You look in the mirror and feel like your skin is just missing “something”. You want to head to a spa to get treatments that will help your skin regain its health, vibrance and youthful appearance, but you’re not sure what kind of treatment to book. Choosing the right skincare treatment can seem like a moving target, and many of us wish there was a way to know exactly what would benefit our skin the most. Now there is. Call SliMedica in San Antonio, TX to discuss the revolutionary Visia skin analysis system.
What Is a Visia Skin Analysis?
Visia is a digital imaging system that evaluates skin not just on the surface, but on sub-surface levels. Think of it like a high-tech photo booth that provides you with an easy-to-understand, objective analysis of your skin and its issues in eight categories:
- Brown spots
- Pore size
- Red areas
- Bacteria & oils
- Surface spots
- Texture
- Wrinkles
- UV spots
When you receive the printed report about your skin, you can see how yours ranks against the skin of people of the same age, gender and skin type. You’ll also see pictures of your skinand the trouble spots in each of the categories.
Estimated Skin Age
One of the most eye-opening results Visia provides is the percentile score and rank of your estimated skin age. This result is based on the amount of sun damage and change in your skin compared to others who are the same age, gender and skin type. You may think you have a young-looking complexion, but hiding below the surface can be years of damage from lying in the sun.
If not addressed, this underlying damage will make its way to the surfaceeventually. We can match the right treatment to the needs unique to your skin and its estimated age. This is one of the most eye-opening facets of this skin analysis system.
Aging Simulation
Depending on which you choose, we can do a basic or advanced aging simulation. Our basic aging simulation can show you how your skin looked five to seven years ago so you can see how it’s changed or it can project five to seven years to show you how your spots and/or wrinkles will progress. From there, we can tailor a treatment to address those issues.
Our advanced aging simulator can show you, based on your current age, your skin’s progression from ages 18-80. We can only capture this from a front-facing position, but it is immensely eye-opening, as it shows our clients how their current state will play outin the future. We’ll then customize a plan to minimize the areas contributing most to a negative outcome down the road.
The Eight Categories
Each category of the complexion analysis we measure helps us decide which treatment will best suit you because we can easily see what your biggest area of concern should be. It’s often surprising how our clients’ priorities shift after seeing their results.
Brown Spots
We classify brown spots as including freckles, moles and age spots. These spots are caused by an increase in melanin production. Melanin is produced by special cells and is what gives our skin, hair and eyes their pigment. The more melanin there is, the darker the pigment. Spots are causing by melanin clumping together.
By pinpointing how large these spots are and their location, we can recommend pinpointed treatment to break these cells apart and reduce the visibility of spots.
Pore Size
Pores are the openings for oil ducts and can easily become clogged with dirt and an overproduction of oil, leading to breakouts. When pores are enlarged, it can indicate they’re clogged or are more susceptible to becoming clogged. This system distinguishes between spots and pores, seeing where clusters may indicate oily, breakout-prone areas.
Red Areas
These areas can be caused by broken capillaries, acne or rosacea, and the Visia analysis shows us exactly where these spots are located. This kind of accuracy makes treating the exact location of these imperfections easier.
Bacteria & Oils
Also call porphyrins, these bacterial excretions block pores and can lead to breakouts. When areas where porphyrins are detected early, we can accurately recommend spot treatments to stop breakouts before they start. This report also helps us recommend the right ongoing skincare routine for your skin type.
Surface Spots
These skin irregularities can be brown or red lesions like freckles, acne scars, hyperpigmentation or vascular lesions. Our system pinpoints their location, size and color so we can determine the type and recommend the right treatment to address them.
Texture
You may not always feel the small irregularities in skin texture that indicate your skin needs special treatment, so this is actuallyone of the more sophisticated reports of this system. The device evaluates the overall texture of your skin and provides a detailed report so we know where to recommend the right kind ofexfoliation.
Raised areas, like dead skin cells and blemishes, are indicated on the report in yellow. The indentations caused by open pores and fine lines are indicated in blue. The differentiation allows us to recommend the right treatment for the right area of texture irregularity.
UV Damage
If there’s one thing skincare professionals everywhere can agree on, it’s that sunscreen is the single best investment you can make in your skin. The damage from the sun’s harsh UV rays is the biggest contributor to premature aging and collagen damage.
Our skin produces excess melanin to protect itself against these rays, leaving our skin with sunspots. Most of these spots are often undetectable because the melanin clumps below the surface of the skin. This mapping allows us to see and treat the areas with the greatest amount of sun damage.
Wrinkles
We offer a variety of skincare solutions dedicated to treating wrinkles. While you can see most of the wrinkles on your skin, you can always tell the depth of those lines and wrinkles. Why does this matter? It matters because your treatment plan can be devised around the depth and size of your wrinkles.
Deep folds will require a different treatment than superficial fine lines. The reports we get differentiate between deep and shallow lines. Fine lines show up as light green while deep creases appear dark green, and the lines on your unique face may run the gamut in between.
How Does Visia Work?
This system was originally developed as a research tool and now helps us develop the perfect treatment plan for you, your skin and its areas of need. The machine is computer-controlled and uses multispectral imaging to scan the skin and capture key points of information. The system has built-in positioning aids and standardized lighting and offers a magnification tool so we can take a closer look at certain areas.
