Dr. Buckingham’s Q&A

August 2, 2009

Facial Brown Spot Treatment

Filed under: Laser Dermabrasion — Tags: , , , — Dr. Edward D. Buckingham, M.D. @ 6:56 pm

Teresa,

Thanks for your question about facial pigmentation.  Facial pigmentation requires treatment with multiple modalities.  Everyone needs to be using a good skin care regimen with a retinol (retin-A), something to reduce pigment (hydoquinone, azelaic acid, kojic acid) and good sunscreen.  In some cases, that may be enough although the results may take some time.  Many patients choose however to speed the resolution of the pigment.  This can be achieved through the use of laser such as Fraxel or chemical peels.  If you only concern is pigment then I would recommend a series of light chemical peels or a series of Fraxel laser treatments.  The Fraxel laser is considerably better at reducing pigment, but does have some minor down-time and is more expensive.  I would not recommend a deep chemical peel as these are more for treatment of wrinkles in conjunction with pigment.

I hope this is helpful.  Please feel free to contact our office with any other questions or concerns or to make an appointment where we can discuss your case in more detail.

Ed Buckingham


June 30, 2009

Wrinkles

Filed under: Laser Dermabrasion — Tags: , , , , — Dr. Edward D. Buckingham, M.D. @ 10:02 am

Christina,

Dermabrasion and microdermabrasion are very different.  Microdermabrasion is a procedure utilizing crystals to remove the dead skin cells from the outer surface of the face.  It will only allow your face to feel smoother but will not stimulate collagen production or improve wrinkling.  Dermabrasion is a procedure utilizing either a diamond sanding wheel or a wire brush to remove the outer epidermis and dermis of the skin which is much deeper than micro-dermabrasion and allows for improvement in wrinkles and collagen production.  We usually utilize a trichloracetic acid chemical peel for the wrinkles on the entire face, which also improves pigment, and allows for collagen regeneration.  We combine this with dermabrasion for the perioral area in patients with a deep perioral lines.  The dermabrasion does require a significant downtime and there is a small risk of pigmentation loss and scarring.  It does offer the best chance for the most significant improvement however.  We have examples of both chemical peels and dermabrasion on the site and I encourage you to explore our photo Gallery.  Thank you for your question; we would be happy to see you anytime.

Ed Buckingham


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Dr. Edward Buckingham is a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon who specializes in Rhinopalsty, Facelifts, Eyelid Surgery, BOTOX, and many other
Cosmetic Facial procedures. His office is located in Austin, Texas and services the surrounding areas including: Sunset Valley, West Lake Hills, Cedar Park,
Round Rock, and many of the other nearby Texas cities. © 2011 Austin Texas Facial Plastic Surgery
Dr. Buckingham is a Eyelid Surgery and Rhinoplasty expert in the Austin metropolitan area on RealSelf.

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