Westside Medical Spa

Fraxel is still king of the lasers as far as I'm concerned. The results that I am getting with the Fraxel SR 1500 are fantastic. Acne scar patients that I would have been quite pessimistic with before can look forward to very impressive improvement. Pain with the new machine is significantly less and we can put much more energy into the skin without increased risk of injury.

Thermage - mixed results, but people are finding that, if they are patient, they are seeing impressive skin tightening. It just takes a while sometimes. One patient recently told me that she is happy now, after 4 months, whereas she was disappointed afterwards. So, some people see great results right away, and others have to wait for the collagen to be stimulated and to build. I really want people to see results from this procedure, and sometimes a second session is necessary 6 months after the first. If that is the case, I want to encourage people to do it, but without bankrupting them, so I'm offering that second session at 1/2 the price that we charged for the first one.

I have begun using Thermage for resistant acne. I heard anecdotal accounts from another facial plastic surgeon's office that it was a good treatment. They noticed accidentally that with some of their patients, the Thermage procedure cleared up their acne. I have used it on a few people who did not improve on PDT, Blue Light, topical treatments or facials. The results have been very impressive, so I'm looking forward to offering this as an effective treatment.

We will soon be offering the Revaleskin product line, and it looks very interesting. The active ingredient is CoffeeBerry - an extract of the unripe coffee bean fruit. This extract seems to have a very high concentration of antioxidants and preliminary studies show excellent results with the use of the product. Comparative studies show that the skin becomes smoother, pigmentation changes fade and fine lines are diminished. Microscopic examination shows an increase in collagen. I'm looking forward to offering Revaleskin in addition to Prevage as a great antioxidant choice.
Here is their website for more info: http://www.revaleskin.com

Sorry for not paying attention to this. Lots of new stuff going on.
1. We finished recruitment for the Aquamid study and the product seems to be really outstanding. Aquamid injects easily and the results are very natural and smooth. It seems to be less prone to lumping than most temporary fillers, much less a permanent one like this. Everyone who received Aquamid has been quite happy with it. No one can tell the difference, aesthetically, from Restylane.
My apologies to the people who didn't make it into the study. The inclusion criteria were quite strict and you had to have deep smile lines in order to be included. It was, however, great to see the extraordinary response of people wanting to participate. I am constantly researching other emerging products and as soon as another study starts, these will be the people I contact first.

2. Last week was the first of what I hope to be a regular joint lecture series at the UCLA division of Plastic Surgery. Dr. Jaco Festejekian and I spoke together about surgical and non surgical approaches to aesthetic enhancement. Turnout was really great, and the sponsors of the lecture (Allergan, Medicis, Artes medical) really helped us give the people that came a nice experience with refreshments, prizes, etc.

more in a bit.....