As we age, the skin loses the uniform healthy glow present in youth.  Age spots, skin lesions, wrinkles, and blood vessels appear as the skin loses collagen and elastic fibers become disorganized.  This entire process is called “photoaging;” so named for its two primary causes: sun-exposure (photo) and time (aging).  Photoaging can occur on all levels of the skin from the superficial layer to the deepest layers.  The good news is that with the appropriate treatment, many of these changes can be reversed.  Areas of pigment can be lightened, collagen stimulated, wrinkles decreased, lesions removed, and dilated blood vessels ablated.  The face, hands, shoulders/back, and chest are typical areas where the most photoaging occurs and where treatment is focused.

You may have noticed there are a vast growing number of home therapies, spas, and non-physician practitioners offering creams, peels, microdermabrasion, and even laser-like therapies promising to improve the skin.  Unfortunately for patients, these promises can be driven at times more by economics than by proven benefit.  Most of these treatments are directed at the most superficial layers of the skin.  The reality is that some photoaging cannot be improved by any of these treatments but requires the tools to affect the deeper layers of skin available only to physicians with advanced training, like Dr. Marotta.  At Marotta Facial Plastic Surgery, we have the tools to improve the skin at all levels; from superficial to deep chemical peels, from micro- to surgical dermabrasion, from photofacials to the ablation of blood vessels with intense pulsed light or sclerotherapy.    

Every patient interested in improving their skin undergoes a detailed skin analysis.    The most effective treatment plan is then determined based on your skin type, the amount of photodamage and the level of this damage.  Please read about the many procedures we offer by clicking on the links above.