Photofacial skin care treatments, also called IPL, short for Intense Pulsed Light, are very effective, no down time, safe methods for removing pigment, or brown spots, and excess or broken blood vessels from the facial skin. Browns spots, broken blood vessels around the nose, chin and cheeks are classic signs of sun damage and aging of the facial skin. Brown spots, often called age spots are caused by pigment that is produced by the skin to protect the skin from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. New blood vessels grow into the skin in response to skin injury, first to wash out damaged skin debris and later to bring in healing factors. As our skin ages, the brown spots and broken blood vessels are left behind on the skin after the inflammation or skin injury has passed. These pigmented and red vascular spots create an aged variegated appearance to the facial skin which is called dyschromia, and is a sign of facial aging. Photofacial skin care treatments are the treatment of choice for benign facial skin pigmentation, age spots, brown spots and broken blood vessels and small red spots called telangiectasia on the face. Photofacial treatments are now preferred over laser treatments for these specific pigment and vascular lesions.What Causes Age Spots, Sun Spots, Red Blotches and Broken Blood Vessels on the Face Neck and Décolletage?Browns spots and broken blood vessels around the nose, chin, cheeks, neck, hands and Décolletage are classic signs of sun damage and aging of the skin. Brown spots, often called age spots are caused by pigment that is produced by the skin to protect the skin from the harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun. New blood vessels grow into the skin in response to skin injury by the sun. This process of new blood vessel growth is called inflammation.The new blood vessels bring blood into the facial skin first to wash out damaged skin cell debris and later to bring in skin healing factors.As our skin ages, the brown spots and broken blood vessels are left behind on the skin after the inflammation or skin injury has passed. These pigmented and red vascular spots create an aged variegated appearance to the facial skin which is called dyschromia, which is a sign of facial aging.Photofacial skin care treatments or IPL treatments are the non-surgical anti-aging skin care treatment of choice for benign facial skin pigmentation, age spots, brown spots and broken blood vessels, the small red spots called telangiectasia, on the face, hands, neck and Décolletage. Photofacial treatments are now preferred over laser treatments for these specific pigment and vascular lesions.How Do Photofacial or Intense Pulsed Light Non-surgical anti-aging Skin Care Treatments Work?Photofacial or IPL anti-aging skin care treatments use a bright flash of visible light, like the light of a camera flash to remove pigment and blood vessels non-surgically from the skin. This pulsed or flashed light is very different from a laser and in most instances, less powerful and less dangerous that laser light.I use a Photofacial IPL machine called the LuxGreen IPL made by Palomar Medical Laser Company in Burlington, Massachusetts. Palomar Medical is the premier manufacturer of Aesthetic Laser and Light therapy machines in the world. The LuxGreen Photofacial is the best Photofacial technology I have ever used. The LuxGreen Photofacial IPL machine is very effective and is the most comfortable for you the patient of any IPL device available.Photofacial skin rejuvenation works by passing a flash of bright light through a filter that only allows a specific color of light in the flash to pass through the filter and hit the skin. In the case of the LuxGreen Photofacial, only light with a wavelength of 550nm (nm=nanometers or one millionth of a meter and is the measure of the green light wavelength in the visible light spectrum) to pass through the IPL filter and hit the skin.The LuxGreen IPL 550nm light is selectively absorbed or taken up by the brown pigment in an age spot or the dark reddish brown color of blood in a blood vessel. When the Photofacial light energy is absorbed by the pigment or blood vessel, the heat from the Photofacial or IPL light destroys the pigment or blood vessel by heating it.This process is called Target Specific Photothermolysis. A specific target, that is a color, is heated (thermo) with a light (photo) beam and dissolved or destroyed (lysis).Using color filters placed in front of the Intense Pulsed Light beam, a wide variety of colors can be allowed through to treat many different skin conditions including hair removal (LuxRed), acne (LuxViolet), and others.What Will My Skin Look Like Immediately After a Photofacial Skin Care Treatment?Unlike lasers, which can cause the skin to peel and possibly leave scars, the Lux Green IPL treatments are very gentle on the skin. The