A Handy Way to Look Years Younger
Experts say nothing gives away your age like your hands. Discover why -- and what you can do about it!
A Professional Guide to Hand Rejuvenation continued...
How It's Done: If your own fat is used as filler, doctors use a thin needle to extract a tiny amount from your buttocks or thighs (and no, you won't end up thinner there!). That fat is then injected through a tiny hole made on the top of the wrist.
When Restylane is used, Narins says, the filler is injected much the same way. "We use only a local anesthesia and there is basically no down time," she says.
What You Can Expect: Immediately fuller, less wrinkled hands. Results can last anywhere from six to nine months for the Restylane filler; three years or more for the fat filler.
Cost: One fat injection treatment for both hands can cost between $2,500 and $3,000. One Restylane injection starts at $500 per hand -- and could be higher depending on how much plumping is needed.
2. Laser Treatments. Depending on the type of laser device used, several different types of treatments can be administered, each addressing a different problem. For brown spots and highly pigmented areas, Katz recommends an Alexandrite laser beam, while Narins suggests the YAG laser.
To tighten loose skin, Katz recommends a combination treatment with the TITAN and Cool Touch lasers. "This produces new collagen, thickens the dermis, and tightens the skin," he says. Narins likes the effects of the intense pulsed light (IPL) device, a nonlaser light therapy that works in a similar fashion.
What You Can Expect: Following brown spot therapy you will develop small, light scabs which disappear within a week and leave no scars. For the skin-thickening treatments results will appear gradually over weeks and months, but there's no scabbing and no down time.
Cost: Brown spot laser treatments: $400-600, one session. IPL, or TITAN and Cool Touch plumping - four to six treatments ranging from $500 to $800 per treatment.
More Antiaging Techniques
3. Chemical Peels. Best used for brown spots and age pigmentation, this treatment relies on various chemicals to burn away the top layer of skin. Though some doctors -- like Narins -- say it's a superb and safe treatment for age spots, others, like Katz, believe it's too harsh for the skin on most people's hands.
What You Can Expect: Some redness and irritation that usually subsides within a few days. Katz says there is a high risk of scarring if your skin is very thin or sensitive.
Cost: $500- $700.
4. Sclerotherapy/Laser Ablation. The goal of both these treatments is to obliterate the unsightly and bulging blood vessels in the back of the hands. In sclerotherapy a mild irritant is injected into the vein, blocking blood supply and causing it to shut down and shrink from view. In laser ablation, a beam of light is used to accomplish the same thing.
