Preventative medicine, long a bedrock of health care in the East, has finally taken root here in the West as well. The concept is simple. Instead of only seeing the doctor when you’re sick, the focus of care is more to protect and promote your overall health and well-being in order to prevent you from ever falling ill in the first place. It’s about keeping disease at bay so that you look and feel vital no matter your age. It’s a subtle and extremely powerful difference in treatment philosophy. In the aesthetic world, we’ve coined the term “prejuvenation” to describe our take on this philosophy shift. What is prejuvenation? It’s a treatment regime of subtle tweaks that help to delay the physical manifestations of aging.
While there are a number of different options, here are my top three in terms of efficacy.
Skincare is a Powerful Prejuvenation Tool
Aging is inevitable. It can show up on your face and body in any number of ways including:
- Fine lines
- Deeper wrinkles
- Sagging skin
- Brown spots
- Redness
- Crepey, uneven skin texture
Skincare is one of the fastest, easiest and most effective ways to delay the appearance of skin aging. It’s important to work with a Board-Certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist to choose a regime that is right for your anatomy and needs. And keep in mind that your regime will need to change as you, for example,
age, switch climates from dry to humid, or move to a big city with more pollution.
A good skincare regime first and foremost keeps your skin hydrated which delivers that healthy glow that the human eye associates with vitality and youth. Second, it protects your skin from environmental toxins. And third, it promotes cell turnover in order to heal the early signs of aging. I offer my Boston area patients a wide range of skincare options including:
- Skinbetter Science®
- SkinMedica®
- ZO® Skin Health
- EltaMD®
Sunscreen is the Fountain of Youth in a Bottle
The latter brand, EltaMD®, makes some of my favorite sunscreens. If there is one thing that I can recommend to any patient who wants to look more youthful, it would be to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF 30 every day. Wear it on rainy days. Wear it on cloudy days. And of course, wear it on sunny days, adding a wide-brimmed hat. I also advise my patients to stay out of the sun as much as possible in the strong sun hours of 10am – 2pm. The sun’s rays, however, are everywhere which is why sunscreen is one of the superstars of prejuvenation. While we need sunshine to survive as a body and a planet, it can be incredibly damaging to your skin, breaking down collagen and elastin on both the surface of your skin and the deeper layers. This can result in:
- Brown spots
- Melasma
- Hyperpigmentation
As well as crepey texture and loose, sagging skin. In short, sun damage causes the visible signs of aging to accelerate at a rapid pace. If you don’t believe me, just compare the appearance of the skin on your left driver’s side arm versus your right. The discrepancy can be pretty shocking.
Botox to Delay the Onset of Wrinkles
There is a lot of information online about Botox as a prejuvenation treatment to prevent wrinkles from forming. This is a bit of a misnomer. Assuming that you are going to live a long and fruitful life, you can expect that longevity to come with some wrinkles. However, Botox, as well as other neurotoxins like Dysport, can definitely delay their onset. I use it for prejuvenation starting around your mid to late 20’s. If you have a family history of glabella lines, often referred to as “11” lines between your brows, and/or forehead lines, the early use of a neurotoxin such Botox® or Dysport® will help slow down their development. Personally, I use a very light touch, especially with my younger patients, in order to deliver a natural, undone look. The goal is for you to look refreshed, never frozen.
To find out more about prejuvenation treatment options such as Botox®, or any other surgical or non-surgical procedure with Dr. Sean Doherty at his Boston or Brookline office, contact us today or call (617) 450.0070 to schedule a consultation