We’ll wash all the makeup, products and surface oils from your face and place you in front of the machine. The module rotates around your face, capturing images from every angle. It’s completelypainless, non-invasive and comes with no negative side effects. The photo imaging takes about ten minutes and then we’ll be able to analyze your results.
Solutions
We like to begin our relationship with you by performing this skin analysis and then do it again every three to four months so we can track the difference our solutions are making on your areas of concern. Once we get your results, we’re able to recommend the right solutions from our comprehensive MedSpa menu.
Skin Rejuvenation and Resurfacing
We offer an array of treatments designed to improve the health, texture and tone of your skin.
Chemical Peels
A chemical peel is a chemical solution we apply to your skin. After a certain amount of time, we’ll neutralize the solution and remove it. Over the next few days, your body will shed the top layer or layers of your skin, effectively resurfacing it. We offer three levels of chemical peels, allowing them to be customized to your skin’s needs. We have light, medium and deep peels, each addressing things we see from your skin analysis like:
- Uneven skin tone and texture
- Brown spots
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Dull complexion
- Mild acne
The top layer of your skin will gently peel away over the coming days, revealing a brighter and more vibrant complexion. You’ll have smoother, softer and younger-looking skin with little to no downtime, depending on the level of peel you’ve chosen.
HydraFacial
This increasingly popular facial uses proprietary technology to effectivelycleanse, peel, extract, nourish and protect in one comfortable, 30-minute facial. Results are immediate and remarkable. Clients can also choose an array of boosters and add-ons to address more specific needs. This treatment can address all eight categories of skin analysis.
This facial gets immediate results and is mild enough for any skin type and tone. Clients love that their pores are completely cleared out and that their skin is bright, moisturized and infused with nutrient and peptide-rich serums. We recommend clients receive this facial every four to six weeks.
Vampire Facial
This uses a client’s own PRP or platelet-rich plasma to kick start their body’s production of collagen. PRP contains growth factors that signal the body it needs to heal an area. When applied to areas of concern, collagen will be produced, and the results will improve for weeks after this transformative facial. This will most effectivelyaddress:
- Sun damage
- Active acne
- Acne scarring
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Uneven texture
- Large pores
When you arrive for your facial, we’ll take a small sample of blood from you and spin it in a medical-grade centrifuge to separate the plasma from other parts of the blood. We then inject PRP into strategic areas so you get the most from treatment and the increase in collagen production.
Laser Skin Resurfacing
We have several laser treatments available. We have a laser that treats several kinds of scarring, not just on the face. Next, fractional laser resurfacing can address a multitude of imperfections we find in our skin analysis report. By targeting and heating the deepest layers of the skin, clients will enjoy an overall tightening effect.
We’ll consult your analysis report and be able to pinpoint and address:
- UV damage
- Fine lines and wrinkles
- Texture irregularities
- Acne scars
Acne Laser Facial
More than just a facial, this treatment combines a medical-grade facial with an acne laser treatment so each client achieves optimal results. We start with a detoxifying cleansing that exfoliates and removes the impurities that clog pores. We’ll then perform extractions to remove both white and blackheads that are clogging pores.
Once the skin is clean, we’ll gently pass the laser treatment over the skin to target the bacteria that cause acne and the scars left by acne. We’ll end the session with a cooling mask to soothe the skin and calm any redness that may linger. The gentle heating of the skin forces the body to produce more collagen so those crater-like scars fill inover time.
Injectables
Injectables have become the number one requested cosmetic treatment in the world. These treatments are used to address an array of issues, but we’ll focus on moderate-to-severe wrinkles and folds that will be highlighted dark green in your report.
Botox
Botox is an FDA-approved neuromodulator that works to reduce or eliminate the appearance of what we call “dynamic” wrinkles. These wrinkles are caused by the repeated expressions we make: generallyon the upper part of the face. This injectable works by blocking the signal from the nerve from reaching the muscle. This reduces or eliminates the muscle’s ability to move, allowing the skin to relax and wrinkles to smooth out. Botox is most commonly used for:
- Forehead lines
- Frown lines
- Crow’s feet
- Bunny lines on the side of the nose
Botox takes about two to five days to take effect and lasts between three to four months. We’ll recommend a follow-up routine that will ensure you can ensure seamless results.
Dermal Fillers
If you’re looking for immediate results for your moderate-to-severe wrinkles and folds, we use fillers from Juvederm which are made of hyaluronic acid suspended in a smooth gel. Hyaluronic acid is a sugar our bodies produce to keep our skin, connective tissue and eyes lubricated and hydrated. They add instant volume and erase years from your appearance. We can review your report and target deep lines, including:
- Nasolabial folds
- Marionette lines
- Crow’s feet
- Chin wrinkles
- Lip lines
Our fillers can also help with areas of lost volume and lip enhancement. Each molecule of this hyaluronic acid can hold up to 1000 times its weight in water, so it not only plumps the skin but can even improve the condition of the skin. Filler can help skin not only look younger by being smoother but by looking and feeling more supple.
Find Your Unique Solutions
Our Visia system is the best way to understand where your specific concerns lie, what you should address first and how. We’re able to develop a treatment plan designed for your skin’s needs, and we can track our progress so we can course-correct if we need to or divert our attention to another area of concern.
Call SliMedica in San Antonio, TX to schedule your consultation. We’re committed to helping each of our clients achieve the best results so they can look and feel their absolute best. We look forward to helping you too!