Whether you want to reduce the appearance of wrinkles, fade your dark spots, brighten your skin tone, or change anything else about your complexion, chances are that there’s a cosmetic procedure available that’s capable of giving you the appearance of your dreams.
With that said, some cosmetic treatments come with greater risks than others. If you’d like to target your skin concerns without having to worry about major downtime or dangerous side effects, then non-surgical cosmetic procedures are what you need.
Read on as Introlift explains the benefits of non-surgical treatments. We’ll also be sharing some of the best non-surgical procedures available to help you to make the very best decision for your skin.
Surgical vs Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures
The main difference between surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures is whether or not a medical incision needs to be made. If it does, then this would be classed as a surgical treatment. These are usually also carried out under anesthetic, whether it be local or general.
On the other hand, non-surgical procedures don’t require a medical incision to be made. They tend to be minimally invasive, although they do still carry the risk of side effects. Most are completely painless and they’ll never require the use of anesthetic. Treatments that could potentially cause small amounts of pain are combined with numbing creams instead.
The Benefits of Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures
As mentioned, one of the big benefits of non-surgical procedures is that they’re minimally invasive, with some being completely non-invasive. This makes them much safer. There are far fewer chances of complications, both during and after the treatment.
Non-surgical procedures also come with a faster recovery time. While surgical treatments may require you to take a few weeks off, many non-surgical procedures come with zero downtime. You’ll be able to get back to your regular schedule immediately after your treatment.
Since they don’t require anesthesia or a hospital stay, non-surgical procedures are also usually much faster. While some may require a course of treatments to be carried out, many procedures can be completed in mere minutes.
Non-surgical treatments also tend to be less expensive than surgical options. Again, even when a course of treatments is taken into account, the overall cost will still likely be much less than surgical alternatives.
What are the Best Non-Surgical Cosmetic Procedures?
As you can see, non-surgical cosmetic procedures come with some fantastic advantages. Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular non-surgical treatments out there:
LED Light Therapy
Let’s begin with LED Light Therapy, a completely non-invasive treatment that can work wonders on the skin.
This treatment involves exposing the skin to specific wavelengths, or colors, of LED lights. Each wavelength penetrates the skin at a different depth, enabling it to produce its own set of results.
Because of this, LED light therapy can be used to target a variety of different skin concerns. For example, red LED lights are fantastic for stimulating collagen production. Collagen is the protein that gives the skin its structure and firmness. A boost in collagen will help to smooth away fine lines and wrinkles while improving how plump and volumized the skin looks. It’s a great one for those looking to reduce the appearance of skin aging.
Meanwhile, blue LED lights are fantastic for targeting acne. They’re able to destroy any acne-causing bacteria that are lingering on the skin’s surface while also soothing inflammation and evening out the skin’s texture.
However, in order for these results to be seen, a series of treatments will be needed. These are usually carried out on a weekly basis for about a month. After this, you’ll likely only need maintenance treatments every few months to keep your results going.
Chemical Peels
Many people are apprehensive about chemical peels. While they may be a non-surgical cosmetic procedure, the thought of using chemicals to peel off layers of the skin can seem a little intimidating.
However, chemical peels are essentially just a more intense form of chemical exfoliation. Although deep peels require some downtime, superficial and medium-depth peels aren’t quite so severe. With so many different peels out there, you can pick and choose a formula that you’re comfortable with.
Take the Pigment Balancing Peel by SkinCeuticals as an example. With a 40% glycolic acid content, this peel is a superstar at evening out the skin tone, fading hyperpigmentation, and brightening the overall complexion. There’s little to no downtime to worry about either. This is why many of our clients choose to book themselves in for monthly treatments.
The same applies to the Micropeel Plus 20 Solution. Also created by SkinCeuticals, this peel makes use of 20% salicylic acid to tackle the appearance of acne, wrinkles, and a dull skin tone. So long as your skin type is suited to this peel, which is something that we can advise you on, you won’t have to worry about dealing with any downtime.
Botox
Botox is usually one of the first treatments that come to mind when non-surgical cosmetic procedures are mentioned. It has been used for cosmetic purposes for decades, with countless studies and testimonials backing up its efficacy.
