Facial rejuvenation

Over time, skin loses its youthful appearance. This natural ageing process is often accelerated by:

• Hereditary factors
• Sun exposure
• Cigarette smoking
• Chickenpox and acne

The visible results are superficial blemishes – broken capillaries, freckles (lentigos), and keratoses (dry spots), scars, fine wrinkles and deep furrows.

Rejuvenation of facial skin can be achieved in a number of different ways.

Antiageing creams are applied to the face, neck and hands long term. These may contain:

• Sunscreens
• Fruit acids
• Vitamin-C
• Topical retinoids
• Growth factors

Fillers (implants) can be injected under the skin to disguise crows' feet lines, whistle lines and some scars. These include:

• Collagen
• Hyaluronic acid
• Fat

Resurfacing refers to surgical or laser procedures that take off the top layer of skin, smoothing it out.

• Skin needling
• Chemical peels
• Dermabrasion
• Ablative laser resurfacing
• Nonablative resurfacing: e.g., fractional laser treatment, intense pulsed light and radiothermoplasty

Surgery is necessary to disguise or remove sagging and loose skin.

• The full facelift includes muscle/facial tightening for jowls
• Neck lift for loose skin and muscles of the neck
• Temporal lift or endoscopic forehead lift for sagging of the forehead and eyebrow
• Blepharoplasty to remove baggy eyelids.

Botulinum toxin is used to paralyse overactive muscles of facial expression, especially in the central forehead and crow's feet.

Facial capillaries can be removed using a vascular laser or intense pulsed light

Brown spots can be removed using pigment lasers or intense pulsed light.