Did you know? The Global Aesthetic Survey by the International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery - which surveys plastic surgeons throughout the world, including in South Africa - showed an overall increase of 9% in surgical and non-surgical cosmetic procedures.
Cosmetic surgery is becoming increasingly common, whereby the bulk of which are minimally invasive procedures. The goal of cosmetic surgery is to improve a person's appearance, self-esteem and self-confidence. Cosmetic surgery can be performed on any part of the face and body.
What’s the Difference Between Plastic & Cosmetic Procedures?
Plastic surgery training involves a broad scope of procedures to restore the body's normal appearance and function, where cosmetic surgery training focuses exclusively on aesthetic procedures. Both can be traumatic to the skin and require lengthy healing times as well as expensive products and treatments that accelerate dermal repairation after the procedure.
1.Botulinum Toxin (Botox)
Botox is an agent that blocks muscular nerve signals, which in turn weakens the target muscle limiting or nullifying muscle contraction. The action of Botox, in turn, results in diminished unwanted wrinkles in the target area. Botox has multiple uses and can be used to treat crow's feet, forehead furrows, frown lines, skin bands on the neck, etc.
Healing Time
For most people, it takes two to three weeks to fully see the results of Botox injections. At this point all residual swelling and bruising should be gone, making it easy to see how Botox has greatly reduced the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around your forehead and other areas. The recovery of muscle function is gradual, and facial lines may become noticeable again 3-4 months after your treatment.
2.Soft tissue fillers
Dermal fillers help to reduce fine lines and wrinkles by adding volume and fullness to the face. Most fillers, such as Juvéderm, work by replenishing the hyaluronic acid levels in your skin and pulling in moisture from the body to add to its plumping and smoothing effect. Dermal fillers are helpful at reducing early signs of aging such as plumping thin lips and softening facial creases and wrinkles.
Healing Time
Common effects from filler include bruising, swelling, redness, or tenderness around the injection site, all of which will resolve after a few days to a week. With most fillers, results are visible right away, but may take 10-14 days to finalize after initial swelling has gone down.
3.Chemical peels
Chemical peels use a chemical solution to exfoliate and retexture your skin by removing the outer layers. Chemical peels are considered one of the least invasive procedures to improve the appearance of your skin. A chemical peel can help to improve acne or acne scarring, fine lines and wrinkles, pigmentation problems, and rough or sun-damaged skin.
Healing Time
Treated areas take about seven to 14 days to heal after a medium chemical peel, but redness might last for months. After a deep chemical peel, you'll experience severe redness and swelling. You'll also feel burning and throbbing, and the swelling may even make your eyelids swell shut.
4.Laser Hair Removal
Many men and women spend hours every week enduring dull and often painful hair removal. Laser hair removal is leading women everywhere to throw away their razors, epilators, and waxing strips in favor of a more permanent hair removal solution. The relatively painless procedure involves blasting the hair follicles with pulses of laser light which inhibits their growth and makes the existing hair shed, leaving skin smooth and hair-free.
Healing Time
Redness or discoloration, and swelling are common — but temporary — side effects of laser hair removal. You may also experience mild pain. Such side effects usually resolve within 1 to 3 days
5.Tattoo/Tattoo Removal
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoos breach the skin, which means that skin infections and other complications are possible, including: Allergic reactions. Tattoo dyes — especially red, green, yellow and blue dyes — can cause allergic skin reactions, such as an itchy rash at the tattoo site. This can occur even years after you get the tattoo.
Tattoo removal involves using lasers to remove tattoos by breaking up the pigment colors with a high-intensity light beam. Black tattoo pigment absorbs all laser wavelengths, making it the easiest color to treat. Other colors can only be treated by selected lasers based upon the pigment color. While laser tattoo removal can hurt, chances are it won't hurt as much as getting the tattoo did. Tattoo removal pain is comparable to the pain of a bad sunburn, and the laser pulses feel like a rubber band snapping against your skin.
Healing Time
After getting a tattoo, the outer layer of skin (the part you can see) will typically heal within 2 to 3 weeks. While it may look and feel healed, and you may be tempted to slow down on the aftercare, it can take as long as 6 months for the skin below a tattoo to truly heal.
The total healing time after tattoo removal is about 4 to 8 weeks. Healing times vary depending on the type of treatment, the strength of your immune system, and how closely you follow your aftercare plan.
