New Hands for the New Year

As we age, the skin on our hands thins. Couple this with unrelenting sun exposure and declining collagen production and the backs of your hands begin to look as if they could be on a Tales from the Crypt episode.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Dr. Bardia uses various options, sometimes a combination of treatments, to remarkably rejuvenate patients’ hands. Here’s how he does it.

Why you’re thinking about your hands

If you’re reading this, you may have looked down at your hands and here’s what you see. You hands…

  • Have prominent veins and tendons surrounded by sunken skin
  • Are wrinkled and thin
  • Have numerous age spots
  • Would benefit from improved skin tone and color

Dermal fillers

Dr. Bardia has used different dermal fillers “off-label” for years on the backs of the hands. But now patients often ask for Restylane Lyft or Radiesse. Both have been approved by the FDA for use on both the face and the backs of the hands. Lyft is a hyaluronic acid filler, while Radiesse uses calcium hydroxylapatite microspheres to trigger collagen production. Both fillers return volume to the backs of the hands, masking prominent veins and tendons by filling the areas between them.

Fat injections

Using the patient’s own fat to return volume to the hands has the dual benefit of using liposuction to remove unwanted fat from another area to then re-inject it across the backs of the hands. Dr. Amirlak first performs tumescent liposuction on an area with unwanted fat, such as the patient’s flanks. This fat is then purified. The fat is then injected into various sites across the hands to fill the depressed areas, just as dermal fillers do.

Sclerotherapy

You’ve likely heard of sclerotherapy to treat spider veins on the legs, those purple, red, and blue clusters of tiny weblike groups of veins. Dr. Amirlak also uses this same treatment to treat medium-sized veins on the backs of the hands. The sclerosant agent is injected into the vein with a very tiny needle. The agent irritates the vein walls and they collapse and close off the vein. Blood is instantly rerouted to an adjacent, healthier vein. The vein first blanches and then the body scavenges and removes it over the next few weeks.

IPL

Intense pulsed light (IPL) can be used to remove all of those age spots. Similar to laser light, but occupying wider wavelengths, IPL wavelengths are set to match the melanin that is creating the darker spots on your hands. The light energy is pulsed onto the hands and the melanin in the spots absorbs the light energy. This causes the pigment to at first darken and then begin to break up. They fade and disappear over a couple of weeks.

If you’re tired of your hands looking like they’re a Halloween prop, please give Dr. Amirlak a call at (214) 974-4948. We have various options to make your hands look great again.

Posted in: Cosmetic Skin Procedures

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