Dear Dr. Wolf,
I have these wrinkles around my lips that have been driving me crazy. I went to a dermatologist who put some Restylane in the area and now I have little bumps all over. Needless to say, I’m not happy. I also had somebody tell me that laser was the only way to get rid of these wrinkles. Is there anything you could suggest that would improve my wrinkles, as I don’t have the time to recover from a laser treatment?
I do have a solution for you that is a very old treatment, but with a new twist! The solution is – Dermapen. Dermapen is a fractionated micro-needling device used to treat many skin problems such as scars, stretch marks and wrinkles. The original idea came from a plastic surgeon’s observation that when people have tattoos, the skin in the tattoo area appears to look much younger than the surrounding skin. After some research, it was noted that the cause of this improvement is the micro-perforation that occurs when using the tattoo needle.
Dermapen is performed using an anesthetic cream, so there is minimal pain. The procedure takes approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Disposable needles are used so there is no chance of contamination. Generally, four treatments are needed to see a reasonable result. Each treatment is spaced over a period of about one month.
The results are noted from the first treatment, but optimal results occur in about four to five months. Because there’s no heat associated with this treatment, there is less chance of hyper- or hypo-pigmentation, which may occur with laser treatments. While this procedure does improve the lip line, expectations must be moderated as this is a very difficult treatment area in which to get optimal results.
Dr. Wolf’s office is located at 8940 N. Kendall Dr., Suite 903E. He may be reached at 305-595-2969 or at <www.miamiplasticsurgery.com>.
