan of injectable wrinkle treatment to rid her forehead of wrinkles so she has now opted for dermal filler to “reinflate” her sagging cheeks. It also says that Kathy sees dermal filler treatment and her quarterly injectable wrinkle treatments as part of her beauty routine – as normal as having her roots done. “I look really good, it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and I reckon I look 40”, says Kathy….” No-one stops aging but you can maintain yourself”.

The article also quotes Alison Smith, from Moree, who despite being in her mid-20’s is already a devotee of injectable wrinkle removal and dermal fillers for her lip augmentation. “I use injectable wrinkle removal because it opens up my eyes and the dermal fillers give my lips volume… I don’t have to age – I prefer not to.” Says journalist Jane Hansen, “Miss Smith represents a Generation-Y trend in stopping wrinkles forming in the first place”.

In Andrew Hornery’s PS column in The Weekend Edition of the Sydney Morning Herald, he comments that speculation is rife that 26 year- old model Jennifer Hawkins has had cosmetic treatments done. Some have suggested that she may have had lip injections and had some crows feet removed with the use of injectable wrinkle removal treatment. But whether Jennifer has or not, Andrew Horney comments, “whatever Jennifer Hawkins is doing in the looks department, it’s working”.

And, really, that’s what cosmetic treatments are all about. All of these women are simply making the most of what they’ve got, and in turn, making them feel good about themselves!

Some interesting practical facts from “The Sunday Telegraph’ article are that:
• Australians spent $448.5 million on minimally invasive and non-invasive cosmetic procedures last year. This was not only a record, but one that reached an all time high when other budgets were being nipped due to the GFC
• Around 1.5 million injectable wrinkle removers were administered in 250,000 wrinkle reduction procedures in Australia last year

…. so let Laser Clinics Australia discuss what cosmetic treatments can also do for you

“You are your greatest asset. Put your time, effort and money into training, grooming, and encouraging your greatest asset” (Tom Hopkins – motivational speaker and author). So, consider taking care of how you appear to others to be an investment in your future.

What are the grooming trends in 2010 to encourage your greatest asset? It’s all about keeping things simple. Anti-aging products are equally popular with men and women and are there to fight sun damage, wrinkles etc. Use sunscreens with titanium or zinc added (see our blog “Oh! Sunny days we thought would never end”) and don’t be afraid to moisturize your skin.

Haircuts for men couldn’t be easier, the most popular being short and sexy, accompanied by easy-to-manage-facial hair. Clean-shaven chins certainly complement the 50’s slick-back hairstyles (unlike Brad Pitt’s latest look as if he’s been lost on a desert island for 10 years!).

And what about body hair? Unwanted body/facial hair affects men just as it does women – often to the point of embarrassment. Never fear, there is a solution at Laser Clinics Australia. More and more men of all ages, sizes, sexual orientations, ethnicities and professionals are increasing their sex appeal by removing excess body hair.

Until now, waxing ( of backs and bikini lines) has been the most effective way of removing excess hair – a somewhat painful method that does not offer permanent removal and requires regular maintenance – even if it is less expensive than other treatments.

Now, laser hair removal is equally popular with men and women but you will need to make an appointment with Laser Clinics Australia to assess your suitability. Costing will depend on the area to be treated and the number of  laser treatments required to reach the effect you desire.

Laser removal is ideal for back and chest, legs, face, nape of the neck. Most women would agree that a hairy back and/or shoulders is never OK – a real turn-off – as is an excessive amount of chest hair – a King Kong body can be a real passion-killer! What you do in the groin area is your own choice but keep in mind that  laser hair removal is permanent and at some time, you may change your mind about that part of your body.

Men who dislike shaving can also find great benefit in laser hair removal. Laser facial hair removal is quick, hygienic and easy. Give Laser Clinics Australia the opportunity to give you a number of brief laser treatments until the hair follicles are rendered sterile and hair grows no more – so no more in-growing hairs or rashes! Yeah!

In your consultation with Laser Clinics Australia, your suitability for different types of hair removal will be assessed. If you are suitable for laser treatment, our consultants will discuss how many laser treatments will be needed and over what period of time – your own testosterone will influence these decisions. Follow up visits will be needed to permanently remove hair as new follicles appear so it is likely you will need 2-3 maintenance visits per annum.

Laser Clinics Australia’s consultants only use Medical Grade Lasers (not IPL) to target hair cells. The effect is similar to the skin being pinged with a rubber band but thankfully unlike other methods, laser uses a wide treatment size which allows removal of many hair follicles at once.

Seize the day, and see you soon!

