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Julie and Sarah share their experiences with Intense Pulse Light (IPL) photofacials, dermal fillers, and botox done by Dr. Kimberly Cockerham, MD, to reduce skin pigmentation and wrinkles.

We have some new videos of patients talking about their experiences with Intense Pulsed Light (IPL), Botox, and Artefill dermal filler in our office!

A patient shares her experiences with Botox and Dermal Filler injections done by Dr. Kimberly Cockerham, MD, to reduce wrinkles and smile lines.

A patient shares her experiences and gets post-op tips for Botox injections done by Dr. Kimberly Cockerham, MD, to relax muscles and reduce wrinkles.

Watch Dr. Kimberly Cockerham inject Artefill dermal filler to reduce smile lines and wrinkles for a patient in her surgery suite. Warning: Shows needle injections and some blood.

A patient shares her experiences with Artefill Dermal Filler injections done by Dr. Kimberly Cockerham, MD, to reduce wrinkles and smile lines.

Have you ever had any of these procedures done, or questions about the treatments? Please leave a comment!

For more information, see also http://www.cockerhammd.com

Skin cancer is as common as all of the other cancers combined; there were 1.3 million new cases of skin cancer in 2009 according to the American Cancer Society. Melanoma, the most deadly of the skin cancers, has steadily increased over the last few decades.  In those younger than 30 years old, melanoma has tripled! Also, skin cancer is not limited to the fair skinned among us, all ethnicities can develop melanoma. The Hispanic and African American birth to death risk is much higher than Caucasians due to delay in diagnosis.

We hear the term “anti-aging” all the time.  It’s used on skin care products, services, and treatments to imply there is some kind of magical age preventative effect that will occur.  Not to mention that the word “anti-aging” is also used to increase the price of whatever product, service or treatment it placed on.  So, is there any truth to the term or is it just a marketing gimmick?

There is only one way to find out if a product(s) is really “anti-aging.”  You will need to use the “anti-aging” products on just one side of the face and neck for the next 10 years and then make a conclusion if there is a difference between the “anti-aging” side verses the side that received no care or very little care.  God help you if there is a difference.  Can you imagine actually having one side of your face that looks 10 year younger and the other side looking 10 years older?

But, the term does have some true implications to it with a condition.  The condition is that the person using the products needs to actually use them in a specific program on a regular daily schedule.  Studies show that when people are instructed to use products in a prescribed program that they only follow through the prescription maybe by 50%.  That means that at least half of the benefit is never gained.  Just imagine what a difference it would make if the prescription would be followed to the letter. 

The way anti-aging products work is primarily in two phases.  The first phase is to exfoliate away all the skin cells that are dead.  With exfoliation skin cell energy is increased, which gradually drops during the course of aging, and uneven skin tone (hyperpigmentation) is brought to the surface to also be exfoliated away.  So there is continual exfoliating that is performed either on a daily basis or every other day.  The second phase of anti-aging is to keep the new skin cells performing at high levels for maximum performance.  Keeping free-radicals neutralized as much as possible and preventing damage caused by UV rays.  Introducing high levels of super anti-oxidants that are absorbed by the newly exposed skin cells after exfoliation.  But, with all aging there comes a wall that anti-aging products just can’t jump over.  That’s where the fancy laser resurfacing, injectables, and surgery take over.  With more advanced medical treatments there is still the maintenance that has to occur and you guest it, the maintenance program is “anti-aging.”

Will anti-aging products prevent our skin from aging, probably not if the person is smoking, sun bathing, consuming excess alcohol, eating junk food, and experiencing high levels of stress.  The honest answer is that the product will have a positive effect but it’s a lot to ask of a topical product to reverse everything else that’s not healthy.  On the other hand anti-aging products will perform at their potential when the person is taking care of himself/herself and being good to their body.   

To really define anti-aging it comes down to life style.  A life style of eating healthy, exercising regularly, keeping stress levels from extreme highs, and absolutely taking care of our largest organ, the skin.  The skin is the only organ that we can see.  It tells a lot about a person and when taken care of, the story can be beautiful. 

Let’s face it, every product on the market will do something when applied to skin.  So what makes some products better than others and how much can they really do before we need to do something medical.

Products sold on the mass markets that can be picked up by anyone can not contain high concentrations of active ingredients for the simple reason that customers will miss-prescribe themselves a product that will cause some kind of undesired result.  If enough customers return certain products the store will no longer carry them.  That is exactly why over the counter (OTC) products cannot be too active.  Not to mention that some of those products have to sit on the shelf for who knows how long and therefore must contain paraben preservatives in order to keep them from spoiling.  But, yes, even the OTC products will do something; it just won’t be enough of a result that most customers are looking for.

