Dr. Lance Brown: The Little Fixes You Can Do Now to Look Your Best This Summer

Given the recent snow and chilly winds, the summer sun and surf may feel far away. But this is a great time to work on your summer skin. East Hampton cosmetic dermatologist Dr. Lance Brown highlights “little fixes” you can do now to make this summer your best-looking one yet.

If someone is hoping to look his or her best this summer, what would you recommend?

A good starting point this winter would be laser treatments to help eliminate existing sun damage. If you start now, there is sufficient time for multiple treatments, if necessary, before the summer begins. Now is also a great time for a head start on summer with exciting procedures such as the Ulthera non-invasive facial lift and Liposonix fat reduction, because results may take a couple months to be fully realized. These can be performed at any time of the year, but are very popular in the months leading up to and during the summer. Don’t forget the simplest practice for protecting skin, though, is to apply sunscreen, even in the winter months.

What are the most common “fixes” people come to you for?

Patients most commonly seek softening of facial lines and wrinkles with injectables such as Botox or Dysport and fillers such as Restylane, Perlane and Radiesse. New, longer-lasting products are available, and they allow for a naturally enhanced appearance almost immediately.

Other common concerns include elimination of sun damage and unwanted pigmentation, which can be addressed with laser treatments including Fraxel, V-beam or intense pulsed light (IPL). Finally, advancements which utilize ultrasound energy now allow for skin tightening and a non-invasive lift with Ulthera and non-invasive fat reduction with Liposonix.

When would you recommend starting these “little fixes?”

These slower, colder months allow a great opportunity to do laser treatments or Ulthera and Liposonix. Then, as desired, injectables and fillers can provide a final freshening before the busy summer when you want to look your best.

Can you tell us a little bit about them? Are they painful?

Fillers and injectables offer great results and are quick and virtually painless. They, like Ulthera and Liposonix, are among the no-downtime procedures. However, we provide pain-reduction medication for Ulthera and Liposonix and those procedures do take longer to perform. Patients concur, though, that any temporary discomfort is outweighed by the long-lasting results of a naturally tighter lifted lower face or the loss of one pant size of stubborn fat. Finally, there are a variety of laser treatments with different levels of downtime when there might be facial redness. With those, though, the results are evident immediately in many cases and patients say that any discomfort is quickly forgotten.

What about mole removal for aesthetic purposes. What is the process?

There are many different kinds of moles, based on size, composition and location on the body, so there is not one answer. But it is comforting for many patients to know that laser treatments are available to help diminish scars in appropriate cases.

What is the process of removing sun/age spots?

There are an array of lasers, including Fraxel, which allow dermatologists to narrow in with precision on specific, individual cases such as sun damage and other discoloration associated with age or other skin conditions.

Any dangers?

All of the procedures I perform are well-tested and established, as well as non-invasive. Most procedures are performed during patients’ workdays and they return to work and resume their regular schedules immediately. There are just a few laser procedures, which result in facial redness similar to a sunburn—but even those can be covered with makeup.

Dr. Lance Brown, 386 Montauk Highway, Wainscott, 631-725-1771, drlancebrown.com