Alternatives to Microdermabrasion

Find Clinics offering Microdermabrasion in London & UK »

There are alternatives to microdermabrasion available, although they tend to be greater in strength or more painful.  They are often only single treatments, not needing any repeat treatments.  It might be that your practitioner will recommend an alternative treatment, especially if you have larger scars or other problems that will only be slightly altered by microdermabrasion. 

Chemical peels 

These are a popular skin treatment used for eliminating fine lines, scars, acne, and other skin irregularities.  The method involves a combination of chemicals that literally lifts the top layer of skin off, leaving the healthy and smooth skin beneath.  There are many different chemical peels to choose from, all with varying risks or effectiveness.  If you wish to have one it is vital that you have a detailed consultation with someone who is highly trained in skincare, preferably a dermatologist or plastic surgeon.  There are risks involved when having a chemical peel, the most prevalent and worrying being the formation of skin colour changes and the potential for scarring to occur. 

Laser resurfacing

This skin treatment uses lasers to eliminate your dead skin cells and can target specific problem areas being highly accurate.  The lights emitted by the lasers removes the top layer of skin, and can target problems within the lower layers.  You will have to have some form of anaesthetic to have laser skin treatment, be it sedation, general or local as otherwise it is a very painful procedure.  Laser treatments are relatively new, and can be quite expensive, but can be used on any part of the body to a varying degree of intensity.  Side-effects of laser resurfacing can last up to a couple of weeks, with sore skin and swelling sometimes lasting a lot longer than with microdermabrasion.

Microdermabrasion is a gentle treatment, and although it can be used to remove irregularities of the skin, should only really be used in mild cases where such results will be noticeable.  Other skin treatments can target worsened conditions or alternative problems, as well as having a similar effect to microdermabrasion.  It is up to you and your practitioner to decided which is the most suitable for you.  Many people opt to have microdermabrasion because the risk of scarring or other side effects are much smaller than with these alternative treatments, however the results might not be quite as dramatic as you had hoped.    

Microdermabrasion combination treatments

Microdermabrasion can be used in conjunction with other skincare treatments such as chemical peels, although it is imperative that you only have combination treatments within a highly trained professional due to the damage it could do to your skin.  In these circumstances microdermabrasion is likely to be used as a complementary treatment, used to maximise the effect of stronger chemical peels or other rejuvenation methods.  This means that you are likely to have the initial peel or skin treatment, with a follow-up treatment of microdermabrasion a few weeks afterwards to help reinvigorate the skin and promote better healing. 

If you are wishing to have microdermabrasion in conjunction with other treatments it is important that you get good skincare advice from your practitioner.  The microdermabrasion in these cases is likely to only be a help for your skin’s recovery rather than a treatment in it’s own right. 

---

« Clinics offering Microdermabrasion