I found an ad for a free consulation for dermobrasion...who should use this treatment? Am I too young at age 19? I have acne scars I'd like to get rid of. Do you think this treatment is safe? And what is a reasonable price? Actually, the ad is for microdermobrasion. What's the difference? Big difference, actually! Dermabrasion is a procedure done by a physician, with the patient sedated or under anesthesia; performed with a high-speed wire wheel or diamond friese (kinda like an expensive Dremel tool) that removes the epidermis and parts of the dermis. The results are very much dependant upon the skills of the surgeon. Microdermabrasion is performed by estheticians, nurses, MAs, PAs and sometimes physicians. It is a procedure developed in Europe approximately 12 years ago as an answer to the complications involved with dermabrasion (the tissue becomes vaporized, splattering blood and tissue (and other possible viral components) everywhere. Microdermabrasion is a closed-loop vacuum system that uses aluminum oxide crystal (sterile, inert) to basically sandblast the upper portion of the epidermis from the surface. In doctor's offices, this can go deeper and actually create a wound similar to that of the Erbium Yag laser. In esthetician's offices, it is illegal to cause bleeding, (you have to really be intent on getting down to blood with these machines) and they are great tools for smoothing the skin without a chemical peel (i.e., AHAs, TCA, phenol) or downtime, ameliorating fine lines and can in fact, help smaller, raised scarring. They do not have a good result on ice-pick acne scarring, unfortunately, as many doctors have agreed. Products that are applied afterward are absorbed better and the anti-aging results can be fantastic. I have also used it frequently for acne clients, as it keeps the skin from building up and clogging. Probably more than you wanted to know (but I just finished writing a 5,300 word article on microdermabrasion for a major skin care magazine-so it's not as much as you could know
Best, Laura Root, CIDESCO Diplomate Body & Soul Esthetic Retreat Scottsdale, AZ
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