Tuesday, April 14, 2009

"Intense" treatment for "Intensed" results

Intense pulsed light (IPL) treatment or Sapphire Light continues to be a popular choice for skin rejuvenation and enhancing the skin tone, and have proven to be particularly effective for treating age spots, freckles and acne scars.

IPL treatments are performed using a handheld device that delivers a broad spectrum of light onto the skin’s surface. The wavelengths of light penetrate deep into the skin tissue to stimulate the fibroblast cells beneath the skin’s surface, and triggers the body’s ‘purging’ response so that it eliminates injured tissues and dead skin cells that may be stuck deep within the skin’s surface. The IPL skin care treatments are typically conducted as a series of treatments at four weeks intervals, and the skin begins to take on a more youthful and clear appearance even after one treatment.

If you’ve been looking for a non-invasive solution for freshening up your skin and enjoying a more even skin tone, consider these benefits and drawbacks of the innovative IPL treatment.

IPL procedures do not require any anesthetic cream. The painless (or rubber band hitting the skin) procedure also does not require any downtime, which means patients can receive their treatment over lunch hour or any other break, resuming regular activities shortly after treatment. IPL treatments can be used to correct and refine nearly all skin types, and are particularly effective for treating:

Freckles
Age spots
Hyperpigmentation
Rosacea
Spider veins
Birthmarks
Sun spots
Acne scars
Permanent hair reduction

Nevertheless, the intensive light can cause slight redness in the treatment area (pigmented areas especially). However, any redness or soreness typically subsides within a few hours after the procedure. Hypo-pigmentation is another concern associated with IPL treatments, and is most common in those with darker skin tones. Hypo-pigmentation is the lightening of the skin, and can occur within a few hours after treatment. Typically, people with skin type four and five have to be monitored carefully.

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Say Bye Bye to Sweaty Armpits

BOTOX® is FDA approved for excessive underarm sweating that is not adequately managed with topical agents. BOTOX® neurotoxin treatment helps control this condition by temporarily blocking the chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands. When the sweat glands don't receive chemical signals, the excessive sweating stops.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Botox® in Malaysia

Botox® is the brand name for botulinum toxin type A which is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botox® is the purified form of the toxin, which if taken in large amounts by mouth causes food poisoning. But when injected in small, diluted amounts into specific muscles in the body, Botox® blocks the chemical signals that cause muscles to contract. The injected muscles can no longer contract, which causes wrinkles to relax and soften and the area of the skin appears smoother and less wrinkled.

In Malaysia, Botox® can be used to treat several health problems such as:

Neurological disorder which cause severe neck and shoulder muscle contractions
Spastic disorder associated with injury of the centre nervous system including stroke and cerebral palsy, frown lines between the eyebrow and excessive sweating
This medication is given by injection by an experienced health care professional. It is injected into the affected muscles (intramuscularly) when treating muscle spasms and wrinkles. It is injected into the skin (intradermally) for the treatment of excessive sweating.

Your dose, the number of injections, the site of injections, and how often you receive the medication will be determined by your condition and your response to therapy. Most people start to see an effect within a few days to 2 weeks, and the effect usually lasts 3 to 6 months.

The potential side effects following administration of botulinium toxins are pain when swallowing (dysphagia), difficulty in speaking (dysphonia), weakness, respiratory distress and difficulty in breathing (dyspnea). Less common side effects include anxiety, back pain, , fever, flu-like symptoms, Neck Pain, skin rash and visual changes. Side effects of botulinium toxin products have been reported as early as one day and as late as several weeks after treatment.If any of these events persist or worsen, you need to notify your doctor or pharmacist promptly.

On September 2005, a paper published in the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology reported from the FDA saying that the use of Botox® has resulted in 28 deaths between 1989 and 2003, though none were attributed to cosmetics use.On February 8, 2008, the FDA announced that Botox® has "been linked in some cases to adverse reactions, including respiratory failure and death, following treatment of a variety of conditions using a wide range of doses," due to its ability to spread to areas distant to the site of the injection. Among the years,several cases of death have been linked to the use of fake Botox®.

