Skin Rejuvenation Procedures: Skin Health

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Skin rejuvenation procedures

If Ponce de Leon returned today to search for the fountain of youth, he might find it filled with chemical skin smoothers, wrinkle fillers, and powerful lasers that literally remodel aging skin. In recent years, dermatologists have developed an array of procedures that can remove fine lines, fill in deeper ones, and lighten unsightly pigmented areas or spots. These procedures help rejuvenate skin worn by time and sun exposure with few side effects and far less recovery time than that required for surgical techniques such as facelifts.

One of the most important factors for people seeking skin rejuvenation is the amount of downtime required. People want to return to work and social activities as quickly as possible, which has led to the introduction of less-invasive techniques that don't penetrate the skin as deeply and thus require less recovery time. The trade-off is that their effects are not as significant and they often require a series of initial visits as well as follow-up "maintenance" visits. The choice is yours. You can go for a deeper treatment with a longer healing time or for a lighter treatment that requires more follow-up visits and probably more long-term expense. This section will describe such procedures as Botox injections, chemical peels, laser procedures, light-based treatments, microdermabrasion, and fillers and implants.

Last updated:	July 20, 2007