1. Manscaping is booming
It isn’t only women in Western society that are being pressured to remove all their body hair below the neck. Guys are sometimes expected to be just as ‘groomed’ as women, and at laser hair removal clinics men are the customers just as often as women are.

2. Pubic hair in Islam
In Islam, removing the pubic hair is seen as acceptable for hygiene reasons, akin to the practice of circumcision for little boys. However, laser hair removal would probably not be permitted, as it would violate other modesty conditions of the religion.

3. Pubic hair and art
Pubic hair is almost always eliminated from both cartoon depictions of nude females and actual nude films in Japan, for legal reasons. John Ruskin,  an author and art critic, was apparently so used to seeing neither pubic hair nor a visible vulva on females that when he married and discovered his wife’s pubic hair, he was so shocked that he got an annulment.

4. Underarm hair
Growing underarm hair, even 70 years ago, was seen as a sign that you were ready for marriage and having babies – a visible sign of maturity. Now, thanks to razors and laser hair removal, it’s quite possible that some women have never had underarm hair past 3mm long in their lives.

5. Hair as a political statement
The ‘hairy feminist’ is now somewhat of a cliché. However, many feminists argue that the expectation to have a hairless body in women (which isn’t matched to the same extent in men) widens the gender gap.

6. Long hair and Judaism
Long hair for men in Judaism is thought to lead to pride and vanity. Young traditional Jewish boys have their hair cut only when they are old enough to understand the religion, and having their locks lopped off signifies a submission to the principles of the religion.

7. Hair in Amerindians
North American Indians would scalp their enemies because they believed that their souls resided in their hair. Scalping ensured their ultimate destruction. Nowadays, laser hair removal can ensure ultimate destruction of hair also … but certainly not your soul!

8. Hair and feelings in the West
For many women in the West, being hairless is about the feeling of smoothness … especially when you are talking about laser hair removal on large areas like the legs. For other women, it is an issue of femininity – hair growing on the upper lip, along the snail trail or on the shoulders makes them feel less womanly. 

9. Hair removal as punishment?
Across the world, removal of the head hair is sometimes used as a punishment. However, the same is not really true of body hair! Nobody has ever been threatened with underarm laser hair removal if they didn’t cooperate, that is for certain.

Step 1: Oral antibiotics

If there aren’t any contra-indications to oral antibiotics, they are a very suitable first step for many acne treatment seekers. They help tone down breakouts to a level where chemical peels, microdermabrasion, laser acne treatment etc can be undertaken with minimal discomfort.

Optional Step: Oral contraceptives

Obviously they’ll cause more problems than they solve in boys; however oral contraceptives may help acne in some girls, with relatively few side effects. One interaction of note, though – when these are also used as the sole method of contraception there will be a 14-day window in which they are ineffective when starting a course of antibiotics.

Step 2: Laser acne treatment

Laser acne treatment offers a widely effective, very safe way to get rid of all the lesions associated with acne. It works by subtly altering the sebaceous glands in your skin so they produce less oil, as well as killing off the populations of P. acnes in your skin (which take time to build up).

Step 3: Microdermabrasion, dermabrasion and chemical peels

All of the above procedures can help smooth out acne-roughened skin. We recommend they are undertaken after the oral antibiotics are established and laser acne treatment has been completed because they’ll have a better chance to act curatively on your skin. If you end up having the more severe dermabrasion, also, you should do it at a time when you are getting relatively few new lesions, as new pimples can cause scars.

Step 4: Benzoyl peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide increases the turnover rate of the skin and helps kill acne bacteria.It is a fairly common acne treatment, but we haven’t placed it earlier in the program because it does have side effects, sometimes causing cystic acne and flaking, and also making your skin build up a tolerance to it, so constant use is required.  It shouldn’t be used before laser therapy, as it increases sun sensitivity.

Step 5: Oral isotretinoin

Oral isotretinoin is also known as Accutane, or Roaccutane, and is one of the last resort treatments for acne. Usually people that complete a course of oral isotretinoin find that they have permanently improved skin. The fact that it increases turnover rate of the skin means that fine lines and wrinkles are improved as well. It has quite a range of serious side effects though, including flaking and peeling of the skin, exacerbation of sun sensitivity and sometimes mood changes and depression; this is why it is included as the last step.

Remember:

Acne treatments for teens are often a joint decision between the patient and their parents. When they disagree about what sort of treatment will be best, it’s wise to have these ‘discussions’ (or perhaps occasionally, arguments!) in the presence of a doctor. They’ll at least be able to give a professional evaluation of risks and benefits in a particular case.

