Chest Sun Damage and IPL vs Peels vs Active Fx

Hi Dr. Rivkin,
I have sun damage on my chest from years of sunbathing when I was young - which I no longer do.
I also have flat white acne scars in the same area, which show up even more due to the darkness of the skin caused by sun damage.
I had one IPL treatment but did not notice even a slight improvement and it was around 500.00 to have it done.
I was told by the woman who gave me the treatment in my dermatologist's office that microderm would work just as well.
I have always been self conscious about my scars, and feel like there has to be something that will be effective on them and the sun damage.
Can you look at my album photos and advise me on the best procedure and how many I will need? Also, the estimated cost if possible.
Thank you,
Pamela

Hi Pamela,
I do not think that microdermabrasion will do much, but it certainly will not hurt and it may help over time.

There are some decent chemical peels out that may work - Vi peel is something we've been doing in the office - seems to give good results so far. It's pretty cheap - $300 or so some of the more aggressive lasers may help with the hypopigmentation - active fx is a good one. there is some downtime with these lasers, however. its expensive - about $1000 or more.

Another option is to try the IPL again on higher settings, making sure that you are not suntanned at all prior to treatment. you can pre-treat with a hydroquinone cream for 2 weeks and that should let your doc use higher settings.


http://www.westsidemedicalspa.com/IPL_photofacial.html
http://www.westsidemedicalspa.com/activefxlaser.html

Radiesse in the Tear Troughs

Dr. Rivkin

The middle of this past May '08, I had injections in/under my eye hollows with Radiesse. I had a lot of bruising and swelling, but was told that this would go away, some of the bruises were very deep and purple and lasted nearly two weeks. But, they DID go away.

the end of the second week, I began to swell in a different way all under my eyes, on top of the cheek bone, and got weird discoloration at the sight of the injection. A brownish/reddish color. I went to the Dr. who did the injection and was given a prescription for oral steroids, as well as an antibiotic.

The swelling went away, but even now, mid July the discoloation is there and I need makeup to cover it...it is very noticeable..

do you have any solutions, adivce, or thoughts? what could this be?

thanks so much for you time

-pepper


Hi Pepper,
This is one of the reasons that i do not use radiesse under the eyes. I think this is pigment deposited as a result of prolonged bruising. I'm not sure how to make it resolve. Perhaps hydroquinone cream? I use 8%, but it doesn't always work. steroid injections are also a possibility - I would start with kenalog 10.
Hope that helps


http://www.westsidemedicalspa.com/radiesse.html
http://www.westsidemedicalspa.com/non_surgical_bleph.html