pigment in the brown spot or age spot will darken very slightly, and the treated blood vessel will also darken a bit. However the skin will be intact. The treated areas may also be slightly pink for a few hours.We place ice or a cool pack on the treated area immediately and this also may make the skin pink. However, the pinkness may be covered with makeup immediately. You may return to work. And your skin will be nearly normal the next day.Does An Intense Pulsed Light Skin Care Treatment Hurt?There is minimal discomfort during an IPL care treatment. Anesthesia or numbing medicine is not required. When the IPL flash hits the skin you will feel a small snap or sting, but this is easily tolerated by all of my patients.How Many IPL Skin Care Treatments will I Need?Usually 3 IPL skin care treatments are required spaced 4-5 weeks apart for the best results. Multiple treatments are the price for gentle treatments that are not painful and do not injure the skin.Technically enough power can be used to remove the brown spot or blood vessel in one treatment, but this energy level would be painful, blister the skin and possibly leave a scar. This is what happened with old time laser treatments, and the new IPL is designed to remove pigment and blood vessels painlessly and with no trace or scar left behind. To accomplish this we need to stage the removal in 2-3 treatments 4-5 weeks apart. The results are well worth the wait.How Soon after My Intense Pulsed Light Skin Care Treatment Will I See a Result?Generally you will see the results of your IPL skin care treatment at 4-5 weeks. The brown spot will be lighter or gone and the red spot or blood vessel will be much smaller. Some patients with thin skin and very light pigment or small broken blood vessels will see complete removal after one treatment.However most people see definite improvement 5 weeks after the IPL treatment and require 2 more treatments for complete removal.How Many Intense Pulsed Light Skin Care Treatments Will I Need?If you have very fair thin skin with minimal sun damage and very light pigment or very tiny blood vessels you may only need one IPL treatment. However most people need 3 treatments scheduled 4-5 weeks apart for a complete result.Who Should I Consult For My Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Skin Care Treatment?The best IPL machines are found in a physician’s office. Less powerful IPL machines are allowed to be used in Spas, but results are not as effective with these downgraded machines. In my experience patients do not get the results that they want in a spa, and often come to my practice for repeat treatments with the LuxGreen IPL after having already spent money for IPL in a spa.The other benefit of having your IPL treatment in a physician’s office is that you will be examined by a doctor who can properly diagnose your skin condition. Some brown lesions are dangerous and require medical evaluation and should not be treated with Intense Pulsed Light. If you have Rosacea or larger blood vessels on your face, a different therapy is required. These are medical treatments and should be done in a doctor’s office. Your skin will be evaluated for more serious skin conditions, and you will receive more effective Intense Pulsed Light skin care treatments.How Do I Find a Good Doctor to Do My Intense Pulsed Light Skin Care Treatment?Light based and laser non-surgical skin rejuvenation treatments are best done by a doctor who is well trained and specializes in anti-aging skin treatments. Your safest bet is to seek consultation with a board certified plastic surgeon or dermatologist who has experience in laser and light based therapies such as Intense Pulsed Light.I am of course prejudiced because I am a board certified plastic surgeon. However, a plastic surgeon is trained and capable of providing the full range of non-surgical and surgical skin anti-aging procedures and can customize your skin treatments to your unique face. Doctors who cannot provide all treatments are tempted to “fit your unique face” into the particular skin treatment they offer, and that is not the best situation for you.Good sources of honest objective information about choosing a physician are available at the following links:American Society of Plastic surgeonsAmerican Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons
What Are The Greatest Changes In Shopping In Your Lifetime
What are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime? So asked my 9 year old grandson.
As I thought of the question the local Green Grocer came to mind. Because that is what the greatest change in shopping in my lifetime is.
That was the first place to start with the question of what are the greatest changes in shopping in your lifetime.
Our local green grocer was the most important change in shopping in my lifetime. Beside him was our butcher, a hairdresser and a chemist.
