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fraxel laser treatment be the cure for crepey cleavage?
fraxel laser treatment be the cure for crepey cleavage?
They say that if you want to know a woman's true age, you should look at her hands. But for most of us, a far more alarming giveaway is the area from nipples to neck.
London,
UK,
United Kingdom
(prbd.net)
09/11/2011
They say that if you want to know a woman's true age, you should look at her hands. But for most of us, a far more alarming giveaway is the area from nipples to neck. As we age, the sexy cleavage of our youth is transformed into saggy parchment. Soft skin begins to look like a sun-scorched desert, and gorgeous push-up bras only highlight the telltale tit wrinkle.
It may not be time to start stocking up on polo necks just yet, however. Fraxel, a new digital laser treatment, claims to be the answer to a crepey decolletage. Like other laser techniques, it resurfaces the skin and stimulates collagen in the underlying dermis, plumping out fine lines and wrinkles. What's different is that Fraxel uses a technologically advanced system of optics (think of a picture being retouched, pixel by pixel). You need four to six sessions, but the idea is that you avoid the recovery time of some other laser procedures. Face, neck, decolletage, knees, elbows and hands can all benefit from Fraxel. The question is: does it work? I decided to find out. My first treatment with Dr Rita Rakus involved having photographs taken of my arid chest, before being slathered with anaesthetic cream. This is the most annoying part, as you need to wait an hour for the numbing to take effect. Once you can no longer feel an ice cube, the cream is wiped off and replaced by a blue dye, which helps to conduct
the laser and highlight contours. The laser is like a fibreoptic pen and can administer a beam of varying intensity.
Less advanced lasers used to take off 20% of the top layer of skin, which resulted in open wounds and scabbing. But, despite the heat and the occasional stinging sensation, this was perfectly bearable. I was dispatched clutching factor-30 sunscreen and post-peel anti-itching cream. My chest was scarlet and tender to touch, but by the next morning, the skin had returned to normal. A few days later, though, I started to itch: not chicken-pox itching, but the temptation to give a good old scratch occasionally. Disappointingly, I still couldn't see any change.
But four weeks later, I went back for more. This round felt marginally more painful, and while there was no itching, my skin was left red and slightly puffy for several days. By treatment three, I was slightly sceptical, but was assured that results take time.
Sure enough, a few weeks later, I noticed a new smoothness, and my skin felt softer and plumper. I began to receive compliments about my bosoms, and started to feel confident enough to wear low-cut tops. By the fourth treatment, I felt like an old hand, and was able to take a higher intensity. Afterwards, while out shopping, I started to get sympathetic stares. You could see slightly raised red weals where the laser had been dragged over my skin, but, again, by the following morning, all evidence of the treatment had disappeared.
In technical terms, Fraxel claims to produce thousands of tiny but deep columns, known as microthermal treatment zones, within your skin. It eliminates old, pigmented epidermal cells and penetrates deep into the dermis. Just as important, apparently, is the skin the laser leaves untouched. A "fractional" treatment, it allows the skin to heal much faster than if the entire area were treated.
So, one month later, where previously there had been deep crevices between my bosoms, the skin is smooth and taut. I am delighted, and am thinking of having my face done, too. The retouching is complete — and not an airbrush in sight.
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