With the current rise of K-beauty products, our society has suddenly placed an emphasis on healthy, glowing skin. While many people may find the idea of obtaining clear, radiant skin intimidating, it is actually easier than you might think. The aesthetic treatment known as microneedling is a popular option am among celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston to obtain the perfect complexion. For those who are interested in this minimally invasive treatment option, read on for all the details.
What is Microneedling?
Microneedling is a treatment done using a special device, often called a pen, which stimulates the natural healing process using small needles. The needles create tiny holes in the skin, which causes the stimulation of collagen. Collagen lives in the skin, helping it to look healthy, radiant, and firm. Microneedling can also help serums and products to better absorb, so the skin can reap the full benefits.
Microneedling is a great treatment option for patients of all ages and skin tones who wish to improve their complexion. Treatments can be customized to fit each individual’s skin goals, with lighter treatments resulting in a subtle enhancement, and deep treatments creating more drastic outcomes. This versatile treatment can address a variety of skin issues, including scars, large pores, and aging or dull skin.
What Can You Expect from Microneedling?
You may be wondering if microneedling hurts. While most patients would say that they have felt some discomfort during the treatment, a topical anesthetic can be applied to the treatment area beforehand to ensure patient comfort. To see best results, patients will need to undergo multiple treatment sessions, usually over the course of three to six months. Patients can expect to see clearer, firmer, and more radiant skin after their microneedling procedure.
If you have noticed that your skin is beginning to appear dull, microneedling may be just what you need! This treatment is a great option for patients who wish to rejuvenate their skin without significant downtime. If you are interested in learning more about microneedling, contact CDAM today to schedule a consultation in Chicago.
Are you dealing with a dull complexion? Or perhaps you are living with pesky black and white heads which are littering your complexion. If you have tried at-home facial treatments without any luck, it may be time to consider DiamondGlow®. This peel is a breakthrough skin treatment to revitalize your skin for a glowing complexion.
A Personalized Treatment
DiamondGlow® is a 3-in-1 treatment combining exfoliation, extraction, and infusion of serums into the skin for a healthy complexion. Using dermalinfusion technology, a special handpiece works to simultaneously apply these three treatments. The peel is ideal for the face, but can also be used on many other areas of the body.
One benefit of this treatment is that it can be customized to treat a variety of skin issues, including hyperpigmentation, dry skin, environmental damage, and acne. During treatment, the serum that corresponds with your individual skin needs can be used.
Benefits of DiamondGlow®
Many patients choose to undergo this treatment due to its numerous benefits. DiamondGlow® can transform the skin in under 30 minutes, and is completely non-invasive, with no downtime required. It can also be fully customizable to treat all skin tones. Lastly, it can volumize the skin by up to 70% for 72 hours’ post-treatment for a youthful skin appearance.
If you are interested in learning more about DiamondGlow® to obtain the clear, glowing complexion you desire, contact CDAM today to schedule your consultation. We cater to patients in the River North-Chicago, Illinois area.
During the summer, many Chicago residents spend ample time in the sun. Many are not aware of the damage that the sun is causing to their skin, even if only a short amount of time is spent outdoors. Over time, the sun can contribute to the formation of age spots, sun damage, and sagging skin, causing patients to look older than they are (which is why wearing sunscreen is a must). For those who wish to rejuvenate their complexion without downtime, BBL Photofacial may be the answer!
About BBL Photofacial
The BBL (broadband light) photofacial uses precise light energy to heat the outermost layers of the skin. This light is absorbed by targeted areas to simulate the production of collagen. With time, this collagen restores the skin’s health and beauty with smoother, softer, and stronger skin. This treatment can also improve a wide selection of skin conditions, including freckles, age spots, acne, uneven skin texture and tone, and vascular lesions.
Benefits
While the BBL Photofacial can improve the overall look and feel of your skin due to the stimulation of collagen, it also boasts other major benefits including:
- Tightens Skin
- Corrects Sun Damage
- Treats Age Spots
This treatment also requires no downtime, so patients can on with their daily tasks in no time!
If you are looking forward to going makeup-free this summer, but are unhappy with age spots and sun damage, the BBL Photofacial is for you! Contact CDAM in Chicago today to schedule your initial consultation with one of our board certified dermatologists.
Shopping for skincare products can be a daunting task (to say the least). There are a seemingly endless number of brands and products. Beautiful Hollywood starlets advertise many of these in glossy print ads and on TV often making overambitious claims, promising the fountain of youth with pithy slogans (wink, you’re worth it!). At the stores themselves store attendants (with who knows what type of qualifications) push products promising dewy, youthful skin in a matter of days with a slew of expensive creams. What to do?
