Pulsed dye laser (PDL, 595 nm) is the current treatment of choice for port-wine stains (PWS), but 25–50% of treated lesions do not demonstrate a significant improvement.

Combination of laser may improve treatment efficacy, especially those using the synergies between PDL and Nd:YAG 1064nm laser. There is a growing body of research and anecdotal evidence that the dual wavelength approach shows efficacy with less discomfort for the patient.

Get this from the pros: “These days, it’s perfectly reasonable to expect your skin to get better as you age — no matter what the date on your driver’s license,” says Dr. Ranella Hirsch, president of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery and a cosmetic dermatologist in Cambridge, Mass.

There are many “secrets” to good looking skin for you 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. Dr. Hirsch published a very good decade-by-decade skin care guide on MSNBC today. Strongly recommended read. It is an excellent blend of skin care recommendations and professional laser treatments.

All basic recommendations are very good and applicable to many. However, the true secret to your healthy and young looks is knowing what will actually work on your skin. It’s hard to figure it out without a little help from an aesthetic professional, and an educated consumer can get a lot more from a visit to an aesthetic laser clinic.

Regular skin care may be beneficial in the long run. You can spend thousands on latest cosmeceuticals and medical grade creams and lotions. Provided you can afford the expense and the time needed to follow the regimen you may have great skin well into your 50s. Bear in mind though, sun exposure may ruin months of hard work and patience in a few minutes.

Sun avoidance and sun protection are by far the most important factors determining health and looks of your skin. Everything else is secondary.

Light-based and radio frequency based technologies offer a totally different level to skin care. There are many safe and non-invasive lasers, intense pulse light and LED machines, which will make a big difference in providing a real skin texture improvement, new collagen formation, skin tightening and plumping.

More about aesthetic lasers and skin.

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Botox and dermal fillers are household terms these days and people are no longer shy to talk about it. In fact, according to survey statistics released today by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), nearly 9 out of 10 respondents (87 percent) openly discuss their dermal filler treatments with others, and 7 out of 10 (70 percent) receive support from the people they told.

This trend shows that aesthetic injectable treatments continue to evolve into mainstream and widely accepted options for the everyday use. Survey results found that the typical aesthetic injectable patient is a married, working mother between 41-55 years of age with a household income of under $100,000. The survey also found that women receiving aesthetic injectable treatments are health-conscious and philanthropy minded, with the majority incorporating exercise (95 percent) and healthy eating habits (78 percent) into their lives, and many volunteering with charitable organizations that matter to them (32 percent).

In addition, nearly seven out of 10 respondents believe that BOTOX® Cosmetic (72 percent) and hyaluronic acid dermal fillers (65 percent) are important parts of their aesthetic routine. “Most people have great success with BOTOX® Cosmetic and dermal fillers; however, we need to make patients aware that even though injectables are not ’surgery,’ their administration is a medical procedure with risks that depend on the training and experience of the clinician, the clinical setting and the technique used,” says Laurie Casas, MD involved in the survey.

Hyaluronic acid dermal fillers ranked as the third most popular procedure performed last year. The most common injectable dermal fillers are Restylane, Juvederm, Sculptra, Zyderm and Zyplast, and Bio-Alcamid.

Dermal fillers are being used to reduce or eliminate wrinkles, raise scar depressions, enhance lips, and replace soft-tissue volume loss.

Types of Dermal Fillers

Several classes of dermal fillers are marketed in the United States today. They include:

• collagen based fillers (i.e. Zyplast and Cosmoderm),
• hyaluronic acid based fillers (i.e. Restylane and Hylaform), and
• calcium hydroxyl apatite fillers such as Radiesse.

New promising dermal fillers are in development that will offer superior capabilities in the future.

Autologous (your own) fat is also used as a dermal filler. Your surgeon can take fat from one area (where you do not want it) and inject it into another (where you want it, such as facial wrinkles, or any other area with a loss of volume). This procedure is called lipoinjection or lipografting.

Injection of fillers usually requires the use of either a topical numbing cream or a local injection of numbing medication. Then, using a small needle, the dermal filler is injected into each wrinkle or scar that requires treatment. Some mild burning and stinging is normal and quickly resolves.

The results can last from three months to five years, depending on the filler being used. Collagen provides the shortest duration with effects lasting anywhere from three to six months. Restylane tends to last a bit longer with effects lasting from six months to one year. Radiesse can provide results that last greater than 3 years.

Dermal Fillers and Lasers

These two are very compatible. In fact, if your aesthetic physician is trained and has lasers, he or she can enhance your results dramatically by doing a combination treatment, which may stimulate the growth of new collagen and improve the skin texture. Typically IPL or laser photo rejuvenation (photo facial) is done as a separate procedure. An advanced aesthetic clinic will be able to offer a dermal filler-laser treatment combination in one seating.