At our cosmetic skin care clinic in Windsor, we offer a range of treatments that can significantly enhance the appearance of your skin and boost your self confidence, from acne scar reduction to anti-wrinkle injections. These advanced cosmetics treatments are minimally invasive, quick, and proven to be effective.
However, to maximise the return on investment and maintain the results, it’s important to continue to care for your skin well. Here are some daily habits to introduce into your skincare routine to ensure that your treatment continues to deliver the best results.
Always follow the aftercare instructions carefully
A responsible clinic will ensure that you understand the aftercare instructions properly before you go ahead with the treatment. If you are unsure about anything the practitioner tells you, ask them for clarification. Post-treatment care is really important to ensure that you get the results you expect, and to avoid any complications.
For example, after certain treatments such as anti-wrinkle injections or dermal fillers, you may be advised to avoid vigorous exercise and hot places such as saunas and steam rooms for 24 to 48 hours.
Always protect your skin from the sun
Exposure to UV light is one of the most common causes of skin damage, from premature ageing to hyperpigmentation and wrinkles. Skin that has undergone a cosmetic treatment such as microneedling or Botox injections is more sensitive than usual to UV rays, even in the winter and on cloudy days.
Therefore you should always apply a broad-spectrum suncream with a SPF factor of at least 30 on exposed areas of skin before leaving your home. If you spend more than two hours outdoors or are sweating or in contact with water, reapply your sunscreen. You can additionally protect your skin with sunglasses, wide brimmed hats, and long clothing.
Pay extra attention to skin hydration levels
Treatments such as microneedling (also known as Dermapen) work by using tiny needles to deliberately cause microdamage to the outer layer of your skin. This stimulates extra collagen production and advances the growth of new skin cells. However, this process can take one to two weeks or more before the full results are visible.
In the meantime, it’s important to take good care of your skin to maintain the barrier (the tougher outer cells that lock in moisture and keep out toxins) and promote healing. Use a gentle moisturising product that is compatible with your skin types to ease any dryness or irritation.
Your skin may be more sensitive than usual after a treatment, so carry out a patch test if you want to use a product with a strong artificial fragrance or other synthetic ingredients. Your practitioner may be able to recommend gentle but effective products with ingredients such as hyaluronic acid, glycerine, or shea butter.
Avoid using harsh products such as exfoliants or retinoids until your skin has recovered more fully. Creams or serums with vitamin C or E contain antioxidants that may enhance the results of treatment and help to manage any inflammation or redness.
Pay attention to diet and hydration
What we eat and drink directly affects the condition of our skin. Make sure that you eat a well balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables, fatty fish, nuts and legumes, and avoid excessive amounts of ultra-processed foods with high levels of fat, sugar and salt. Drink water at regular intervals and cut down on caffeine and fizzy drinks.
Make sensible lifestyle choices
Habits such as smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, and too many late nights can take a toll on your skin, and also more widely impact your health and wellbeing. Smoking causes the skin to age more rapidly and slows collagen production, so you may find that the results of your treatment do not last as long as you expect if you are a regular smoker.
Alcohol can dry out your skin and prevent essential nutrients from being delivered to the skin cells, and lack of sleep impairs the healing process. Therefore taking steps to manage these habits can improve your results, and you will probably also notice that the skin on other areas of your body feels smoother and looks more youthful.
