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Ring Around the Rosacea Risks: Treating Clients with Contraindications

There was a really interesting LinkedIn Aesthetics & Beauty Group thread recently about how best to deal with clients with rosacea.

We thought this discussion could be of benefit to our delegates at Cosmetic Courses as it is a relatively common ailment presented in clinic and quite tricky to deal with. As a potential contraindication, rosacea impacts upon many skincare / medical aesthetic treatments which you are offering.

Interestingly, one LinkedIn user opened the discussion by wondering how often “Rosacea” is actually misdiagnosed. True rosacea is estimated to effect about 1 in 10 people. It is characterised by:

  • episodes of flushing
  • outbreaks of spots
  • persistent redness of the skin
  • Visibility of small blood vessels
  •  Thickening and enlarging (especially around the nose area), but this is in more severe cases

It is counted as a chronic, long-term condition which is made worse by a number of trigger factors including extreme weather exposure, stress, certain food/drink.

Because there are so many different aspects to these symptoms, Broken Capillaries on the face are often wrongly diagnosed as Rosacea…so are papular / pustular acne break outs with a large degree of redness and even tendencies to flushing may be labelled Rosacea too! On the other extreme, some patients may have been given an official rosacea diagnosis by their GP but hide telling you for fear you won’t treat them or due to the connotations with stress / alcohol consumption.

It is good practise (as agreed on the LinkedIn thread) that, when dealing with rosacea only a doctor or dermatologist should make an official diagnosis. If you do have suspicions that your patient is suffering from this condition, you could gently try and persuade them to make an appointment. However, you should never share your own diagnosis with the patient.

Where does that leave you, with treating a potential Rosacea patient?

Lovely as it would be to “fix” every patient’s skin problems, as one LinkedIn thread user admits, it just isn’t possible. Rosacea is a long-term problem without a known cure and certain treatments are actually proven to aggravate and make the condition worse.

If the rosacea presents with active acne, for example, then you should react as with any other active acne case and avoid treatments like Genuine Dermaroller Therapy, botox to the area and microdermabrasion which could spread the acne or cause infection. You will not need to mention rosacea to your patient: you can just cite the active acne as your reason for being unable to pursue this course of treatment and this is an ideal excuse to refer them to their GP who may identify the rosacea at the same time.

For rosacea patients with particularly irritated, red skin and blood vessels very close to the surface, treatments like abrasive peels and microdermabrasion should be avoided.

However, your rosacea patient may still be able to have some treatment. If no active acne is present, use your experience to decide whether a gentle L-absorbic acid type peel might be suitable (for example) and Genuine Dermaroller, too, is fine on non-irritated areas. It is all about really getting to know your patient, doing a very thorough skin history assessment with them and using your professional discretion. If in any doubt, refer to a GP first and remember you are within your right to gently suggest it would be better not to treat – rosacea is a recognised contraindication.

We hope this has been helpful to you. For more advice, please do not hesitate to contact Cosmetic Courses on 0845 230 4110.

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Genuine Dermaroller Therapy & Patients with Active Acne

Question :
I have a patient presenting with brown spots and age marks on her cheeks. She has had these for several years now, along with open pores and acne scars on both her nose and face. She is alsoGenuine Dermaroller prone to minor breakouts on a regular basis and was wondering whether Genuine Dermaroller Therapy treatment will give her a clear complexion.

Answer :

Probably the best treatment for your patient is Genuine Dermaroller Therapy, which improves the quality of the skin by stimulating the natural skin tissue. The fibroblasts (cells in your skin) generate a new structure as the skin is stimulated.

BUT it is very important that your patient gets her acne under control before dermaroller treatment can take place otherwise the infection can actually be spread and made worse. Therefore, we would advise that you recommend she sees her GP or a dermatologist to give her some medication, possibly antibiotics for this.

When her active acne is quiet you can definitely consider a dermaroller course of treatment. For more information as to what is involved, please have a look at our Genuine Dermaroller Therapy video.

Who are Cosmetic Courses?

The UK’s leading and longest established training provider created by Plastic Surgeon Mr Adrian Richards offering over 50 online and offline courses for medical professionals in all areas of aesthetics.

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Advanced Cosmetic Training Courses: Brow Lift Treatments

Advanced Medical Aesthetic Training

So you have completed your Foundation Level Introduction to Botulinum Toxin and Dermal Fillers. You’ve gone away and practiced all you learned and now you’re chomping at the bit to discover more techniques, right?

An Advanced Cosmetic Training Course is the ideal way to pick your basic skills up a level and add procedures like Cheek Sculpting, Platysmal Bands, Brow Lift and Hyperhidrosis to your repertoire. In this Blog, we will discuss the Brow Lift.

Brow Lift Treatment
As we age, gravity causes the eyebrows (brow) to move downwards.  We compensate for this by contracting the muscle which raises the eyebrows.  Contraction of this muscle causes wrinkle lines across the forehead.  Eventually the muscle relaxes and the eyebrows become lower.  This typically makes you look slightly sad and tired.  It can also increase the fold on the upper eyelid making it difficult to apply makeup.

Brow lift treatments are aimed at elevating the eyebrows.  This widens the eyes and makes you look less tired.  After surgery people are often asked if they have been on holiday as they look refreshed.  The effects are subtle and most people will not be able to pinpoint the exact change in you but will notice that you look fresher.

The eyebrow in females should be gently arched with its’ highest point lying 2/3rds of the way out from the centre.  In men the eyebrows are usually flatter and raising them is not usually appropriate as this can make them look slightly surprised.

In the past, the only satisfactory way to perform Brow lifts was with a surgery operation.  This procedure is normally carried out by keyhole surgery.  Small incisions are made within the hairline and the tissue is gently separated allowing the eyebrows to rise.  Most people recover quickly from the procedure and are back at work within 10 days.

Brow Lift Injections
More recently, however, medical aesthetic injection techniques have been used to lift the eyebrows.  Selectively weakening the muscles which pull down the eyebrows (using Botulinum Toxin) will result in them rising.  The muscles which pull down the inner part of the eyebrows cause frowning in the centre of the forehead.  The muscles which pull down the outer part of the eyebrows cause the crows-feet smile lines which occur on the temple on the side of the eye.

Unlike surgery, injections to weaken these muscles can be performed as a quick and easy outpatient procedure. Many people have the treatment during work breaks or at the end of the day.  The effects are not immediate with most people noticing a gradual decrease in the frown and crows feet wrinkles a week following treatment.  This effect last between 4-6 months and will need to be repeated.  Usually after a 3 treatments in a year the muscles relax more permanently and the effect last for longer and longer.

It is important to remember that everybody’s face is different and the consultation process is important to assess which treatment is most suitable for your patient.  This should ideally start with a skin analysis and discussion of the treatments available.

If you are interested in learning Brow Lift injectable techniques and other Advanced Medical Aesthetic Techniques, call Cosmetic Courses Training on 0800 328 5743. Alternatively, you can learn more about our advanced level training on our website.

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