Smoothing out those wrinkles
Seattle Plastic Surgeon discusses facial rejuvenation with skin resurfacing.
Many of the streets in my Seattle neighborhood are being repaved and it’s about time. I’m happy to trade some slowdowns and detours for the potholes. Today I drove by a big rig that was tearing up the old surface of the road so the new asphalt could be laid down by the dump truck and then smoothed out by the steamroller. I then passed from the detour lane onto some brand new smooth roadway and my car just glided over that new surface. Sweet.
This, of course, reminded me of Plastic Surgery because almost everything reminds this Seattle Plastic Surgeon of Plastic Surgery. I don’t have a one track mind, just a very, very elastic one. Sooooo…..
This morning I was reminded of skin resurfacing. There are many ways to resurface the skin but they all involve first removing the old and worn out surface. Dermabrasion sands off the old surface, chemical peels burn off the old surface and lasers vaporize the old surface.
Removing the old surface allows the middle part of the skin (the dermis) to regenerate. The miracle of skin regeneration occurs mostly from the pores. The cells that line the hair follicles, sweat glands and pores divide and push their way up to the surface and then spread over the surface. Growth factors which are stimulated by the removal of the old layer stimulate collagen growth and new blood vessels. Newly healed skin is fresh looking and nice and smooth, like that new pavement.
And no big dump truck of asphalt or a steamroller is needed. All that is needed is good health and a lot of patience. Medium and deep resurfacing procedures can be very challenging for patients because the healing period can look very frightening. But the benefits of resurfacing can be amazing and often cannot be achieved any other way. Check out my photo gallery for resurfacing examples.
I’m looking forward to driving home on that brand new asphalt.
Thanks for reading! Dr. Lisa Lynn Sowder
@lisalynnsowder
