Alison is 53 years old mum of two who works for a weight loss clinic in Carlisle. Alison has a love of the outdoors, playing golf, keeping fit and eating healthily. Alison started her treatment with Dr Rippon after Alison was concerned about her skin quality, as a result of environmental damage due to the sun and also as a natural side effect of ageing.

The sun is particularly bad for the skin which is why wrinkles including eye wrinkles and hand wrinkles are more common. Alison would come into clinic to see Dr Rippon for Botulinum Toxin (wrinkle reduction injectables) approx 3 times a year and Dr Rippon had prescribed her Obagi Nu-Derm skin treatment to promote skin rejuvenation. 

This treatment helped to reduce the hyper pigmentation and, tightened up Alison's loose skin, creating a stronger, smoother skin surface. At the beginning of this year Alison started noticing loss of volume in her face, particularly around her cheeks, she described her mid face as sunken and gaunt. 

After consultation with Dr Rippon,  Alison expressed she was looking for a fresher more youthful appearance. As we get older, the skin loses moisture, tension, and elasticity. Previous clear contours of the face disappear with collagen loss which gives rise to loss of volume. Collagen is the main structural protein of our skin and makes our skin appear firm and smooth. However, during the ageing process, our collagen production slows so that our skin gets thinner and loses volume and elasticity. 

The consequences for Alison were that wrinkles were developing, and her facial features were beginning to sag. Alison wanted a slight lifting of her whole face. Dr Rippon recommended a PDO Cog Face Lift to help lift the sagging to Alison's Mid Face. PDO Cogs are used in facial rejuvenation, the micro-filaments and resulting collagen create a supporting "tissue corset". The collagen corset produces tissue tightening and wrinkle smoothing whilst restoring youthful contours. It works by stimulating the body's own collagen. Dr Rippon also recommended Platelet-Rich Plasma Therapy (PRP) to combine with the PDO Cog treatment. 

PRP is the concentration of your own body's platelets in a small amount of plasma. This self-derived product possesses immense capabilities in terms of tissue regeneration. A small sample of blood is taken from your arm, exactly like having a routine blood test at your doctor's. The blood is centrifuged, and ten minutes later the PRP has been separated from the whole blood and is ready for use. By combining the PDO threads and the PRP it will help stimulate the formation of collagen and tissue regeneration. 

To replace lost volume and reduce the appearance of wrinkles Dr Rippon planned to use Dermal fillers. The hyaluronic acid volumisers in dermal filler mimic the effects of naturally occurring collagen by plumping up gaunt areas on cheeks and helps sculpt a more youthful contours. 

After this treatment Dr Rippon plans to use thermo-coagulation to remove the thread veins on Alison's face. Thermo-coagulation is based on a high frequency wave producing a thermal lesion with protection of the skin. The Veinwave method will be an effective way of removing Alison's thread veins during a relatively painless procedure. Minor surgical procedures are also carried out by Dr Rippon. Alison was concerned about a wart she had on her back that clothes irritated so Dr Rippon planned to remove this using a scraping technique called curettage. Curettage is a technique of scraping. After curettage, the raw area will be correctly dressed. There are no stitches because this treatment is designed to allow healing with minimal scarring.

Alison's journey was captured on film and has been made into six short videos for you to watch.  For more information on Rippon Medical Services and our treatments please contact 01228 791447.