1. Laser hair removal can be permanent
Not all lasers create permanent hair removal – but it is certainly possible that you will never have to shave again. At a minimum, the vast majority of people find that they need to either shave or wax at around 10 times longer intervals than previously.

2. It smoothes your skin!
The laser that some clinics use stimulates collagen production, ‘plumping out’ and smoothing your skin.

3. You can’t wax or pluck before treatment
If you wax or pluck your hairs in the two weeks before laser hair removal treatment, you run the risk that the hair won’t have yet entered its re-growth phase and there will be nothing for the laser to target.

4. Procedures advertised as ‘laser hair removal’ might not be done by laser
Some companies try to market Intense Pulsed Light systems as laser hair removal. IPL machines are cheaper for a clinic to buy and therefore cheaper per session. However, the hair removal is rarely long-term and they can create some horrible burns.

5. Dark skin can be treated
The ‘best’ candidates for laser hair removal are people with fair skin and dark hair. However, olive- and dark-skinned people can certainly be successfully treated. It depends on the wavelength of light used in the laser hair removal process.

6. It’s pretty quick!
Facial areas, bikini lines and your underarms can be completed in 10-15 minutes. Large areas like your legs or back might take an hour.

7. Not all lasers are painful
Some people are turned off by reports of intense pain during laser hair removal. In fact, some lasers have a cooling feature which releases a cryogen spray just before the laser fires and significantly reduces pain levels.

8. You can use topical anaesthetic
If the cryogen spray still leaves you in pain, most good clinics will offer you the choice of having topical anaesthetic.

9. All parts of the body can be treated
If you have hair growing there, it can be safely removed by laser. Proper lasers (NOT Intense Pulsed Light machines) can work on even the most delicate skin.

10. Hairs don’t ingrow afterwards
Waxing often creates ingrown hairs. Laser hair removal doesn’t!

11. You shouldn’t tan, either before or after
You shouldn’t tan the area to be treated before your laser hair removal, and should also wait several weeks before exposing it to the sun. Spray tans often need to be avoided as well – so winter is the perfect season for laser hair removal.

12. Laser hair removal can NOT give you skin cancer
The type of light used to remove hair is completely different to the UV type light that can damage your DNA and cause skin cancer.

13. You should always have a consultation first
All reputable laser hair removal providers will consult with you first, getting some basic medical history facts, an understanding of your goals for laser hair removal and examining your skin.

14. There are usually specials available!
Laser hair removal is certainly more of an upfront cost that buying razors – but if you keep an eye out for specials on the body part you want, you can often get a real bargain!

1. Are there different types of freckles, and will laser removal work on them all?
Laser freckle removal works for many types of brown pigmented lesions, sun spots, age spots, freckles and even some birthmarks. The only type of freckles that can’t be removed with laser therapy is lesions that are suspected of being cancerous. If your dermatologist or laser freckle removal therapist finds any of these, they’ll refer you for further medical treatment immediately.

2. Is laser freckle removal safe?
Yes, it has been extensively tested by Australian authorities and approved for use.

3. Will I have white spots, or will the old freckle area be normal skin colour?
Sometimes a little extra melanin is removed from your skin, and the freckle area ends up lighter than the rest of your skin. However this is self-correcting – definitely not permanent!

4. What happens when the freckles are removed?
After laser freckle removal the dark spots will scab up and fall off … almost as if the freckles were foreign entities living in your skin!

5. Can the freckles come back?
If you go out in the sun again, they can. Laser freckle removal doesn’t stop the process that creates freckles, it only removes the end product.

6. Does it hurt?
Laser freckle treatment hurts far less if you choose a clinic that uses lasers with a cooling feature, like the Candela Gentlelase. You can also get topical anesthetic applied for the treatment, but most people liken it to mild sunburn.

7. Does it look good afterwards?
Yes! Most people achieve a very natural, freckle-free skin tone in quite a short time after the course of laser freckle removal treatments is finished.

8. How many treatments are needed?
Often only 1 treatment for facial freckles. If you want a very large area treated, like your back, you may need up to four sessions.

9. How long does it take to heal and for the freckles to come off?
It usually takes about 3 weeks for good results to become apparent.

10. Are there any side effects?
Laser freckle treatment is quite safe, with far milder side effects even than many prescription drugs. You might get some light bruising, swelling or redness in the areas treated, but serious side effects are extremely rare.

Microdermabrasion (Effectiveness: * )
Microdermabrasion is best used in conjunction with other therapies. It can be useful for acne, but is not particularly effective as an acne scar treatment.

At-home chemical peels (Effectiveness: ** )
Chemical peels, like microdermabrasion, are more effective against acne in its active stages than for remedying scarring. It is low cost but will need to be repeated often.

