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FeedHands of Time
Skin treatments that turn back the clock.
(page 1 of 2)
While cosmetic surgery and BOTOX can erase decades from a woman’s face, her hands remain a dead giveaway.
“As we age, the skin of our hands becomes thinner, and you can almost see the muscles and veins underneath,” says Dr. Victoria A. Cirillo-Hyland, medical director at Cirillo Cosmetic Dermatology Spa in Rosemont. “This is a condition known as lipoatrophy, or loss of fat beneath the skin.”
Other changes in the hands that give away a woman’s age include unsightly brown spots and wrinkling. The sad fact is that your hands age faster than your face, unless you constantly wear gloves, as was fashionable in Victorian times. While people tend to be vigilant about applying sunscreen to their faces, they often neglect their hands, which are exposed to ultraviolet rays year-round, especially while driving.
“Thanks to newly approved products, it’s now possible to literally turn back the hands of time,” says Cirillo-Hyland, who recommends a combination of treatments using fillers like Sculptra and Radiesse, intense pulsed light therapy (IPL), and Pixel laser resurfacing. “In essence, you fill with Sculptra or Radiesse, you remove brown age spots with IPL, and you resurface with a laser to improve the texture of the skin.”
For years, Sculptra has been used for cosmetic procedures outside the U.S. Now the FDA has approved it for restoring facial fat, making it the first product of its kind for this condition.
Radiesse is currently FDA-approved for treating nasolabial folds, the “marionette” indentations between the nose and corners of the mouth that deepen with age. A safe dermal filler made of calcium-based microspheres suspended in a water-based gel, it works below the skin’s surface to support and stimulate the growth of collagen.
At Cirillo Cosmetic Dermatology Spa, patients typically receive one or two vials of Sculptra, and one or two syringes of Radiesse, to replace the loss of fat in their hands. Sculptra is a synthetic injectable material known as poly-L-lactic acid, which doesn’t harm the body and is biodegradable. Previously, it was widely used in dissolvable stitches and soft-tissue implants.
After the first treatment, the areas of injection may swell and give the illusion that fat has been restored. However, it takes time to gradually correct the loss of body fat in the hands, and further treatments are typically necessary.
If brown spots are present, Cirillo-Hyland uses IPL, which emits multiple wavelengths of light to treat the spots. Without damaging the skin, the light penetrates the subsurface layers and is absorbed by the blood vessels. The heat impairs the vessels, and the body begins the natural healing process. “We apply a cooling gel before IPL treatment to reduce discomfort,” says Cirillo-Hyland.
For the finishing touch, she uses the Pixel laser to restore a silky-smooth texture to the hands. Pixel skin resurfacing is based on the principle of microthermal treatment zones. The laser pulses trigger the skin’s natural healing process, stimulating the growth of new, healthy tissue. One or two treatment sessions over three to six months are typically required.
“Patients say the procedure is gentle, and they are thrilled with the results, which last for years,” says Cirillo-Hyland.
