To say that many aspects of our lives have been put on hold over the past year and half due to the global coronavirus pandemic is a bit of an understatement. With many businesses shut down and states enforcing stay-at-home orders, things like in-person skin treatments were pushed to the back burner. Nevertheless, many dermatologists and cosmetic surgeons have already seen a resurgence of in-office skin treatments in the latter half of 2021, which they expect to continue into next year.
With videoconferencing software like Zoom taking center stage, people are becoming more self-conscious about flaws they’ve noticed during those video calls. Working from home also means that people are less concerned about downtime following in-office procedures. Consequently, experts expect a renewed focus on skin and cosmetic treatments to address everything from wrinkles on the face and neck to eye bags and double chins.
Here are some skin treatments that experts predict will be some of the most popular procedures throughout 2022.
Chemical Peels
Chemical peels offer heavy duty chemical exfoliation to clear up uneven skin textures and scars, soften fine lines, and get rid of dead skin. Even if you use sunscreen regularly, your skin can still get its fair share of sun damage. The benefit of chemical peels is that they can help to counteract some of the skin’s natural wear and tear. By applying a strong combination of chemicals to the skin, peels can get rid of the top layers. Essentially, chemical peels reverse sun-induced hyperpigmentation and blotchy skin. The good news is that it takes only about three to four days for the skin to peel away, leaving younger, firmer skin. Fall happens to be one of the best times for chemical peels because the cooler temperatures and lower UV rays allow for better recovery.
Natural-looking Dermal Fillers
Dermal fillers like Restylane and Juvederm have been around for many years now. But people are starting to use them to make smaller changes that appear more natural. They are still very popular for reducing dark circles and bags under the eyes, smoothing out wrinkles, and adding volume to facial features. Nevertheless, newer injectables can give a more natural look to the cheeks instead of the stiff common to heavier filler products. The new fillers are designed to move more dynamically with facial movements. An experienced cosmetic surgeon can help you figure out which dermal filler would work best for the look you want.
Body Contouring
More and more people are embracing body contouring procedures such as SculpSure to get rid of stubborn fat areas that never seem to go away. The nice thing about these procedures is that they are noninvasive. Indeed, SculpSure works great for underneath the chin, the abdomen, and the inner or outer thighs. This treatment uses a laser to heat up your fat cells and shrink them, so your body’s lymphatic system can flush them out as waste. SculpSure works best for people who are in pretty good shape who need help melting away some extra fat. People love it because it can be completed in under an hour without disrupting the skin’s surface and requires no real downtime.
Skin Tightening
Since working from home has become the new normal, people are forced to look at themselves on a screen for much longer than they would in a mirror or a quick selfie. As a result, the so called “Zoom Effect” has people looking for ways to lift and tighten their faces. They see sagginess in their faces that they could have overlooked before, and they want to do something about it.
Laser skin tightening is a popular and painless procedure which helps to rejuvenate sagging skin, sun damage, and fine lines. It uses a targeted laser beam to heat soft tissue. This jumpstarts the body’s healing process to produce collagen and firmer, tighter skin. Some of the most common areas for skin tightening are the neck, jaw line, eyes, arms, and abdomen.
Blue Light Skin Care
Believe it or not, this is actually a thing. When as much as 60 percent of us sit at computer screens for at least six hours a day, we become susceptible to premature aging from HEV (high energy visible) light or the blue light emitted from tech screens. There is some evidence that HEV and UV light may cause similar signs of photoaging. Consequently, HEV-blocking skin care is experiencing a boom. Indeed, sales of blue light protecting sunscreen rose by 170 percent in the first half of last year.
As working from home becomes the way of the future, look for these skincare treatments and more to gain in popularity as people try to look their best on those Zoom calls.
