Hello Everyone, My name is Megan and I’m the manager here at Skin Worthy Clinic. You may have seen me in some of Barbs posts on Instagram getting injected or laser treatment or micro needled…the list goes on lol.
I’m excited to be writing my very first blog post ever and even more excited to be able to share my experiences with you! When I was thinking about what I wanted to write about so many ideas came to mind, but the idea that stuck out the most for me was sharing what we do here at Skin Worthy Clinic and the importance of taking an informed approach to medical Aesthetics.
People call the clinic every day and ask about different treatments, what each treatment does, downtime and what to expect during their visit and I love that. Taking about the treatments is one of my favourite parts of working here, because after all the learning and reading and trying all I want to do is share and educate.
I believe the most important initial step to consider when looking into cosmetic medicine for the first time is the consultation. The consultation will set the stage for your treatment or future treatments and will always be different for each client. There is no cookie cutter solution for medical aesthetics and depends highly on what you (the patient) is looking for. For some people the consultation is more simple as you have done your research or already narrowed down an idea of what you’re looking to achieve from your treatment like for example, bigger lips or a smoother forehead. For others the consultation is more involved and you may not have a particular idea of treatments but want to look less tired or take back the clock 10 years or look the same as you do now but with a little extra POP. In both cases I believe that taking some extra time to discuss an overall approach is beneficial as it allows us to get to know you, set expectations and deliver the best treatment possible. For example you can come in and say I want a vampire facial because my friend got one and she loved it! And I think thats awesome, but is it the best treatment for you to achieve your goals? Its easy for a clinic to say sure, whatever you want, provide you with the treatment and be on your way, but are we addressing the actual issues that are bothering you? Its like building a puzzle without looking at the box…its takes forever, mistakes are made, things are put in the wrong place and at the end you might reach your final goal but now you’ve spent so much more time (and in the case of cosmetic treatments, MONEY) than you needed to. So my first piece of advice is to LOOK AT THAT BOX, get the consultation and establish what you’re really trying to do by coming into the clinic.
Once you’ve established your goals it’s time to set expectations. This is key because some people like a more dramatic look and some people like a more natural look, but there’s a limit to what we can achieve with one treatment. An iconic example is Kylie Jenners lips, she went from nothing to everything in the lip department and if thats your goal that’s great, but we need to set a treatment guideline with reasonable expectations. Hasty lip injections can result in the dreaded duck bill or monkey mouth look, that, as far as I know no one is interested in. So, when setting expectations it’s important to consider time frame and cost. How many treatments does it take, how often is the upkeep, whats the initial cost and cost of maintenance treatments. Making those considerations will help you to feel more confident and satisfied throughout the treatment process.
Treatments…finally! Lets talk about what we really do here at Skin Worthy. We offer a variety of treatments that can help to build or enhance structure, rejuvenate skin, correct damage, prevent aging and maintain beautiful results.
Structural treatments include things like filler treatments. Hyaluronic acid filler can be used in many areas of the face to correct volume loss that occurs naturally with age or build structure to enhance features or draw attention to or away from different areas of the face. For example, adding volume to the cheekbone area can actually elongate the face and result in a more defined and thin facial structure.
Another great treatment for structural enhancement is Belkyra. Belkyra is an injectable treatment that is used to permanently destroy fat in the sub mental area a.k.a. the dreaded double chin. This treatment helps to define the jawline and chin area. An amazing celebrity example and spokes person for this treatment is Khloe Kardashian, she speaks openly about the amazing results she achieved through a series of Belkyra treatments. The great part about this treatment is that it actually permanently breaks down the fat cells in the treated area, so even though you usually need several treatments to achieve ideal results, maintenance treatments are not required.
Anti-wrinkle injections are one of my favourite treatments because they can do so much more that just treat wrinkles. Obviously, as suggested by the name, this treatment does an amazing job of preventing fine lines and deep wrinkles around the eyes, on the brow, between the eyes and many more areas. Beyond reducing and preventing wrinkles, treatments include jawline slimming, by injecting that same product into the masseter muscle. This will relax the muscle and reduce bulk resulting in a slimmer more feminine jawline. Another interesting treatment is Hyperhidrosis treatment, Botox has be clinically shown to significantly decrease sweating in treated areas such as underarms or palms. This is a semipermanent treatment with maintenance treatments required every 4-12 months.
Collagen Induction therapy is just as interesting as it sounds. The most notable form of this treatment is the Vampire Facial. Basically this treatment is performed by using hundreds or even thousands of tiny needle pokes to improve skin tone, texture and thickness. It does exactly what the name says—BUILDS COLLAGEN. We have three forms of this treatment in clinic, depending on your age, treatment targets and concerns we determine what form is right for you.
Do you ever feel like you have dull skin or facing more breakouts that usual….maybe a chemical peel is exactly what you need. We offer an amazing lunchtime no downtime peel that is the perfect treatment to kickstart a new skincare regime or revitalize dull tired skin. Its not overly aggressive, making it the perfect treatment to get skin glowing for an event or as part of your regular skin maintenance.