Since Botox involves injecting the skin, it counts as a minimally-invasive, rather than a non-invasive, procedure. However, because no incisions need to be made, it’s still classed as a non-surgical treatment.
With Botox having such a huge success record behind it, it remains a go-to treatment among those looking to smooth away expression lines. The injections themselves only take a few minutes, yet the results can last up to six months. With that said, if you opt for a long-term series of Botox treatments, you’ll be able to slowly train your muscles to avoid making wrinkle-forming expressions, which will help to significantly prevent the appearance of aging in the long run.
Dermal Fillers
Like Botox, facial fillers are an injectable treatment. However, while Botox focuses on smoothing away surface wrinkles, dermal fillers are all about adding volume to the skin from within. With that said, they’re still great for tackling facial creases. The way in which they plump up the skin helps to volumize the complexion, giving the skin a taut and wrinkle-free appearance.
There are different types of dermal fillers available, each one injecting a different substance under the skin. While they all produce similar effects, hyaluronic acid fillers tend to be the most popular. Not only is hyaluronic acid a substance that’s already naturally produced by the human body, but it also makes for a safe, versatile, and beautifully natural-looking filler.
Dermal fillers can be safely used all around the face. The most common treatment areas include the lips, the cheeks, the forehead, and under the eyes. Dermal fillers can also be used to treat scarred skin. They can break up scar tissue while accelerating the skin’s natural repair processes.
Venus Legacy
While some non-surgical cosmetic procedures may be classics, the Venus Legacy is a cutting-edge treatment that can effectively smooth and tighten the skin. It’s a great one for wrinkle reduction as it will tackle loose and sagging skin. It can also be used on the body to eliminate the appearance of cellulite and to tone up areas that contain excess pockets of fat.
How does this treatment work? It makes use of a combination of radiofrequency energy and pulsed electromagnetic fields. They create a heat that is sent just below the skin’s surface, speeding up collagen synthesis.
The treatment itself is extremely comfortable, feeling similar to a hot stone massage. Many find it so relaxing that they’re able to squeeze in a power nap during the procedure! Each session takes around half an hour, although this depends on the size of the area being treated. Multiple treatments will provide better results, with these capable of lasting for a minimum of 18 months.
Dermaplaning
While chemical peels are the professional version of chemical exfoliation, dermaplaning is all about manual exfoliation. A special blade is scraped over the surface of the skin, which gets rid of dead skin cells that have built up. Even better, dermaplaning also removes any peach fuzz that may be growing on the face, meaning those tiny, fine hairs that often become more noticeable with age.
Although this treatment makes use of a surgical scalpel, it doesn’t involve making an incision in the skin, which is why it still falls under the non-surgical category.
While dermaplaning can be utilized as a standalone treatment, many choose to combine it with other non-surgical procedures. It’s fantastic at exfoliating the skin. This means that other topical treatments are able to penetrate even deeper into the skin than they would have otherwise done.
Microneedling
Also referred to as collagen induction therapy, microneedling is a treatment that’s used to help with a variety of different skin concerns. Be it wrinkles, acne scars, dark spots, or enlarged pores, microneedling can help.
Again, this is another treatment that many are wary of at first, and this is understandable! The tool that’s used for this procedure is fitted with hundreds of tiny needles, which create micro-punctures in the skin. This stimulates the skin’s natural healing process, with increased collagen and elastin production being a big part of this. And don’t worry – when done correctly, microneedling isn’t a painful treatment.
Since it takes about 4-6 weeks for the skin to produce new protein fibers, this is how long you’ll need to wait after your treatment to see results. However, if you’d like to speed things up a bit, you could opt for a Microneedling with PRP treatment instead. This procedure makes use of the growth factors from within your own blood, delivering these into your skin during the treatment. This gives collagen synthesis an even bigger boost, meaning faster results!
Summary
Non-surgical cosmetic procedures are a great way to tackle the skin concerns that topical products haven’t been able to help with, without having to worry about the risks and side effects that come from surgical treatments. However, it’s important to note that some non-surgical procedures aren’t regulated by the law in the same way that surgical treatments are. For this reason, make sure that you only have your treatments carried out by a reputable establishment, such as Introlift, in order to minimize your risks while also ensuring good aftercare.
Interested in learning more about the non-surgical cosmetic treatments offered by the Introlift Medical Spa? Click here to contact us today!