Looking back, we were well catered for as we had quite a few in our suburb. And yes, the greatest changes in shopping in my lifetime were with the small family owned businesses.
Entertainment While Shopping Has Changed
Buying butter was an entertainment in itself.
My sister and I often had to go to a favourite family grocer close by. We were always polite as we asked for a pound or two of butter and other small items.
Out came a big block of wet butter wrapped in grease-proof paper. Brought from the back of the shop, placed on a huge counter top and included two grooved pates.
That was a big change in our shopping in my lifetime… you don’t come across butter bashing nowadays.
Our old friendly Mr. Mahon with the moustache, would cut a square of butter. Lift it to another piece of greaseproof paper with his pates. On it went to the weighing scales, a bit sliced off or added here and there.
Our old grocer would then bash it with gusto, turning it over and over. Upside down and sideways it went, so that it had grooves from the pates, splashes going everywhere, including our faces.
My sister and I thought this was great fun and it always cracked us up. We loved it, as we loved Mahon’s, on the corner, our very favourite grocery shop.
Grocery Shopping
Further afield, we often had to go to another of my mother’s favourite, not so local, green grocer’s. Mr. McKessie, ( spelt phonetically) would take our list, gather the groceries and put them all in a big cardboard box.
And because we were good customers he always delivered them to our house free of charge. But he wasn’t nearly as much fun as old Mr. Mahon. Even so, he was a nice man.
All Things Fresh
So there were very many common services such as home deliveries like:
• Farm eggs
• Fresh vegetables
• Cow’s milk
• Freshly baked bread
• Coal for our open fires
Delivery Services
A man used to come to our house a couple of times a week with farm fresh eggs.
Another used to come every day with fresh vegetables, although my father loved growing his own.
Our milk, topped with beautiful cream, was delivered to our doorstep every single morning.
Unbelievably, come think of it now, our bread came to us in a huge van driven by our “bread-man” named Jerry who became a family friend.
My parents always invited Jerry and his wife to their parties, and there were many during the summer months. Kids and adults all thoroughly enjoyed these times. Alcohol was never included, my parents were teetotallers. Lemonade was a treat, with home made sandwiches and cakes.
The coal-man was another who delivered bags of coal for our open fires. I can still see his sooty face under his tweed cap but I can’t remember his name. We knew them all by name but most of them escape me now.
Mr. Higgins, a service man from the Hoover Company always came to our house to replace our old vacuum cleaner with an updated model.
Our insurance company even sent a man to collect the weekly premium.
People then only paid for their shopping with cash. This in itself has been a huge change in shopping in my lifetime.
In some department stores there was a system whereby the money from the cash registers was transported in a small cylinder on a moving wire track to the central office.
Some Of The Bigger Changes
Some of the bigger changes in shopping were the opening of supermarkets.
• Supermarkets replaced many individual smaller grocery shops. Cash and bank cheques have given way to credit and key cards.
• Internet shopping… the latest trend, but in many minds, doing more harm, to book shops.
• Not many written shopping lists, because mobile phones have taken over.
On a more optimistic note, I hear that book shops are popular again after a decline.
Personal Service Has Most Definitely Changed
So, no one really has to leave home, to purchase almost anything, technology makes it so easy to do online.
And we have a much bigger range of products now, to choose from, and credit cards have given us the greatest ease of payment.
We have longer shopping hours, and weekend shopping. But we have lost the personal service that we oldies had taken for granted and also appreciated.
Because of their frenetic lifestyles, I have heard people say they find shopping very stressful, that is grocery shopping. I’m sure it is when you have to dash home and cook dinner after a days work. I often think there has to be a better, less stressful way.
My mother had the best of both worlds, in the services she had at her disposal. With a full time job looking after 9 people, 7 children plus her and my dad, she was very lucky. Lucky too that she did not have 2 jobs.
S&P 500 Rallies As U.S. Dollar Pulls Back Towards Weekly Lows
Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.
The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.
Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.
Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.
Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.
From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.
S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730
S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.
If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.
On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.