Alexander Z. Rivkin M.D. is a Yale trained facial cosmetic surgeon and UCLA faculty member who has focused his practice exclusively on providing his patients with the latest in non-invasive, non-ablative cosmetic treatments in Southern California. He understands that no one relishes the thought of “going under the knife,” and believes modern medical technology can provide today's patients with superior alternatives to invasive, painful surgery that requires a long recovery time.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Sun Damaged Skin - Phenol vs Lasers

hi, I really have some questions and I am going crazy cause I just don't know. I am 25 and I tanned alot when I was younger mostly 14- 18. When I was 21 I noticed a fine line on my forehead and I freaked out. Since then I have been using sunscreen and never tanning. Now I have rough skin and large pores on my cheeks next to my nose and my forehead is not looking as good as it used to. My question is will i continue to age faster than those who did not tan as much or if I take care of myself and protect myself from the sun will I just go from here. i'm really scared. One more question. I have been looking into the chemical peels and have read a ton about them. While the tca seems more for like my skin type the phenol appeals to me much more because it is permanent but then again it can be scarier because of that. Will the phenol peel make my skin look unnaturally white and are there alot of complications to this. Does it tend to scar alot. Do you know what the percentage is of phenol peels that go smoothly. Thanks so much

hi,
don't worry about what you've done in the past. just take care of your skin from now on and you should be ok. use strong sunblock and reapply often if you're outside. use a moisturizer and a good cleanser. even if you have pores that are a bit big or a few fine lines, you will be able to take care of these with peels or lasers. tca is a good peel and you can adjust the strength of it to the person. phenol is usually quite harsh. i would stay away from phenol. if you need something that intense, i would go for lasers.
its not a question of permanent vs. temporary. all of the peels and lasers are permanent, its just that they can't stop time. its a question of intensity and precision. i think that lasers like active fx or fraxel are more precise and controllable.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dr Rivkin,

I have been getting auora/rf fotofacials for the past 2 yrs. I now hear that these machines cause fat loss. Should I be concerned?

March 17, 2009 at 2:19 PM

 
Blogger Dr. Alexander Rivkin said...

i haven't heard any recent reports of problems with fat loss from RF technology. i think that these are concerns from the past and these machines have been calibrated to be quite safe.
also, most of those fat loss cases were from treatments performed while the patient was under anesthesia and unable to give feedback as to the depth of energy penetration (ouch!).

March 17, 2009 at 7:27 PM

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for your quick responce Dr Ripkin. I feel a lot better now. You're doing a great service to people here.

March 17, 2009 at 7:53 PM

 

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