Botox® must only be used under a doctor's care. It can be very dangerous if it's administered incorrectly. Look for a doctor who is board certified in dermatology, ears, nose and throat (otolaryngology), or plastic surgery. Make sure the doctor has experience with Botox® treatments. A skilled and properly certified doctor can advise you on the procedure and can help determine if it best suits your needs and health.

There are two botulinium toxin products registered in Malaysia, they are Botox® and Dysport®, bearing product registration number MAL 19970915A and MAL 20000731A respectively. Both of the preparations contains botulinium toxin type A. In January 2008, the National Pharmaceutical Control Bureau has received one Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) report in which the patient developed fever and breathing difficulty five hours after injection of Dysport®.
Before using this medication, you need to tell your doctor or pharmacist of all medications and herbal products you may use, especially of certain antibiotics, blood thinning agents, Alzheimer's disease drugs, myasthenia gravis drugs and quinidine.
Over the years, the Pharmacy Enforcement Branch has actively participated in inspections and routine checks on premises to ensure that the products used are registered with the Drug Control Authority (DCA) in Malaysia. Anyone found guilty of breaking the law can be summoned to court and charged under section 7(1)A of the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984 with a fine not exceeding RM 25,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both

Source: http://www.myhealth.gov.my

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Microdermabrasion to a silky skin

Microdermabrasion is a skin-freshening technique that helps repair facial skin that takes a beating from the sun and the effects of aging. Nevertheless, even young executives who do not have the patience for a two hours normal facial can opt to have microdermabrasions done once a month.

It helps to get rid of dead skin cells while taking away the comedones. Skin will be really smooth after the procedure. The latest machine usually have a diamond tipped head where it is placed on the skin and moving it gently across the face. Suction intensity can be adjusted during the procedure to remove the dead skin cells and any impurities. The experience is very pleasant and non invasive.

Treatment is recommended once a month and to be combined with other hydating treatments such as Intraceuticals etc as the penetration will be optimised after the microdermabrasion.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Intraceuticals Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment

The Intraceuticals Rejuvenation treatment delivers a base of hyaluronic acid – an ingredient found naturally in the skin and renown for its superior benefits as an ingredient carrier as well as Vitamins A, C, and E and Green Tea which are powerful antioxidants that help fight free radicals.


Combined with topical hyperbaric oxygen technology the Intraceuticals Rejuvenation treatment stimulates regeneration of new cells, elastin and collagen production supplements and plumps the skin surface to visibly reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.In just one 30 minute treatment your skin will look and feel years younger, skin will feel nourished and hydrated, cell renewal and skin regeneration are stimulated.

Fine lines and blemishes virtually disappear, your skin feels rejuvenated, radiant, moisturized and fresh.

An Intraceuticals facial is gentle, relaxing and soothing and is suitable for all skin types. It is the perfect partner for many other therapies and may enhance benefits of other therapies such as micro-dermabrasion, intense pulsed light or a peel. The appearance of many common skin ailments such as acne, rosacea, stretchmarks and scarring may be visibly improved.

Microneedling to more rejuvenated skin

Micro-needling or micro-rolling or skin needling is a form of Collagen Induction Therapy with the intends to smooth wrinkles, improve depressed acne scares as well as reducing the appearance of stretch marks.

The process for micro-needling is carried out with a roller made up of many miniature needles. The needles pierce the upper layers of skin up to 2 millimetres (depending on the needle used). This process has two major benefits. It successfully stimulates collagen formation as well as providing a clear topical channel for creams and gels to be effectively absorbed through the top most layer (epidermis) of skin. Micro-Needling creates a very minor trauma which lasts for one day to three days. Skin will be slight reddish after the treatment.

The small puncture wound stimulates collagen production in the dermis layer. Although this sounds acary and drastic, the process happens on a microscopic level and the outward appearance of trauma is negligible. Clinical use of skin needling involves the use of numbing agents (topical application of anesthetic cream) on the skin, so that the treatment can be carried vigorously with minimal discomfort. Nevertheless, we recommend this treatment to be done in a clinic for optimum results and for hygiene and safety purposes.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Fillers to bring back the fullness



Dermal fillers are one of the solutions to ever ageless beauty in the world of cosmetic dermatology and anti aging. Dermal fillers such as Restylane, Teosyal can make a dramatic improvement in the appearance of a person's appearance, all with minimal time, a fairly reasonable cost, and minimal invasiveness and pain.

