ADVANCED
COSMETIC PROCEDURES
About
Face are Scotlands only specialists in these procedures
with all our electrolysists being fully qualified in them. Clinic owner
Helen Graham is responsible for developing many of these techniques
and teaches Advanced Electrolysis for both the BIAE [British Institute
& Association of Electrolysis] and Sterex International, the world
leaders in manufacture and supply of electrolysis equipment.
Using electrolysis to remove these blemishes is quick and safe and unlike
surgical removal leaves no scar.Often only 1 treatment is required
What can be removed with
Advanced Cosmetic Procedures [ACP]?
RED/THREAD/BROKEN VEINS [telangiectasia]
SPIDER VEINS [spider naevi]
BLOOD SPOTS [Campbell de Morgan spots, cherry
angiomata]
What are they and what causes them?
These are all vascular [blood] blemishes. Red veins appear as small
red lines, blood spots are round, red lumps, while spider veins have
a central red spot with red lines leading out from them like the legs
of a spider.
They can all be hereditary or are sometimes caused by damage to the
skin such as squeezing a spot or an injury. Blood spots sometimes appear
after a general anaesthetic. Red veins can be caused by exposure to
harsh conditions such as wind and sun or smoking, washing with hot and
cold water, poor skin care, pregnancy, certain medicines and many other
causes.
How are they removed?
They are removed with electrolysis using a very fine probe placed just
under the skins surface and passing through a tiny amount of galvanic
energy combined with a little heat to seal off the tiny capillary. This
results in the capillary drying up and disappearing. The procedure is
not painful at all but may be a little uncomfortable like a tiny nip
or sting –- a bit like tweezing a hair out.
MOLES [melanocytic naevi]
Moles are simply a collection of skin cells, blood vessels and sometimes
pigment [colour] cells gathered together and the average person will
have around 20 –- 30 of them. We are extremely careful
to check that any moles to be removed are stable. They are removed by
applying a heat energy to the surface of the mole, which seals off their
blood supply. Sometimes 2 or 3 treatments are required for each mole
depending on how large the mole was to start with.
WHITEHEADS [Milia]
These are white, pearly, rounded lumps which occur in the uppermost
layer of the skin when sebum [the oil produced naturally by the skin]
becomes trapped in a blind duct. The exact cause is unknown but
some think they may be due to excess vitamin C in the diet, or use of
too rich a cream on the skin. They are more common in dry skin. Milia
can also appear in response to injury to the skin such as sunburn. They
are treated by applying the heat energy of electrolysis to them. After
treatment a tiny, pin-dot crust will form which will heal and fall away
- usually within a few days - leaving no marking at all.
WARTS, VERRUCAS, PLANE WARTS
[verruca vulgaris]
These are all caused by the Human Papilloma Virus [HPV] and can be contagious
i.e. can be passed from one person to another by contact.
Common Warts can be single or can appear in groups
or lines. They have a thickened, rough surface which sometimes has black
dots in it –- the black dots are just tiny blood
vessels. They can occur anywhere on the body but are most common on
the hands, fingers and around nails.
Plane Warts have a flat surface and are skin coloured
or brown. They sometimes occur in groups, often on the wrists, face
or knees though they can appear anywhere.
Verrucas are just warts on the soles of the feet
and are painful because of the constant pressure of the weight of the
body on the feet. They can also occur in groups.
All types of warts are removed by inserting a little probe to the base
of the wart i.e. where the blood supply is, and passing heat energy
to this area. This seals off the blood supply without which the wart
cannot survive. This method of removal is so much more successful than
freezing the wart off such as would be done at the doctor, or applying
any of the products you can buy to apply to the wart. This is because
with electrolysis we go straight to the root of the problem rather than
just treating the surface as the other methods do.
SEBORRHOEIC WARTS [seborrhoeic keratosis]
Seborrhoeic warts are not true warts as they are not caused by a virus.
They can vary greatly in appearance and can be any colour from skin
colour to very dark brown. They are oval or round and can be anything
from a couple of mllimetres to a few centimetres across. Although raised
above the skin they have a flat surface which usually has grooves in
it. They can be dry and crumbly.
They are completely benign i.e.[not cancerous] and occur with age –-
usually from age 40 onwards - and can appear on any area of the face
or body. They can be hereditary and some people have a great many of
them. They can also occur singly.
They are removed by applying the heat energy of electrolysis to the
base and are gently scraped off. Sometimes a second treatment is required,
especially with larger ones.
DERMATOSIS PAPULOSA NIGRA
These are smooth, dome-shaped little spots on the skin which are actually
just very small seborrhoeic keratoses [see above]
They most often, but not always, occur on darker skins.They are easily
removed using electrolysis to gently scrape them off leaving no mark.
XANTHELASMA / XANTHOMA
These yellowish-white pads usually, but not always, appear around and
under the eyes in the eye sockets. They are a build up of fat cells
under the skin and can be a sign of high cholesterol so if you have
these it's worth getting your blood cholesterol checked.
Again we use electrolysis to gently scrape them away.
SYRINGOMA
These little marks are caused by an overgrowth of the sweat glands.
They most commonly appear around the eyes and can be mistaken for milia
but they are softer and are usually oval whereas milia tend to be harder
and round in shape. They are removed by gently scraping them away
with electrolysis.
SUN/AGE SPOTS [Liver Spots, Solar Lentigines]
Age or Sun Spots are caused by the reaction of the pigment [colour]
cells in the skin to a lifetime of exposure to sunlight. As we
age these cells tend to group together causing age or sun spots.
With electrolysis we gently scrape them off, revealing the clear, non-pigmented
skin below
SKIN TAGS [fibroepithelial polyps, archrochordons,
verruca filiformis]
Skin Tags are soft and 'squidgy' i.e. you can wiggle them around and
they can be skin coloured or brown. Sometimes they are caused by the
same virus as warts. They can appear anywhere on the face or body but
often occur in areas of friction such as the neck [from collars and
jewellery], under the arms, under the breasts and in the groin. They
can be hereditary, can increase with age and may also occur during pregnancy.
They are removed quickly and easily by applying the heat energy to the
stalk or neck of the skin tag – they come off at the time of treatment
and usually do not require any further treatment.
SEBACEOUS HYPERPLASIA
These are simply enlarged oil [sebaceous] glands and are completely
harmless. They occur mostly on the forehead, nose and cheeks -
the areas where there are most oil glands. They are removed
by gently scraping them away with the heat energy of electrolysis.
SEBACEOUS CYSTS [Steatoma, Epidermal/Epidermoid Cyst]
This is a painless, round, skin-coloured lump varying in size from a
pea to an egg. It is caused by the collection of sebum [oil from the
skin] in a closed sac. They can be hereditary or could be caused by
injury to the skin or a swollen hair follicle. They are completely harmless
and are removed by applying the heat energy of electrolysis into the
area where the sebum has collected.
|