We also offer an array of laser and IPL treatments including HALO, BBL, Acne, hair removal, laser peel and skin tightening.
HALO is my favourite life changing laser treatment that uses two forms of laser, a deeper non ablative laser to build collagen below the skins surface and an ablative laser to resurface the upper layer of skin, creating a beautiful fresh canvass. Patients treated with HALO experience amazing improvement in the appearance of texture and pigment with much less downtime than other comparable laser treatments (typically about 5-7 days). Results are seen in 1-2 treatments while older, non-hybrid technology often requires 5-6 treatments to demonstrate similar texture changes and don’t even come close in terms of pigment correction.
BBL or broad band light is an advanced form of IPL treatment. If facial vessels or sun damage is what your looking to correct this is the treatment for you. It’s usually recommend in a series of 3 treatments, with annual maintenance treatments after. We have two treatment options one being a corrective treatment that specifically targets reds and browns in the skin. The other is called the BBL Forever Young. Forever young goes beyond treating pigment and actually turns the clock on aging. A 10 year study at Stanford University found that continuous treatments with BBL can actually change the way that genes are expressed, halt the skins aging process.
BBL acne treatment is an effective three step acne treatment that involves the use of blue, yellow and red light to treat acne. The blue filter is used to selectively target the p-acnes bacteria that are partially responsible for acne in the skin. A second pass with a red filter helps to reduce redness and heal deeper acne lesions. A third filter is used to minimize sebaceous gland activity associated with oil production—less oil=less breakouts. This is an exciting treatment that pairs perfectly our acne skincare line or a chemical peel acne treatment.
Laser hair removal is life!! Hate shaving? I do! Laser hair removal (ironically named because it doesn’t actually use a laser at all, it uses intense pulsed light) will dramatically reduce hair in unwanted places…like everywhere. If your goal is to be a smooth baby seal come see our amazing Medical Aesthetician Carolina for a consultation…you won’t regret it.
So previously I mentioned our chemical peel, but a second peel option that we offer is the Micro Laser Peel or Nano Peel (depth is the difference here). This ablative laser treatment is performed using our Sciton laser and can be customized for depths between 2 and 50 microns. If you are looking to quickly zip off some top layers to brighten up the skin or treat more serious lines and textural issues this laser treatment can do it all!
SkinTyte is another treatment under our laser umbrella, this treatment uses heat and light to tighten loose skin. SkinTyte requires multiple treatments as well as maintenance treatments, but we will work with you to customize the perfect package to achieve results. The most popular areas to treat are the neck (bye bye turkey neck) and the abdominal area, but we are also starting to treat areas like to breasts. This treatment can be paired with micro needling to super charge the results.
Okay that was a lot of laser talk, and we still haven’t touched on all the treatments that we offer, so lets keep moving…sclerotherapy! Have you heard of it? I remember being a kid and wondering what all these little purple and red spidery looking veins were on my grandmothers legs were. I also remember hoping I never got them. Well 25 years later and guess what…I did get them (sigh). The great news is that totally treatable and we treat them right here at Skin Worthy. Sclerotherepy a non invasive treatment that uses a tiny needle to inject a solution into those pesky little veins. This solution irritates the vein wall and collapses the vein. This is an excellent treatment and usually has great results. The only downside is that we can’t prevent new veins from forming, so there may be periodic maintenance treatments as new veins develop.
PRP, what is PRP? Well its stands for Platelet Rich Plasma and has a variety of uses in modern medicine including, muscle and ligament injuries, arthritis, and orthopaedic surgeries. Platelet rich plasma is extracted from your own blood using a centrifuge and injected back into your body. The PRP that is spun out of the whole blood is filled with growth factors and helps speed healing, and enhances the bodies regeneration process. At Skin Worthy we obviously don’t treat the previously mentioned conditions like sports injuries, but we do use PRP for other exciting treatments. Hair restoration is one amazing treatment we perform using PRP and is an excellent treatment for men and women to help encourage the growth of new hair, bringing back the beautiful locks of years past. PRP can also be injected directly into the skin (similar process to a filler treatment, but different results). Injecting PRP into an area won’t have the immediate results of a filler treatment, but over time it will encourage Collagen building in the treated areas, regenerating your skin and bring back a more youthful appearance. PRP can also be combined with Micro-needling treatments to improve stretch marks, scaring, and skin textural issues.
The last topic I want to touch on is Skin Care. Skin care is confusing as the market is saturated with thousands upon thousands of products that promise miracle cures for everything under the sun. Do you spend lots of money, do you buy the cheep products that contain all the buzz words? It’s hard to know what to do. One thing I can tell you is that medical grade Skin Care sold in professional clinics is proven to be effective. At Skin Worthy we carry ZO Skin Health, which in my opinion is the best on the market. Its not just the ingredients used in the products but the delivery system and specific formulations that make theses products so effective. ZO is definitely not the cheapest brand on the market but worth every penny, it is proven effective and will change the way you see skincare. We love performing skincare consultations at Skin Worthy, so come in and let us discuss and educate why we have the best product available in the market….no pressure I promise.
