Thank you for your question.
You're asking whether or not you can get a Pelleve RF session, and then immediately after
have a microdermabrasion.
So, I think that we have to understand exactly what is the intended goal or purpose of these
treatments, so you can understand whether or not it's appropriate.
I've been using Pelleve for many years, radio frequency technology.
Just to go over some basic principles of Pelleve and the concept of radio frequency, first
of all, what were trying to do with Pelleve is we're trying to stimulate collagen by generating
a certain amount of critical temperature that initiates a collagen response by the skin.
There is also another part of Pelleve where you're actually almost restructuring the skin
by getting it to a certain temperature and then massaging it or stretching it to allow,
almost like a realignment of collagen.
Now, of course, these responses depend a lot on the intrinsic ability of the skin to actually
respond to the radio frequency.
Essentially, this is treating skin at the dermis level, the layer below the epidermis,
which is where the support of the skin is.
So when people start getting wrinkles or the skin gets thinner, it’s the dermis, or the
collagen in the dermis, that diminishes.
Now, microdermabrasion is really about taking off the top layer of the epidermis, the layer
called the stratum corneum.
The purpose of microdermabrasion, of course, does contribute to the improvement of the
fine lines and wrinkles, as well as superficial skin discolorations, but it's to get rid of
a lot of the dead skin on top of the skin.
Now, in our practice, when we do a Pelleve treatment like that, we generally don't tell
patients that it's okay to have a microdermabrasion immediately after.
I think technically it's probably acceptable, but you have to think about the aggressiveness
of the microdermabrasion.
Microdermabrasion can be very mild or it can be very strong.
In fact, in our practice we do something that has become a very popular, and it's actually,
for all intents and purposes, replaced microdermabrasion—we use something called HydraFacial.
HydraFacial is a device or technology that uses water, like the crystals in a microdermabrasion
machine, and with it comes the infusion of water, hyaluronic acid, glycolic acid.
It's been much more comfortable for our patients to get that treatment, and they get this very
nice glow after the HydraFacial that is unique to this treatment.
So if the convenience is a factor, then you may want to go lighter on the microdermabrasion,
but otherwise, I would say do these on separate occasions.
I think that when you heat up the skin properly with radio frequency, you don't want to disturb
it too much.
There is now the stimulation of the collagen response and the skin can only tolerate so
much trauma before you're actually compromising its ability to generate.
It's almost like you want to use an analogy to working out, it's like over training.
So consider that and discuss this with your doctor, as to what the desired outcomes are
and maybe there is an efficient way to do this so that you don't have to make more than
one trip.
But if you really want to be aggressive with both, then you'll probably want to do these
procedures on two separate occasions.
So I hope I was helpful I wish you the best of luck thank you for your question.