I spoke yesterday on Fab Over 40  about my skin care check with Nadine at Uptown Dermatology and Skin Spa and the advice she gave me for what products to use on my face and neck.   Today I’ll talk a little bit more about my other issues I felt I had with my skin and her suggestions to resolve them.

One procedure that Nadine suggested I have is a peel called Vitalize Peel.   This peel is suitable for all skin types and you will see noticeable results even after one peel.   A Vitalize Peel can help people with mild to moderate skin conditions including sun damage, fine lines and wrinkles, acne, acne scarring and melasma.  My concern was for some fine lines, some sun damage from my younger years that was starting to show up now and a minor area of melasma.   She suggested the peel for it’s benefits as described above and because it’s a more intense peel it leaves your fresh new skin more readily acceptable to other treatments and products allowing them to work better.  

My first issue at hand were the broken capillaries.   I had several around my nose and chin and they just seemed to become more and more prominent and I had a few on both my cheeks, too.   Nadine suggested having an IPL Laser treatment.  My look on my face must have shown my budgetary concerns about doing a laser treatment.   I guess I had read so many places that they cost several hundreds of dollars and I didn’t have that to spend.   Nadine said that for what I needed to have done that prices start at $50 and figured it would be anywhere from that to about $150.   I should consult with their Laser Specialist, Joan, as she would give me more details and a price estimate.

Before deciding to do the peel I wanted to get the laser treatment done and see what I thought about how my skin looked afterwards .  I then made my appointment with Joan.  Always do a consultation first, no matter what your budget concerns may or may not be.   If you and your skin are not properly prepared, the treatment can’t be done or if it is done, you can have skin damage.  You need to be honest about your skin care routine.   Any retinol product you are using should be stopped a week before.  But if you are using other skin treatments or medications they too can make a difference, so be sure to let them know what you are doing. 

I spoke to Joan about my concerns and how it was getting more difficult to cover the broken capillaries and I asked what causes them.   You can get them for several reasons – hereditary, skin damage from sun, allergies and more.   We both figured my allergies had a lot to do with the ones around my nose.  Joan told me for the areas that I had to have lasered would cost me about $100 for a treatment.   It would take about 3 weeks to see the full effect of the laser, so after the 3 weeks if I needed an additional treatment that I could make it then.   But, she figured she would be able to get most if not all in one treatment.   Joan discussed with me any side effects, like temporary redness and possible slight swelling and how long it would last etc.    Always have a laser treatment done by a licensed, reputable professional -it’s your face after all, so you don’t want to take dangerous risks.

I had my appointment a few days later.   Joan then again reviewed with me what to expect and I signed off on her doing the procedure.   A careful look is taken at all the broken capillaries under a lighted magnifying glass and she then takes care of all her technical business of getting the appropriate laser settings.   She went to work zapping the broken capillaries.   It stung a bit, but not too severely.  I do have a high tolerance to pain and I can say only one or two zaps bothered me – the ones on the underside of my nose were particularly sensitive.   She had suggested maybe taking something like Advil beforehand, but since I can’t take ibuprofen I went in with nothing.  Each area is zapped and it only takes a split second.   I’ve heard that it feels like a snapped rubber band, but to me that seems harsher than what it really felt like.   Even though my eyes were protected, you can still see a light and the anticipation of that made me jump more than the actual zapping. 

In about 20 minutes I was all done.   I was red in the areas that were treated, and applied some ice afterwards.  It was the end of the work day, and I actually went back to work that evening knowing no one would be there in case I looked too red, swollen and sore.   But after applying ice off and on for about 1/2 an hour to 45 minutes, nothing stung any longer and a few hours later when I went home from work you never would have guessed I had anything done on my face.    It was a surprisingly easy procedure.   Easy on my skin that is.   My cheeks felt incredibly smooth and soft for several days.   I kept on touching them because I was amazed!  

I would say about 90% of my broken capillaries are gone.   There are probably still a few strays in the nose area.   Having this done doesn’t mean that they won’t come back, and with my allergies and constant nose blowing, I’m most certain they will.    Three weeks later I am currently debating whether to go back and have the final 10% removed, and if I did that it would only cost me about $50.  

I am thrilled with how much less redness is on my face!   I use less concealer around my nose and chin and am very pleased about that too.  I wish I had looked into this about a year or two ago when I noticed more broken capillaries.   Such a simple resolution for anyone who is having an issue.  I can’t stress enough to be sure you have the procedure done with someone reputable.

Image above shows similar laser unit.  Procedure was paid by me.