6.LASIK Eye Surgery
LASIK, a type of laser refractive eye surgery, reshapes the tissue underneath your cornea to correct how your eye focuses light. Your surgeon creates a flap on the top layer of your cornea and lifts it back to use the laser on the underlying tissue. After applying the laser, your surgeon replaces the flap over the area. The LASIK procedure is fast — 10 minutes per eye.
Healing Time
While most people who get laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) eye surgery notice an immediate improvement in their vision, or at least do by the next day or so, it takes the eye about three to six months to fully recover and heal.
- Microblading
Microblading is a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing. But unlike traditional tattoos, which use a tattoo gun, microblading uses a blade-shaped tool with a row of tiny, barely visible needles to create hair-like strokes along your brows while depositing pigment into your skin. The result? Realistic-looking brow hairs that don’t wash off for a year or more.
Healing Time
Microbladed brows will fully heal in about a month, but Capparelli warns that how well they heal will depend on how well you follow your artist’s aftercare instructions (see below!). Redness, swelling, and scabbing are all common after microblading in the first 5-7 days, says Dr. Evans, so don’t be concerned if you experience them. But despite how tempting the scabs may look, do not pick at them, or you risk potential infection and prolonged healing.
How to Heal Faster After Undergoing These Procedures
There are many post-procedural remedies and treatments that are expensive and involve more pain. The only restorative dermal solution you need after undergoing non-invasive procedures is SkinSpring.
SkinSpring is a next-generation R³ dermal formulation designed and manufactured by an experienced team of Molecular Biologists, Biotechnologists and Engineers, who are devoted to providing the Cosmetic & Aesthetic Market with the most advanced HOCl Solution. It is produced in a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility using refined mountain water in combination with the highest quality ingredients.
SkinSpring R³ HOCl Formulation is nature's miracle solution that is naturally produced in your white blood cells as the first line of defense against bacteria and inflammation. It promotes cellular repair to damaged tissue and is well-known for its potent anti-microbial properties, but at the same time being gentle and safe enough to use on children's skin. Let’s have a look at how using SkinSpring can accelerate the healing process after having these procedures done:
1.Botox
Overall, bumps left at the injection site after Botox are usually nothing to worry about. They may seem concerning because they are so visible, but the bumps themselves should disappear within a day or two. To ensure these do not become infected, spray SkinSpring directly onto injection sites. This will also assist in relieving inflammation and repairing damaged skin cells.
2.Soft Tissue Filler
Avoid pressure on the treated areas for the first few nights, do not engage in strenuous exercise for 24 hours. Avoid alcohol during the healing process and steer clear of AHA, Retinols/Vitamin C therapy or oil based make-up for 24 hours. Instead, opt for SkinSpring’s natural and gentle HOCl dermal solution to keep the filler sites disinfected and inflammation at bay.
3.Chemical Peel
After a chemical peel, treated skin will be red and swollen. You can apply a protective ointment to soothe the area and prevent dryness as well as spray SkinSpring periodically throughout the day to accelerate cell rejuvenation and to heal the damaged tissue.
4.Laser Hair Removal
If a laser burn does occur, spray SkinSpring on the affected area to soothe the skin and restore dermal balance. You can also keep an ice pack on the affected area to reduce the swelling. An over-the-counter pain reliever can help as well to ease discomfort. After a few days of self-care, your burn will begin to subside, leaving you with flawless, hair-free skin.
5.Tattoo/Tattoo Removal
Apply SkinSpring’s antibacterial HOCl solution twice a day. Keep applying a moisturiser to the tattoo or tattoo removal site to keep it moist.
6.LASIK Eye Surgery
Gently spray SkinSpring around the eye area to minimise inflammation, redness swelling and irritation.
*Do not spray directly into eye
7.Microblading
- Apply SkinSpring to your eyebrows twice a day until healed (Spray directly onto clean skin and allow to dry naturally)
- Keep the area clean and dry
- Avoid touching, rubbing, picking, or wetting the brow area for a week to 10 days
- Avoid using any harsh skin care products
- Don't apply makeup to the area for a week
One of the best things about non-surgical options is that many of the procedures can be done numerous times with little down-time. Especially when you incorporate SkinSpring into your aftercare routine to completely restore, revive and repair your skin, naturally. Without having to commit to invasive and risky surgery, you can get noticeable results that last.
