What is microdermabrasion?

At Eastside Dermatology, we offer one of the newest skin care techniques to hit the mainstream market, microdermabrasion.  This procedure takes only about 45 minute to an hour and will leave your skin feeling fresh and soft to the touch.  It has also recently been catching on with men, as we have seen them trying it more and more.

What is microdermabrasion?  It is a term that is used for the procedure of applying an enzyme to the skin, and having tiny crystals brush across the skin to buff away the surface layer of the skin.  The skin is made up of two layers called the epidermis and the dermis.  The epidermis is the outermost layer.  It is comprised of dead skin cells on top of another layer of cells that are being growing.  The topmost layer of the epidermis is called the stratum corneum, which protects the lower layers of skin.  It keeps everything but the tiniest molecules from passing through.  This layer is where many skin imperfections take place like wrinkle lines and blemishes, and this is where the microdermabrasion takes place.

The concept of this procedure is that if you break up the stratum corneum layer, the body is alerted and recognizes it as a small injury.  Instantly, your body hurries to replace the lost skin cells with new healthy ones.  When the stratum corneum is gone, the skins surface is greatly enhanced.  With the healing process brining in new cells, your skin will feel healthy and look and feel smoother.  In a lot of cases, the visible skin imperfections are removed like sun damage, wrinkle lines, and blemishes.  Also with this layer gone, lotions and medical creams work better because more of the ingredients can make their way to the lower layers.

Studies suggest that regular microdermabrasion treatments can influence the way the lower layers grow, and also remove deep blemishes over time.  At Eastside Dermatology, we use a special tool that shoots a stream of small crystals onto the skin, and collects the leftover dead skin cells and crystals.  What the vacuum does is pull and raise a small section of skin to work on.  It then creates mild swelling and brings some of the impurities to the top.  It then shoots the stream of crystals across the selected area of skin, and then collects the leftovers.

To visually see how this is done, we have created a video for you to watch.  See it here!