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Your Ultimate Guide to a Full Facial Refresh

Writer's picture: Dr Alison ColvilleDr Alison Colville

Not sure where to start? Here's your guide to approaching a full rejuvenation, written by Dr Alison Colville, Founder & Medical Director of The Avery Clinic, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.


 

It’s January, you’ve decided this is the year for self-care and to become the best version of yourself.


You’ve got your workout routine set, you’ve reassessed your nutrition, sleep, fluids and started meditating.


But you’re also ready to care for your face and skin.


You’re ready to regenerate and reveal the best version of you so that you have the confidence to get out there and live your best life.


But how?!


Welcome to the ultimate guide to facial regeneration!


There are so many options available from prescribed skincare protocols, skin treatments such as peels and microneedling, and injectable treatments. Most people think that only ‘botox’ or filler will be offered, but there is a host of alternatives available is these aren’t your first choice. But, remember, in the right hands, these medical treatments can give beautifully natural results.

 

Let’s break the journey to regeneration down:

 

Step 1

An in-depth consultation


You may have done a ton of research, and analysed your face for hours (we’re all guilty of this!) and therefore think you know exactly what you need, but after a thorough consultation you might be surprised to find lots of alternative options that tackle your actual problem more effectively.


So, this is the vital step where we go through your medical history, any previous treatments, your career/daily life, current skincare routine and any relevant family and social history. We talk through what your goals are, what your concerns are and most importantly, what your expectations are.


A detailed clinical examination of your skin and face, along with photos for the medical records give us a starting off point that we can refer back to as your treatment journey progresses.

Your practitioner should have given you forms and questionnaires in advance. They may also have skin analysis equipment which can show images of your face and skin, aiding in any diagnosis and treatment plans.


But, the main part of the consultation is for you to really get to know your practitioner, to work out whether they can offer you what you’re looking for and to develop trust. It is a beautiful relationship that will span the years so it is so important to get it right on this first meeting. I choose to spend a good hour with my patients on our first meeting, plenty of time to go through everything and set a plan, but also to really get to know the underlying reasons behind why they’re seeking out treatments.


Following your initial consultation it is a good idea to have a ‘cooling off’ period where you can take all the information away and ensure you’re happy with your treatment plan.

 

Step 2

A medical grade skincare plan.


There really is little point in spending money on in-clinic treatments if you’re not maximizing what you can do at home. Like going once a month to your personal trainer but not doing your workouts in between.


Similarly to cluelessly walking into a gym and just winging it on a few machines… you’d get significantly better results if you had a trained PT setting you a personalized programme.

So this is where we identify your skin type (dry/oily/sensitive etc), your skin concerns (acne/pigmentation/ageing) and curate a unique protocol specifically or you.


Medical-grade is a bit of a marketing term these days. I prefer the term ‘evidence-based’ skincare which clarifies that the skincare recommended by a trained practitioner should have good quality evidence behind it and not just good marketing.


So, in short, we want products that give results, and don’t just feel or smell nice. Some products may also be prescription-only so will need to be given by a medical-professional with prescribing ability (a doctor/dentist/prescribing nurse).


The advantage of a prescribed protocol is that we know how all the products interact with one another too. We understand the products well, know exactly what is in them, what the active ingredients are, and how to manipulate them as you respond to your set protocol.

 

Step 3:

Collagen boosting treatments


If you’re over 30, then you’ll be losing collagen in your skin, and therefore losing the strength and health of your skin. So, once you’ve got your home skincare routine nailed down, we can look at in-clinic treatments to optimize your skin quality.


Here’s some of the options available:


  • Skin peels – wonderful for smoothing and evening the tone of the skin, reducing fine lines, hydrating, and as a treatment for acne. Suitable for all. (And PS, most peels don’t actually mean your skin peels, plus downtime is usually only 24 hours).


  • Microneedling – Another low downtime treatment, stimulating collagen through the body’s own healing response and tackling signs of ageing and brilliant for improving pigmentation.