Most of the fillers are comprised of a substance that is naturally found in the body called hyaluronic acid, which naturally diminishes as we age. Nevertheless, some of the clients think fillers are made out of collagen. This misconception needs to be corrected.

The result of collagen's diminishment is that our skin starts to slacken, since collagen and hyaluronic acid, a component of collagen, is the plumping force under our skin that makes our skin look "filled out" and youthful.

Cosmetic dermatologists and other qualified dermal filler specialists use this "filling" power in the form of a very fine needle that injects the fillers underneath the skin so that it may fill out folds ,lines and wrinkles and make them look plump again, reducing their appearance. Sometimes we call this static lines; lines or folds which are visible even no expressions are made.

Fillers may be used to plump the lips to give them a naturally fuller look, enhance the cheek bones, sharpen the chin etc.

Usually, fillers like Restylane and Teosyal typically last in the body for about 6-8 months, and at the time that they are diminished and fully absorbed (harmlessly) into the body, another treatment will be necessary. Nevertheless, the quality of skin in terms of hydration, firmness and post care procedures such as using appropriate skin care and maintenance treatment such as transderm, intraceuticals etc are essential to prolong its results.

Beauty is an equal opportunity now


With the ability to teach our skin to be young again, imagine a "chemical messenger" that can enter our skin cells and do just that. Our complexion will be left young and flawless as pigmentation and superficial blemishes reverse themselves. Now, a stem cell protein extract that is able to deliver just that is being offered by The Biogenesis Clinique. The extract is called AAPE.

Able to give rise to all of the different tissues of the human body, stem cells have the unique characteristic of "plasticity". Two distinguishing characteristics separate stem cells from all others: They can differentiate into many cell types with specific functions and they are unspecialized, in that they can clone themselves without limit.

More than any other tissue in the body, human adipose (fat) tissue has the highest concentration of adult stem cells. This was recently established by scientists. When comparing to bone marrow, a given volume of adipose tissue contains 1,000 times more stem cells. 200 millions stem cells can be derived from just 500 mL of fat.

Stem cells have many unique applications in science and medicine, but this is the first time, protein extract derived from stem cells are used in the field of cosmetic dermatology.

Biogenesis Clinique has introduced facial rejuvenation and strech mark therapies using AAPE. It is a mixture of refined growth factor proteins that is extracted from human adipose-derived stem cells. AAPE (advanced adipose-derived stem cell protein extract) uses proteins or chemical messengers that are extracted from stem cells found in human fat tissue. These messengers send a signal to cells in the skin teaching them to regenerate when deposited or absorbed into the skin.

"Let's regenerate and be young againI" The AAPE cells are extracted from human adipocytes (fat cells) during the process of lipoaspiration (fat suction) and they contain the maximal number of stem cells in the human body. By cultivating these regenerative cells in test-tubes, they can establish cell lines which will serve as a reservoir of stem cells for anti-aging and aesthetic therapies far superior than traditional methods of synthetic chemicals.

The innate ability to rearrange, change, or repair local tissues significantly and rapidly is held by the AAPE protein messengers extracted from these stem cells. Correcting facial fat atrophy may be one of the most promising applications for AAPE since it can regenerate the fat that is lost through the natural aging process. AAPE could possibly rejuvenate the face by regenerating the skin from the inside out as well as replace lost facial volume.

Effects can be seen after one sessions. Nevertheless, 3 sessions are required for optimum results, with each session consisting of multiple tiny punctures using microneedling method, a process which takes about 60 minutes. For long lasting anti-aging effects a series of six sessions are typically performed to initially prime the skin.


The CTFA (Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association) approved AAPE as a cosmetic ingredient on September 13th, 2006. It is a growth factor that is derived from human fat stem cells. It has also been registered with INCI as human adipocyte conditioned media extract. This product is patented. (Patent registration number: PCT/KR2006/004111).

The procedure for the face costs about $600 USD per session.