Spot Treatment for Your Body: What Really Works?
Dermatologists and surgeons from around the nation shared information with Real Simple magazine to recommend the most effective treatments. Tina Alster, a Washington D.C. dermatologist, says "more than 80 percent of women have stretch marks, spider veins or scars." If you feel the need, there are many high tech options to eradicate these pesky problems.
For scars, Atlanta plastic surgeon Foad Nahai recommends a product called Scar Fade, a cream that, when applied daily, stops collagen overproduction and effectively flattens scars for good. The more expensive option is resurfacing of the scar with a Fraxel laser, which then stimulates collagen production beneath the skin.
If you're concerned about stretch marks, New York City dermatologist David Goldberg would recommend the Pulse dye laser for recent stretch marks (like after a pregnancy) to reduce redness significantly and hide the marks. For the older marks, Goldberg calls for the Excimer laser to increase pigment production, erasing white lines.
Weak blood vessels, and subsequent pooling of blood in the legs, causes the "little red squiggles" you might call spider veins. Sclerotherapy can collapse a spider vein in a few sessions, but according to San Francisco dermatologist Richard Glogau, a vascular laser may be a more prudent choice, at least if the veins are relatively small. The laser basically just heats the veins, causing them to contract.
What doesn't work? Treatments like stretch mark creams, vitamin E oil for scars, and mesotherapy for cellulite got the thumbs down.
Eva Sheie for Real Beauty News
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