Then there are products that have higher levels of active ingredients that can only be purchased at Spas or MedSpas.  These products are usually recommended by a trained professional that can accurately prescribe the correct product for the proper skin type and/or condition.  These professional grade products usually have higher concentrations of active ingredients.  An example of this is when a product contains over 2% of Alpha Lipoic Acid (a super/uneriversal antioxidant) instead of 1% or less in OTC products.  Once the Alpha Lipoic Acid begins to exceed 2% the chances of a skin irritation or reaction increases and therefore requires a trained professional to monitor a patients/clients skin reaction.

But, perhaps the best and way to be able to explain the true limits of skin care products would be to use an example.  If a person that is not fit and has never worked out just begins to walk regularly that person will see amazing results.  On the other hand if a person who is super fit wants to take their fitness to the next level they have to work out a lot harder and longer to be able to get to that next level.  The same is true with skin care.  If a person does not take care of their skin at all and they begin just using one product they will see amazing results.  On the other hand if a person has a complete skin care program and is doing everything possible and using every single product in the regimen (cleanser, toner, serum, eye crème, moisturize, and SPF) that has both AM and PM regimens that next level of better looking skin will be almost impossible to achieve without medical esthetic intervention.

Bottom line, the products are only as good as they are affective.  You should have higher levels of active ingredients for your skin and not just OTC products. Once you begin to plateau in your results you may want to consider the next step by seeing Dr. Cockerham.  A complete home skin care program is key to beautiful and healthy skin and to maintain any medical esthetic intervention.

Ever watch the Emmy’s or the Grammy’s and noticed the glowing skin of the celebrities, only to wish and wonder what their secret is and what did they have done to get it.  Well, I’m about to spill the beans on this secret and it’s not that big of a secret.

First of all, it helps to have young and flawless skin.  But, even flawless skin needs TLC.  The secret to the amazing glow is in two easy steps, exfoliate and load with anti-oxidants! 

You may have heard by now that exfoliation is a really good idea. Now let me explain why and what methods are ideal.  Most of us are familiar with “scrubs”, some kind of abrasive material that we rub around and move over our skin so that the dead skin cells are removed.  If that’s the only kind of exfoliant you have, great, use it.  But, these kinds of exfoliants are random.  Random in the sense that we hope the abrasive material will remove the dead skin cells that we want to have removed.  Abrasive scrubs only work where you manipulate them and even then how do you know when all the skin cells you want removed have been scrubbed off?   Sometimes this very thought of not being sure if all the dead skin cells have been removed can created a feeling to keep scrubbing even more, which can cause skin irritations due to over exfoliation. 

The solution is a proper exfoliant, for your skin type, that works uniformly.  Uniformly means, putting on a serum or exfoliating treatment mask and leaving it on for a duration of time.  Every area you’ve applied the serum or mask will be exfoliated.  It leaves no guesswork.  Dr. Cockerham has developed three different kinds of exfoliants that do just that.  The Overnight Mini Peel, Overnight Triple Peel and the Triple Pumpkin + Ferula are perfect examples of uniform exfoliants.

Once you’ve exfoliated correctly you’ll then need to make sure that the new skin cells are going to perform at their top performance.  This means they will be alive longer, adsorb your high-end products better and the most important part, reflect light in a way that makes your skin glow.  The glow comes from a smoother skin surface once the dead skin cells have been removed.  It’s like flashing a light at a mirror.  If you flash a light at a mirror that is titled sideways, as dead skin cells are, it will deflect the light elsewhere.  But, if you have a mirror that is flat, facing you directly, like newly exfoliated skin, the light will bounce directly back at you.  This is the exact effect that correctly exfoliated skin will have, hence the glow.

The next step is to make sure that your newly exposed skin cells will perform at their optimum level for as long as possible before you exfoliate them again.  The best way to do ensure cell’s high performance is by introducing high levels of anti-oxidants right after exfoliating.  Anti-oxidants like Alpha Lipoic Acid (universal anti-oxidant), Vitamin C (packed with extra valence electrons), DMAE (proven firmer) and CoEnzyme Q10 (increases ATP cell energy).  It’s like putting lime juice on a freshly peeled avocado.  The juice helps to preserve the avocado from oxidizing (turning brown) quickly.

The goal is to keep newly exposed skin cells performing at their optimum level for as long as possible.  Once they begin to oxidize it time to exfoliate again.  Usually, even with strong anti-oxidants, the best results are achieved by gently exfoliating on a daily basis with an active enzyme like the Triple Pumpkin + Ferula or every other day with either of the two Overnight Peels. 

Do these two simple steps and you too will enjoy constantly glowing skin.

Drama Queens Gone Wild – The Ugly side of the Beauty Business
KC and AV bring you updates on what is real, what is wrong what might be
in the world of rejuvenation etc., info to you on our new blog. We like the Julie/Julia concept from the movie- same name. So, we are launching our challenge to bring you 365 tidbits of delightful blogs of info, both serious and with a comedic edge…come follow..

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