At CDAM, we offer medical grade skincare products and prescriptions for your skin that are customized by one of our board certified dermatologists. The skin, just like the heart or lungs, is an organ (albeit a very visible organ). Our dermatologists spent years studying the biology and structure and function of the skin. Drs. Cavanaugh and Kalimullah offer complimentary consultations and will formulate a skincare routine based on your concerns and their expert dermatologic assessment. The doctors will walk you through each product they recommend and elaborate on the active ingredients and how they will modulate your skin on a cellular level. Many of these products have been extensively tested in clinical trials, and have established results. Moreover, because they’re formulated more like pharmaceutical products than typical cosmetics, these products (called cosmeceuticals) also tend to be made without as many potentially-irritating fragrances, extracts, and preservatives. To demonstrate objective changes in your skin after starting your customized routine we take standardized before and after photographs.
Trust your skin with a trained expert! At CDAM we promise actual results from evidenced-based products, not gimmicks. Call CDAM today to book your consultation to discuss your personalized skincare routine!
Whether you desire products for a daily routine, or to enhance your cosmetic dermatology services, Drs. Kalimullah and Cavanaugh will help you pick out the best products for your unique skin type and condition.
Our board-certified dermatologists believe in a combination of regular skin maintenance at home, in addition to medical and cosmetic dermatology services to provide optimal results. If you are interested in a personalized skin care plan tailored to your specific needs, contact CDAM today to schedule your initial consultation.
Skin Care Products at CDAM
Our skin care products in Chicago, Illinois, use innovative, evidence-based ingredients and formulas, scientifically proven to keep your skin looking beautiful and healthy! Our board-certified dermatologists are determined to choose a product that will be your ideal solution.
ZO® Skin Health & ZO® Medical by Zein Obagi, MD
ZO Skin Health is one of the leading skincare companies that provides scientifically-proven formulas to renew and refine your skin tone and texture, as well as reduce signs of aging.
• Multi-Therapy Hydroquinone System
This prescription-strength system involves a five-step product line that improves the appearance of hyperpigmentation, sun damage, skin texture, and melasma.
• Ossential® Daily Power Defense
This lightweight lotion repairs and protects all skin types, helps tighten and firm skin, and is infused with essential antioxidant formulas.
• Melamix™
This prescription-strength, skin-lightening blending crème is specifically formulated to be used with tretinoin. It contains hydroquinone, proven to treat unwanted pigmentation for an even skin tone.
• Brightenex™ – 0.5% and 1.0%
This ZO® Medical product contains retinol and is formulated to smooth skin tone. It is typically used for collagen stimulation and general skin maintenance.
• Ossential® C-Bright Serum 10% Vitamin C
This product gives our patients a pure and optimal dose of vitamin C to brighten and re-texturize the skin, as well as prevent new pigmentation from developing.
• Glycogent™ Exfoliation Accelerator
This glycolic and lactic acid formula removes dead skin cells for surface renewal, with a gentle but effective exfoliation.
• Aknetrol™ Acne Treatment
ZO® Medical’s maximum strength acne-fighting product that treats, controls, and prevents breakouts by neutralizing bacteria that causes acne.
• Ommerse® Renewal Crème
This product rehydrates skin without leaving an oily residue. It is calm and soothing to dehydrated skin, while also providing antioxidant protection
• ZO® Controlled Depth Peel®
This peel is a highly advanced treatment that is only recommended in-office, which helps the appearance of scarring, skin laxity, skin damage, and advanced melasma.
• ZO® 3-Step Peel™
Excellent for all skin types, this innovative formula is used in-office to target acne, melasma, uneven texture and tone, large pores, fine lines, and dullness. This treatment is followed by at-home maintenance that ensures longer results than traditional peels.
SkinMedica®
Although aging is unavoidable, SkinMedica has put together a line of cutting-edge products that use scientifically proven ingredients, such as growth factors and antioxidants to visibly reduce the signs of aging.
• TNS Essential Serum®
With a combination of over 100 growth factors, antioxidants, and peptides, this all-in-one product improves the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, and your complexion with just one formula.
• Retinol Complex – 0.25% and 0.5%
The two products, using retinoid ingredients, are made to enhance skin tone, texture and resiliency.
• Essential Defense Sunscreen Line
Latisse®
From the manufacturers of Botox, Allergan’s Latisse is an FDA-approved product proven to grow eyelashes for people with inadequate or sparse lashes. With the proper use of this optimal formula, Latisse grows longer, fuller, and darker lashes. Contact CDAM today to see if Latisse is right for you.
ReFissa®
If store-bought creams are not doing your skin justice, ReFissa is a prescription strength formula that diminishes fine facial wrinkles, improves pigmentation due to sun damage, and smooths out your skin for an overall replenished appearance. The active ingredient in ReFissa is also highly effective for treating blemish-prone skin. It’s FDA approved and clinically effective, and is the only formula with 0.05% tretinoin cream that is a moisturizing, fragrance-free base.
The CDAM Promise
Drs. Kalimullah and Cavanaugh have personally tried and tested all of the above products, and hand selected them to provide only the best for patients that visit CDAM.
