by Gabriella D'Anton

Created on: August 25, 2009

Microdermabrasion is a resurfacing method based on the principal of intense and controlled exfoliation.

Exfoliation is a natural process that takes place daily by shedding the dead cells. This permanent renewal is intended by nature itself as a way to replace the old dead cells with new and healthy ones. As we age every single function of our body is performing at a slower pace (the ideal turnover of skin cells is between 27-30 days as we are very young and it gets to be 45-60 as we age).

The faster the body produces new cells to replace the old ones, the more vibrant and healthy the skin looks. The natural process of skin shedding is not exactly perfect in terms of even exfoliation and the noticeable results of such shortcoming are patches of dryness. When home-remedies as scrubs and purifying masks fail, microdermabrasion comes to the rescue.

As opposed to many other skin rejuvenation and resurfacing techniques (laser, peels and derma-plating), microdermabration requires no down time and it takes less than one hour to be performed.

The advantages of such treatment will be immediately noticeable in terms of softness and skin glow; however, for better and long lasting effects, a series of treatments is recommended.

Being one of the most result-oriented skin care treatment, much will be accomplished:

- stimulation and cell renewal resulting in improved vitality

- elimination of sun damage resulting in a more even coloring

- improvement of skin texture resulting in smoothness

- will diminish the visibility of acne scars

- will soften the superficial lines, but will not remove wrinkles

- lightening superficial pigmentation

- improvement of skin's ability to absorb active ingredients; otherwise, dead cells will prevent any cream or serum from getting deep enough into the skin and really make a significant difference.

Micordermabrasion is a mechanical and safe exfoliation technique done by a special machine. There are two different types of professional microdermabrasion machines in the market:

- 1) crystal microdermabrasion is the old way of performing a treatment and consists on blasting abrasive mineral crystals into the skin in order to dislocate dead cells; the structure of the skin under the microscope looks like the scale of a fish, so separating them before suction is essential.

- 2) the wand with diamond micro-particles at the tip is

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