Natural Aesthetics
At Living Wellness Medical Center, we want our patients to feel great. While working with your naturopathic doctor, you’ll focus on all of the pillars of health, including nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, mental and emotional health, stress management, and for some, natural aesthetics. Natural aesthetics treatments help to maintain the look of youthfulness through microneedling facelifts and PRP care. When you feel good, it shines through, and that’s why we’re pleased to be able to offer these natural treatments for our clientele.
Living Wellness Medical Center Natural Aesthetics Offerings:
- Microneedling Facelift with Hyaluronic Acid or with Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)
- Botox
What Is Automated Microneedling?
- Automated Microneedling (also known as Collagen Induction Therapy or CIT) is a new innovation in aesthetic medicine for the treatment of fine lines and acne scars and the improvement of the skin’s overall appearance. During this natural aesthetics procedure, tiny needles are used to create controlled micro-injuries to the skin in order to produce collagen and elastin. The skin’s repair process results in a thicker dermis with the appearance of softer wrinkles. Microneedling also creates superficial micro-channels that allow topical gels, creams, and serums to be absorbed more effectively into the skin.
What are the Benefits?
- The benefits of microneedling are a reduction in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and younger-looking skin with fewer signs of aging. Microneedling also has a positive effect on hyperpigmentation as well as hypopigmentation, acne scars, traumatic scars, and stretch marks. The natural treatments generally create a fresher appearance or glow to the skin.
What Areas of the Body Can I Get the Treatment Done On?
- Microneedling can be performed on all parts of the body face, neck, décolleté, arms, hands, legs, abdomen, and back.
How Is the Procedure Done?
- A sterile needle tip containing 12 tiny microneedles is attached to the microneedling device. Your skin care professional will apply a thin layer of topical gel to your skin and select the appropriate treatment depth based on your unique needs. Next, in a single motion, the pen will be gently pressed against the skin while simultaneously gliding in one direction until the entire treatment area has been covered.
What Does It Feel Like?
- eeling associated with microneedling is similar to light sandpaper being moved across the skin.
- While some areas are more sensitive than others, the speed of the reciprocating needle tip reduces discomfort while the applied hydrating gel also makes the treatment more tolerable.
How Long Does the Procedure Take?
- The procedure takes 15-60 minutes, depending on the size of the area treated.
What Is the Recovery Period?
- Immediately after the treatment you will notice a bright redness to the skin.
- The total healing time depends on the depth of needles used and the number of overlapping passes your skincare professional performs.
- On average, patients are red up to 2 to 4 days. Some patients heal completely in as little as 24 hours.
When Will I See Results?
- Patients notice an immediate “glow” to their skin. Visible changes to the skin develop over the course of several days and weeks.
- Results continue to improve up to 6 months after the treatment as collagen production continues.
How Many Treatments Will I Need?
- Some patients only require a single treatment, once per year, to achieve optimal results.
- However, it is recommended for most patients to receive a series of 2-3 treatments spaced about 6-8 weeks apart. For patients with deep wrinkles, advanced photo-aging, stretch marks, or acne scars, it is recommended to receive 6-8 sessions at 6-week intervals.
What is PRP?
Platelet-rich plasma, also known as “PRP,” is a component of your blood that is used for its beneficial growth factors and collagen production. Platelets are very small cells in your blood that are involved in the clotting and healing process. When PRP is injected into the damaged area, it causes mild inflammation that then triggers a healing cascade. PRP contains the patients’ growth factors (platelet-derived growth factors) that stimulate rejuvenation and the healing of collagen. As the collagen matures, it begins to shrink, causing tightening and strengthening of the damaged area. When treating aged, injured, or sun-damaged tissue, PRP can induce remodeling of the tissue to a healthier, younger state. A minimum of 4 to 6 vials of blood is typically required to extract the proper amount of PRP needed for treatment.
How Is the Treatment Done?
- In cosmetic procedures, physicians traditionally use a classic, rigid, sharp-tipped needle to inject the solution. Unfortunately, such needles tend to induce pain and cause bruising, thus necessitating increased recovery time.
- The microneedling device that we use is a flexible cannula that has a blunt tip. The blunt tip reduces the pain of injection and won’t cause bruising because it doesn’t penetrate through blood vessels. This needle is used to inject PRP under the skin into specific areas (i.e., cheekbones and forehead. This needle design provides better application and reduces recovery time.