If you are interested in a comprehensive skin treatment program tailored to your skin care needs, the Center for Dermatology and Aesthetic Medicine provides effective and scientifically-proven products to enhance, renew, and maintain your beautiful looking skin! Contact us today to schedule your skin care analysis.
You should be wearing sunscreen every day — rain or shine. While at first this may sound excessive (cue memories of a neurotic mother wagging her finger at you as a child), but there is actual reasoning and science behind the importance of sunscreen.
Lets start with UV radiation — yes, RADIATION (primarily UVA and UVB). You may remember from your high school physics class that energy (e.g. radiation) can neither be created nor destroyed (the law of conservation of energy) …just converted from one form of energy to another. These UVA and UVB energy waves shoot down invisibly through the sky (all the time, sunny days or cloudy days) and they target your skin DNA, lipids, and proteins!
This energy causes damage — mutates DNA, degrades collagen and elastin. Collagen and elastin are the ultra-structural proteins that make your skin supple, smooth, and taut (e.g. youthful). And, over time, mutated DNA that evades our body’s defense mechanisms causes cancer. Scary, right? It’s no wonder our human ancestors had UV protective fur.
Physical sunscreens (zinc and titanium dioxide) work by reflecting this damaging energy away from your skin, conferring protection. I can hear your inner monologue — sunscreen is sticky and white, and, well, just kind of gross. Sunscreen has come a long way since your childhood pool days. Micronized zinc and titanium are easily rubbed into the skin and confer the best protection (minimum SPF of 30) and are the least allergenic.
At CDAM, we carry cosmetically elegant sunscreens that really just feel like nice moisturizers. Newer sunscreens like SkinMedica’s Total Defense and Repair even have antioxidants (primarily Vitamins C and E, among others) to prevent free radical / oxidant damage produced by UV radiation. Many sunscreens also come in tinted forms to help even out your skin tone. Remember, re-application is key (roughly every 80-120 minutes). We love Color Science Sunforgettable Sunscreen Powder for reapplication, which lends the skin a beautiful matte finish.
Stop by the Center for Dermatology and Aesthetic Medicine for a complimentary consultation with one of our board certified dermatologist to learn more about the importance of sunscreen and to formulate a customized skin care routine to maintain beautiful, radiant skin.
Have you heard of Halo (and I’m not referring to the amazing Beyoncé song)? The Halo laser is the latest technological advance in skin resurfacing to lend your skin an angelic glow (much like the beloved Beyoncé). But what is the Halo difference?
Halo is the only laser that combines dual wavelength technology to give you both ablative fractional (2940 wavelength) and non-ablative (1470) fractional resurfacing in one treatment — the world’s first hybrid fractional laser!
Traditional laser treatments were previously categorized as fractional ablative (removing columns of tissue via thermal injury), or fractional non-ablative (thermal injury without removing tissue). The former was associated with longer patient down-times and fewer treatments needed to achieve results; and the latter was associated with shorter downtimes, but several treatments needed to achieve results.
The innovative, dual wavelength technology creates a synergistic wound healing response (collagen formation and skin tightening) in your skin that will buff out those pesky wrinkles and help remove those brown spots without significant downtime! In addition to that, Halo shrinks pore size and can help improve acne scarring.
Come to CDAM today to discuss the Halo difference with one of our board certified dermatologists!
Throughout our lives, our skin is exposed to the sun and other environmental factors that can take a toll on our complexions. You may especially see skin irregularities if you do not regularly wear sunscreen or use harsh cleansers. At CDAM, we offer a cutting-edge treatment to reduce the appearance of skin damage: the BBL Photofacial.
The Treatment
The BBL or BroadBand Light treatment is a done to correct an array of skin conditions, including sun spots, hyperpigmentation, freckles, acne, broken capillaries, and more. Using light energy, the upper layers of your skin are gently heated. This stimulates the production of collagen, which can help to restore the skin to its original beauty. The photothermal energy can also treat blood vessels that cause redness in the skin.
Following treatment, age spots and freckles may appear slightly darker before flaking off. This is normal, and will ultimately reveal a more youthful, clearer appearance.
Benefits
This treatment offers many benefits, which include:
- Customizable-This treatment can be customized to serve each individual’s unique skin needs.
- Quick and Comfortable- The BBL photofacial is quick, and can be done in-office in 15-30 minutes. Patients usually tolerate treatments well, only describing a warming sensation. Downtime for this procedure is minimal.
- Rapid Results- Results appear quickly- just a few days following treatment. Deeper irregularities, like blood vessels and age spots, will begin to clear up in just two weeks.
- Maintenance– Regular treatments with BBL photofacial will help stimulate collagen production and maintain the skin’s youthful appearance.
A consultation with Dr. Kalimullah or Dr. Cavanaugh is needed to discuss this procedure and whether it is a good choice for you. If you are interested in BBL photofacial treatments for younger, more even skin, contact CDAM in Chicago today to schedule a consultation.