  • Profhilo – a pure HA product that stimulates collagen in the skin to hydrate and firm up skin. Can treat the face, neck, chest, hands, or wherever you have poor quality or sagging skin.


  • Profhilo Structura – similar to Profhilo but targeting the fat layers of the outer face instead of the skin. A filler-free alternative to rebuilding the lost volume here and helping to lift the lower face.


  • Polynucleotides – This DNA-based treatment, used for years for wound healing in the medical field – is fantastic for stimulating the skin to create more collagen and tighten up. Particularly useful as a treatment for the delicate skin around the eyes.

 

In order to build collagen, and target skin concerns, it takes time. Going back to our gym reference, you don’t get a 6 pack by hitting the gym for a week. It takes months of appropriate workouts, an optimal body fat percentage, and probably some good genetics too!


All these treatments are triggering the skin and facial tissues to start regenerating and building itself to the best possible healthy state it can be in. And usually this takes months and years rather than weeks.


It’s up to you how much you invest, but the results will be worth it!

 

Step 4:

Volume restoration and profile balancing


Dermal filler is a treatment that terrifies a lot of people, and for good reason because we have seen some poor results. The thing is, the people having filler treatments done WELL, you wouldn’t even know….


This is because their results are harmonious to their age, their unique features and proportions, and therefore undetectable.


With age, we lose fat from different areas of the face which contributes to hollowing and/or sagging. Along with the effects of gravity, thinner and less supportive skin, this results in a heavier lower face, jowls, and deep wrinkles and folds developing. Using dermal filler, we can re-volumise these areas to just soften the effects of ageing. Aiming to look healthy for our age rather than necessarily trying to look younger.


Sometimes, someone might feel their profile isn’t balanced, e.g. a bump on the nose, a weak chin, or thin lips. Again, we can use dermal filler to balance out these proportions whilst maintaining a natural look.


The great thing about dermal filler it is temporary as the body breaks it down in the natural processes which is breaks down it’s own hyaluronic acid (the main component of filler), and also it is completely reversible.


Although filler treatments give an instant result, it is best to approach these treatments conservatively and slowly rebuild each area of the face over time. This ensures that you only treat what is needed, you have time to allow each area to integrate, and of course makes it much less noticeable to others rather than the ‘full face’ approach.

 

Step 5:

Treating any overactive muscles in the face.


The main culprits? The frown + forehead. The sneaky guys that stay under the radar? The lower face mouth + jawline muscles....


With age, the repeated movement of the facial muscles can start to cause creases in the skin, even when you’re relaxed. It can be so ingrained that we look permanently angry (culprit = the frown muscles), sad (culprit = muscles around the mouth) or tired (combination of different muscles).


Using anti-wrinkle injections (known by most as ‘Botox’ which is actually a trademarked name for a specific brand of botulinum toxin), we can relax certain muscles in the face which leads to smoother skin over the top and therefore less surface wrinkles.


The other reason we may choose to relax certain muscles in the face is to take away some the downward drag of that muscle so that the opposing muscles that lift parts of the face can work more effectively giving us a lifted and less ‘negative’ facial expression at rest.

We can choose to go lightly with these treatments and therefore avoid the ‘frozen’ look.

 

It's a journey...


Perhaps it’s my GP background, but I truly believe that to get the best results in aesthetics, there needs to be a journey and a slow and steady approach. We’re all guilty of wanting instant results in life and it is your practitioner’s responsibility to offer you effective and wonderful results, but also to ensure that the treatments being offered are appropriate, safe, and that you’re not just acting out of impulse.


Aesthetic treatments need not be scary when you’ve built a trusting relationship with your practitioner, it's a beautiful journey for both parties. A journey to self-confidence and regenerating your skin health.


We're currently welcoming new patients at The Avery Clinic so book below for your 'new patient consultation' if you're local to us.



Written by Dr Alison Colville

Founder, Medical Director at The Avery Clinic, Leamington Spa

Aesthetics Doctor, GP, Educator, University Lecturer, Brand Ambassador



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