Glow For It

Created on 15th May 2009

Leading medical aesthetics doctor, Dr Tracy Mountford has over 19 years experience in cosmetic skin treatments. She explains why she is so enthusiastic about Restylane Vital Light which can successfully treat difficult areas such as the neck, the décolletage and sensitive skin areas of the face

Anti-ageing is not just about managing lines and wrinkles but good skin quality and skin appearance is of particular importance for my patients. While many skin cream products make attractive promises, I think we are deluding ourselves if we believe that any long-term benefit can be achieved by creams alone. We need a little more help! 

Derived from pure smooth hyaluronic acid, Restylane Vital Light is a new skin boosting treatment from the well respected and tried and tested Restylane family. Unlike its sister products, Restylane Vital Light is not a filler. It is a skin nutrition treatment which helps the production of healthy looking skin and improves skin elasticity. This in turn improves skin smoothness and tone which boosts the skin's light reflecting qualities and makes the skin glow.

I have used Restylane Vital Light to treat those tricky skin areas prone to crêpeyness, such as the neck, décolletage and sensitive skin areas around the eyes and mouth.

The key thing to bear in mind when planning your treatment schedule is that, unlike with dermal fillers, you do not see the difference instantly and the results are subtle; your skin will feel firmer and smoother, any crêpey fine lines will be much softened.

For most of my patients I recommend a course of three treatment sessions two to three weeks apart. This way we can be sure of achieving optimum treatment results which are easy to maintain with an annual or twice a year top up.

Décolletage

With growing awareness of premature ageing skin caused by sun damage, we lavish care on our faces all year around, taking care particularly in the summer to increase sun protection. But more often than not, we tend to overlook our décolletage and hands.

While you can use moisturising creams to rehydrate the décolletage and make it feel smoother, any effects will be very temporary because most creams sit on the surface of the skin and cannot penetrate the deeper levels where hydration occurs.

Restylane Vital Light, however, boosts the skin's natural hydration at a level in the dermis where it is needed.

A topical anaesthetic cream is applied to the décolletage to numb the area first. The treatment is reasonably quick and comprises a number of micro injections crisscrossing the décolletage.

Immediately afterwards the treated area does look a little red but this soon settles down. To sustain the improvement I recommend a top up treatment at around six months.

Neck

Necks can be very tricky to treat. Often as a result of over exposure to the sun, deep bands can form around the neck which is a real giveaway look for her age.

Jill has been coming to see me for some years and while her face looks good for her age, her neck was not. A topical anaesthetic cream was applied to numb the area first and then I injected the gel into the actual band lines.

Jill held faith because, as I had explained, results aren't obvious straightaway. After the third treatment Jill called me to say that a friend, who shared the same problem, had commented "Where have your neck lines gone?"

Six months on and her lines are still much improved and Jill is coming back for her first top up treatment. It is best not to let the treatment benefits disappear totally before you have your maintenance treatments.

Face

Restylane Vital Light comes into its own as a skin boosting treatment on the sensitive skin areas of the face, e.g. around the crow's feet and upper cheek area and forehead lines.

I find it particularly effective in treating the area around the mouth; the area above the top lip which is prone to fine lines as the skin loses its elasticity. I also use it as a finishing treatment to other aesthetic procedures, be it laser, Botox or chemical peel, as it enhances the benefits of the other treatments.

CASE HISTORY

Name: Sara Taylor

Age: 42

What prompted you to have this procedure?
I have just been through a divorce and serious illness which left me looking tired all the time. As part of my recovery process I embarked on a series of non-surgical treatments and Restylane Vital is very much the finishing treatment. Also turning 40, I have just started to notice that my skin is not as firm or toned as it once was!

What are the treatments you had?
I had Botox around my crow's feet area. Then I had a number of Restylane treatments to restore skin volume to my cheeks and to add more shape to my thin lips. I have just had Restylane Vital in my lower face area, around my mouth and chin area to increase skin firmness and skin tone.

Downtime?
I had very little downtime. I had my treatments at the end of my day on the way home from work with nothing planned for the evening. My face did look a little pink in the treated area but this soon disappeared and I was able to go to work the next morning wearing my usual make-up.

Are you happy with the treatment?
Yes, I've had lots of comments from family and friends who have all said that I look in radiant health and that I look revitalised. This was just the response I wanted.

I am having Restylane Vital Light treatments to my décolletage now. Like so many women I sunbathed in my early 20s and my décolletage is, as a result, quite sun damaged and crêpey. Not for long - already after two treatments I have noticed a difference; my skin is visibly smoother.

CS&AM