What is Aesthetic Medicine?

Aesthetic medicine is a developing branch of medicine and scientific research. The objective is to cosmetically enhance an individual's physical appearance with nominally invasive procedures. It is a modern field and is not just restricted to plastic surgeons and dermatologists. Most medical specialists can offer services in the field of aesthetic medicine.

The major types of procedures and techniques are:

1. Surgical techniques

• Liposuction: This is a surgical cosmetic technique, which is used to remove fat from certain areas of the body to re-shape the body and reduce weight.
• Facelifts: A facelift is a surgical procedure, which is done to restore the healthy and youthful features of the skin by injecting dermal fillers (soft tissue) into the hollow or sagging parts of the face or neck.
• Radiofrequency ablation: In this medical procedure, a radio wave produces electric current and eliminates the diseased or non-functional tissues. The technique has applications outside aesthetic medicine too, such as treating tumors, chronic pain, heart problems, etc.
• Hair transplant: Hair transplantation surgery is a procedure where the hair follicles are surgically removed from a donor site and implanted on the recipient side to cover up bald spots. The hair follicles are taken from the patient and so, the grafted hair continues its natural growth after surgery.

2. Non-Surgical techniques

• Radio frequency skin tightening: This is a non-surgical alternative to facelifts and it produces the connective tissues (collagen and elastin) in order to remodel the tissues and tighten the skin of the face and the neck.
• Chemical peel: A chemical peel is a type of skin treatment, which is used to smoothen and improve the texture of skin. It is especially done for the facial skin to remove lines, folds and wrinkles. The procedure causes the dead skin cells to peel off and the new skin that appears is more even and youthful.
• Non-surgical liposuction: This procedure is done using laser energy and ultrasound and the subcutaneous fat cells are eliminated. There is no suction, incision or injection involved.These techniques are of lower risk as compared to surgical weight loss procedures.
• Laser and Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) Hair Removal: The Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) procedure involves a spectrum of wavelengths (similar to those of a light bulb), which are targeted at the skin and some of the wavelengths can remove body hair. Laser hair removal is slightly more effective than IPL because it involves a focused beam of light in one specific wavelength, which targets the hair follicles of your skin.