When your skin is drying out, wrinkling, cracking, and otherwise showcasing visible signs of aging, turning to cosmetic treatments is a common solution.
Procedures such as face lifts, botox, chemical peels, HGH and PRP injections are valid solutions for many—but where people often run into trouble is in jumping headfirst into these treatments without fully understanding them.
So, I’ve prepared the following health bulletin to give you the “inside scoop” specifically on face lifts, botox, chemical peels, HGH and PRP injections so that you can make a well-informed decision about whether or not to pursue treatment.
As with many things in our world, while these procedures do offer relatively quick skin fixes, they also have their pros and cons.
Let’s get started…
The Inside Scoop On Face Lifts
Face lifts are among the most popular treatments, and for good reason—once you heal, your skin will immediately be visibly tighter. Talk about fast results!
But like anything else, face lifts aren’t without their risks.
While rare, you may experience permanent scarring or even hair loss, depending on where the incisions are made. These effects are not reversible!
You may also experience hematoma, which is when blood pools in one place under your skin. This requires follow-up emergency surgery, otherwise the swelling could also cause permanent skin damage.
While these side effects are rare, which I can comfortably say having performed countless face lifts myself, I believe that you still need to know about the minor risks before making a cosmetic decision.
The Inside Scoop On Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Injections
While less common than face lifts, HGH injections are often prescribed by anti-aging clinics.
The idea behind these injections is that by elevating your body’s natural growth hormone, you can improve the health of your skin and joints…
But there are a few risks for you to consider:
Yes, HGH may cause your skin cells to regenerate faster, but HGH also causes rapid growth of other tissues too. So you may experience swelling in your arms and legs, carpal tunnel syndrome, or the absolute worst case scenario, accelerated cancer growth.
Human Growth Hormone isn’t some sentient being with the ability to discriminate between tissues. So if you have undiagnosed cancer cells anywhere in your body, HGH will cause those cells to rapidly multiply and spread, making this treatment a potentially dangerous option.
The Inside Scoop On Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections
PRP injections are often touted as a “natural” remedy for restoring youthful skin, but this is a gray area.
Removing, filtering, and then re-injecting your blood back into your body isn’t exactly “natural.” PRP injections may offer minor benefits, but I should mention that microneedling your face to re-inject the blood isn’t the most pleasant procedure.
And, if your blood is handled incorrectly, there’s a risk of contamination resulting in serious infection.
The Inside Scoop On Botox
From the over-inflated puffy “duck” lips, to a forehead so stiff you can’t raise your eyebrows anymore, stories of “Botox gone wrong” are far too common.
(Especially when new, inexperienced Botox practitioners are involved.)
And if you don’t like how you look after receiving Botox, there’s nothing you can do but wait for the effects to fade, which could leave you looking funny for months.
So if you find an experienced, well-reviewed cosmetic specialist, you’re in good hands. But be careful of discount botox clinics, or anywhere with mixed reviews. Your health matters most of all, and cheaping out is ill-advised.
The Inside Scoop On Chemical Peels
Finally, we have chemical peels. By applying special acids to your face, you may reduce the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and blemishes.
In fact, chemical peels are a very popular treatment among my patients!
Now, I’ll be upfront in saying that receiving these chemical peels isn’t pleasant. Many report several minutes of a burning sensation as the acids work their magic, and your face may be red and tender for several weeks.
But the good news? Once your skin heals, you’ll look like a brand new person!
So if face lifts don’t appeal to you, a chemical peel is a proven, reliable, effective non-surgical alternative.
In Closing
If you’ve been considering one of the popular cosmetic procedures discussed in this health bulletin, you’re now more knowledgeable about the risk and reward associated with each option, and able to make a well-informed decision about which is best for you.
