My personal experience with Obagi......

Recently I had a visit from a good friend Richie who also supplies the Obagi products for my clinic. He was preparing to go for the World Congress for skin which will be held in Korea. I was suppose to come along but due to the hectic clinic schedule, well suffice to say, my patients have to come first. Probably next year I'll be able to go.

He was asking me for some of the photos of my patients who were on Obagi. However, I had to politely decline his request since I haven't asked the patients whether I am allowed to disclose their pictures to anyone else. So in the end, I decided to give my picture instead.

Going through my files I came across one particular picture that was taken before I used Obagi products that was in September last year. Now its been close to 9 months on Obagi and I am pretty shocked at the difference it made.

I have tried many products and procedures but seriously, the Obagi gave a marked difference.
During this period between September to May, I have had 1 fraxel dual 1920 nm done in October, 2 glycolic 20% chemical peel(Dec, Feb), 1 2-coat Obagi blue peel(Apr) and 1 session of rev-light done in April. I used 2 sets - 1 Nuderm travel set, and 1 C-Rx set.

For more inquiries, you can email me at drmarr@faceworksclinic.com or call 03-21440080 for an appointment to see me.

It's May.....

It's May, and its Mother's Day month.
Show your appreciation to your mum by treating her to a nice wonderful pampering treatment at Faceworks Clinic. Check out our:

Mother's Day Promo on Facebook

Valid till 2oth May 2011.
Don't Miss it.

What's up with Vitamin C?

I have been asked about this question a couple of times, so I've decided to write about it in my blog. A lot of people wanted to know whether Vitamin C actually works.

After going through a few papers and a few professional opinions, this is what I have managed to gather:

Benefits of Vitamin C

1. Reduces fine wrinkles around eyes and mouth.
2. Improve skin hydration.
3. Improve pigmentation appearance and age spots.
4. Improves wound healing through fibroblast stimulation nad migration.
5. Increases capacity of fibroblasts to repair potentially mutagenic DNA lesions.
6. Prevents scurvy.
7. Potent anti-oxidant that protects skin from UVA oxygen radicals.

However bear in mind that:

1. Ascorbic acid or vitamin C is pretty unstable and oxidizes easier when exposed to air.

Because of this, most vitamin C preparations have a pretty short shelf life and usually will change colour after a few months if stabilizing agents are not added in. An oxidized form of vitamin C is sometimes more harmful to skin and may cause sensitivity. An easy tip to keep it stabilize is to keep the bottle sealed tight, away from sunlight and chilled in the fridge.

2. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin whereas the skin is protected by water by our keratinized layer.

Because of this, you need to be very careful when selecting vitamin C creams or gels to ensure that absorption can occur. Look for products which are lipophilic as it will absorb better into the deeper layers of the skin.

3. Topical Vitamin C has shown to have more benefits towards skin health compared to other methods, although oral vitamin C of 1000 mg daily is sufficient to maintain good health and good skin. Never exceed 2000mg daily as this will lead to vitamin C toxicity which gives you an orange discolouration of the skin, and some have reported renal side effects.

So what would I recommend for a good topical vitamin C?

Obagi has just launched its new range of Vitamin C + Hydroquinone 4% for whitening effect. So far I have been using this serum for the past 1 month and have noticed a significant increase in radiance. Recently, they launched another product which replaces the hydroquinone with Arbutin instead, thus making long term usage possible. Although I do admit these serum are not exactly cheap, but one bottle would last you a good 3 months with the benefits of vitamin C and enhanced whitening. There are also topical vitamin C ranges from 5%-20% for those who are looking for only vitamin C.

For more information, contact us at info@faceworksclinic.com or call 03-21440080.

PRP Facial Rejuvenation.....

How about using your own blood to rejuvenate your face? I get a lot of reaction when I ask this question. "Blood - ewww... scary" Some would say. "Is it safe?", and most would ask me "Why blood?"

Its really a simple procedure you can do in my clinic. Using a special kit from Regen-Lab (biotechnology Swiss company) called Regen-ACR, I can provide a facial rejuvenation using your own blood (the plasma platelet component that is) to improve texture, and act as a collagen stimulator.

Platelets have been known to have many functions and is now being considered as a regenerative treatment due to its functions and properties such as:

• Tissue regeneration and rejuvenation
• Increase collagen production
• Recruitment of other cells to the site of injury
• Initiation of vascular in – growth
• Induction of cell differentiation
• Allo-allergenic since it comes from your own body thus eliminating risk of donor transmissible infections.
• Acts as a biological Glue: for tissue adhesion especially in skin flaps, bone grafts and trauma.
  

How is it done?

It is a very quick and easy procedure. 1st of all, I would withdraw some blood - approximately 8-10cc and put it into a sterile Regen-Lab PRP tube. The blood is then centrifuged for 8-10 minutes. Once the process is complete, there will be a good definition between red blood cells and the plasma component of the blood. The plasma component is then withdrawn carefully into a syringe and the PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) is then used on the face using either Nappage technique, dermaroller or as a filler at nasolabial area and other wrinkle sites.

PRP has been used in many otehr medical fields such as orthopedics, stomatology and reconstructive surgery for the opast 10 years. In medical aesthetics, it was first introduced in Europe since 2003 and has been used for improvement of:

• Cheeks
• Nasolabial folds
• Eye areas - crow feet, eyelids
• Lips, chin and forehead
• Neck and nape of neck folds
• Cleavage
• Hands
• Improving acne scars
• Male type alopecia

It has shown to give the skin youth and vitality, improve density and tension of skin, nourishes and regenerates the skin and improves the structure and colour of the skin.

How long does it last?
Based on the literature surrounding the usage of PRP, it recommends for patients 30-45 a one time treatment and for >45 years old 2X treatments in a year. This is for facial rejuvenation. Immediately after you normally feel a tightness which is due to the techniques used which lasts a week or 2, but the rejuvenation process of diminishing fine lines and collagen stimulation would take 3 weeks or more to occur. Most patients would agree that there is immediate tightening and hydration of the face, with a healthy glow which lasts up to 2 weeks or more. However, if you are treating alopecia (balding) or acne scars, you may need monthly treatments and results will only be obvious after a few months.

Contraindications:

Despite this cool new technology, not anyone can have this procedure done. It is contraindicated for patients with:

• Skin disease (SLE, porphyria, allergies),
• Cancer,
• Chemotherapy,
• Severe metabolic and systemic disorders,
• Abnormal platelet function (i.e. blood disorders).
• Anti-coagulation therapy
  
• Underlying sepsis

Also, smoking, alcohol or drug abuse and unhealthy lifestyles would contribute to minimal outcome of treatment. Otherwise, you should normally get a satisfiable result immediately and months to come.

Interested to try? Call or email us now for an appointment : 03-21440080 / info@faceworksclinic.com