Stacking aesthetic treatments: Why doubling and tripling can save money
The world of aesthetic medicine is ever changing with new treatments, new technology and breakthrough advancements occurring on a regular basis. For the consumer, it can sometimes be a challenge to determine which treatment to consider from a menu with a dizzying array of options.
One way to test the waters while respecting one’s budget and assuring great results is to consider ‘stacked’ treatments.
In aesthetics, individual treatments offer specific benefits. For example, a broad band light treatment will address redness and brown spots in skin. A micro-laser peel will address skin texture. Botox will relax muscles to decrease wrinkling. Dermal fillers will plump up the skin by restoring volume and hydrating the skin.
Some types of treatments lend themselves to being safely ‘stacked’.
Stacking involves undertaking several different types of treatments back-to-back in the same treatment session.
For example, it is common to combine an intense pulse light procedure such as BBL (to decrease redness and brown spots) with a fractionated laser to improve skin texture (fine lines and pores). The BBL would be administered first and the fractionated laser immediately after.
By doing the two treatments together you save time, so it is common for clinics to provide a discounted price for the combination versus two separate appointments.
This is not unlike visiting a salon and having a hair colour and cut in the same visit. While you can go to a colourist and to a stylist separately, combining the treatment leads to optimal results and best value while also saving you time.
There are yet more benefits to stacking treatments.
Combination therapy leads to ‘synergism’ whereby combining two therapeutic approaches in one session leads to a better aesthetic result than undertaking them separately in two visits.
Why? Many aesthetic procedures induce a reaction in the skin and thereby stimulate a wound healing response that leads to skin renewal and rejuvenation. When you double down on that process you facilitate a heightened wound healing response and a higher level of improvement than either treatment by itself could provide.
Stacking more than two treatments can lead to a dynamic and broad-ranging improvement in skin condition.
Consider for example a facial treatment that includes micro-needling followed by topical application of Botox and then surface application of platelet rich plasma.
Micro-needling causes a direct injury to the skin by creating hundreds of tiny pinpoint needle pricks. This injury is minor but enough to initiate a wound healing response that will boost collagen production and improve skin texture. The tiny channels created by the needle pricks offer the opportunity to apply pharmaceutically active topical agents which will be absorbed into the skin.
Topical Botox in this case will lead to a reduction in redness, oiliness and potentially less sweating in the skin.
Lastly, by applying PRP overtop you seal and soothe the skin while maximally boosting the wound healing response. PRP contains growth factors to bolster your immune response leading to amped up collagen, elastin and fibrin production. PRP also speeds healing reducing recovery by up to 2 days.
You can see the direct results from a stacked treatment as described above.
At ArtMed, we offer the R3 Facial Treatment:
Renew, Rejuvenate, Refresh!
Combining micro needling with topical Botox & PRP leads to a variety of improvements in the skin including pore reduction, redness reduction, brown spot reduction and improved texture:
What else can you stack?
Certainly, dermal fillers and botox are a common combination. Broad band light can be added to many other laser procedures and PRP can be added to those combinations to speed healing. Biostimulatory fillers that boost collagen production can be combined with laser for sun damage in a common approach to rejuvenation of the upper arms and decolletage. Body contouring with radiofrequency is combined with shock-wave therapy to maximize fat loss.
Next time you’re thinking about having an aesthetics treatment, consider whether stacking might afford additional benefits. Maybe a 1-2-3 facial treatment like the one described above would be ideal before that special event this summer!