Medical-grade chemical peels (Effectiveness: *** )
Medical grade chemical peels can be very effective for low grade scarring. They may only need to be repeated once or twice, but they do carry some risk of scarring and the recovery time is far longer than at-home peels.

Dermal fillers (Effectiveness: *** )
Dermal fillers are a mid-range cost, very low risk treatment for deep acne scars. They will also substantially improve the look of an acne scar. However, they are temporary only – you’ll need to keep up the treatments every 6-9 months for the rest of your life.

Subcision (Effectiveness: *** )
Subcision is a great option for single deep scars, but cannot be performed across the whole face. You may need several treatments, but it has a low cost, mid-range recovery time and fairly low risk. 

Diode laser (Effectiveness: **** )
There is minimal downtime from this acne scar treatment, but multiple sessions will be needed to help fill in deep scars. The procedure carries very little risk, especially if you are treated in a professional clinic, as the scarred areas are targeted and surrounding skin is spared. Compared to other single-time procedures, diode lasers have a good chance to fill in acne scars with very little associated risk.

Fractional carbon dioxide lasers (Effectiveness: **** )
Fractional carbon dioxide lasers both ablate the surface of the skin (removing the top layers), as well as causing a mild heat injury to the tissue, which stimulates the formation of new collagen which fills in scras.

Skin needling (Effectiveness: *****)
This very effective acne scar treatment has a fairly substantial recovery time, but will show effective improvements for quite some time. The overall risk is quite low compared to the effectiveness of results. 

Fully ablative laser resurfacing (Effectiveness: ***** )
This is quite an effective treatment, but don’t let those 5 stars blind you to the major risks that are associated with fully abrading the top layers of your skin. It can also result in permanent scarring or loss of pigmentation in the skin that may look worse than the original scars. Only one acne scar treatment is needed, but it is expensive and you’ll need a fair bit of time off work to recover.

Comment: Laser hair removal works. I have had it done and cant stop raving about it. So much so, that I’ve become a laser hair removalist heheheh  

I  did it on my mum and she hasn’t shaved or waxed in like a year    You  might need a few treatments though before you see permanent long term results.

Response: It’s always great to see such a positive experience with laser hair removal! It’s correct that you’ll need a few sessions before the results become long-lasting, as not all of your hair follicles are in a growth phase at the same time. On any given day there is a percentage of follicles that are resting, and will start growing hair in the future. Additionally, sometimes the follicle is simply stimulated to grow hair again, even after a laser session, and more laser treatment is needed.

Comment: I had both my underarms and bikini done about a year ago and I’m delighted. I was a dark brunette with a five o’clock shadow under my arms. After 5 treatments  I can go a couple of weeks without shaving and you would hardly notice. IIIIIII LOOOOOVE IT!!!!

And: I have had my bikini line and legs done a couple of times and both are much easier to maintain and the hair is sparser and less coarse but not hairless.

Response: Right – this is what we mean by ‘permanent hair reduction’ when we talk about laser hair removal. Many people still have to shave every so often – but the regrowth is sparse and slow. 

Comment: It does hurt a bit, but not unbearable. I was offered a cream that you put on an hour before which is a local anaestheic but decided against it, mainly due to the extra cost, was about $70-80 for that cream. But I think it also depends on individual pain thresholds.

Response: Yes, this is the experience of most people who have laser hair removal through machines that don’t use a cooling feature. The sensation is often likened to snapping a rubber band against your skin. However, patients at laser hair removal clinics that use machines with a cryogen spray or other cooling feature report almost no discomfort.

Comment: If you are contemplating getting it done make sure you get them lasered, and don’t go for the IPL, intense pulse light i think it is, as this does not do the same job as a laser.

Response: We feel terrible for the many people (both guys and girls) that have been convinced to use IPL machines (Intense Pulsed Light) systems marketed as ‘laser hair removal’, and have had the poor results and terrible side effects that characterize these machines. IPLs don’t selectively target the hair shaft – they frequently burn the surrounding tissue as well as the hair, and the hair often grows back in about the same time as it would after waxing. Make sure you get your laser hair removal done by a laser!

Comment: It didn’t work for me! I went 5 times and nothing. The most annoying thing was that the staff kept telling it how fantastic the results looked

Response: There are several individual variables that might mean you need more laser hair removal sessions to start seeing permanent hair reduction. Darker hair on lighter skin is more effectively removed; also, if you wax or pluck any hairs between sessions the laser will have nothing to seek out and the hair will just grow back. However, this sort of experience is the exception, not the rule!