Bio-remodelling
Injecting a substance that prompts the skin to rebuild itself, rather than filling a space under it. The shape of your face does not change. The quality of the skin does.
Comes up in: Profhilo, polynucleotides
Plain English
Aesthetic Treatment Glossary
22 words that come up on this site, explained without the jargon they are usually buried in. If a word on a treatment page did not make sense, it is here.
Treatment information from
Dr Sultan Hussein, MRCS, member of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
B
Bipolar radiofrequency
Radiofrequency energy passed between two points rather than one, so the heat stays in a known area between them. It is what lets the temperature under the skin be controlled during a procedure.
Botulinum toxin
A protein that stops a muscle contracting for a few months. Used on lines that appear when you move, and on the glands that cause heavy sweating.
Comes up in: anti-wrinkle injections, hyperhidrosis treatment
C
Cannula
A fine tube with a blunt end, used instead of a needle. It pushes tissue aside rather than cutting through it, which is why one entry point can treat a wide area.
Comes up in: dermal fillers, Sculptra, FaceTite
Collagen
The protein that gives skin its structure and firmness. You make less of it as you age. Several treatments here work by prompting you to make more, which is why their results arrive over months rather than days.
Comes up in: Sculptra, hyperdilute Radiesse, Morpheus8, CO2 laser resurfacing
Compression garment
A firm elastic garment worn after body contouring. It controls swelling and helps the skin settle against the shape underneath. Wearing it is part of the treatment, not an optional extra.
Comes up in: non-surgical tummy tightening, non-surgical arm lift
D
Downtime
The time before you are comfortable being seen. It is not the same as healing time, which is usually longer, and it is the number most people actually want.
Comes up in: CO2 laser resurfacing, Morpheus8, FaceTite
E
Elasticity
How well skin springs back after it is stretched. It decides whether tightening will work. Skin with elasticity left responds to it. Skin without much needs surgery instead, and a good doctor will tell you which you have.
Comes up in: FaceTite, non-surgical tummy tightening, non-surgical arm lift
Excision
Cutting something out and closing the wound with stitches. The oldest and most certain way of removing a lesion, and the one that leaves a scar.
Comes up in: mole removal, earlobe repair, scar revision
H
Hyaluronic acid
A sugar your body already makes, which holds water. Most dermal fillers are made of it. It is broken down and absorbed over months, and it can be dissolved deliberately if something needs reversing.
Comes up in: dermal fillers, lip filler, tear trough filler, Profhilo
Hyperhidrosis
Sweating far beyond what the body needs to cool itself. A medical condition rather than a cosmetic complaint, and it is treated as one.
Comes up in: hyperhidrosis treatment
K
Keloid
A scar that keeps growing past the edge of the original wound. It can itch and it can be sore. Keloids come back, so they are managed over months rather than removed once.
Comes up in: keloid scar treatment, scar revision
L
Laxity
Looseness. Skin laxity is skin that has lost tension and no longer sits tight against what is underneath it.
Comes up in: FaceTite, non-surgical tummy tightening, non-surgical arm lift
Liposuction
Removing fat through a fine tube. On its own it takes fat away and leaves the skin as it was. Combined with tightening, the skin is dealt with as well.
Comes up in: non-surgical tummy tightening, non-surgical arm lift, FaceTite
Local anaesthetic
Medication that numbs one part of the body while you stay fully awake. No general anaesthetic, no hospital stay, and you go home the same day.
Comes up in: FaceTite, earlobe repair, mole removal
M
Microneedling
Making controlled tiny punctures in the skin so it repairs itself and lays down new collagen. On its own it works on the surface. With radiofrequency added it reaches deeper.
Comes up in: Morpheus8, lip filler
N
Numbing cream
Anaesthetic applied to the surface of the skin and left for thirty to forty five minutes before treatment. It takes the edge off an injection without a needle being used to numb you first.
Comes up in: dermal fillers, Profhilo, Morpheus8
P
Platelet-rich plasma
Your own blood, drawn and spun so the plasma separates out, then injected back. Nothing synthetic is added. It needs a course before there is anything to judge.
Comes up in: PRP treatment
Polynucleotides
Fragments of DNA, injected to prompt the skin to repair itself. Often used where skin is too thin for filler, particularly under the eye.
Comes up in: polynucleotides, tear trough filler
R
Radiofrequency
Energy that heats tissue from within. Heat makes collagen contract straight away and prompts new collagen over the months that follow, which is why these results keep improving.
Comes up in: FaceTite, Morpheus8, non-surgical tummy tightening
S
Suture
A stitch. Fine sutures close a wound so it heals in a clean line. They usually come out in the clinic after five to seven days.
Comes up in: earlobe repair, mole removal, scar revision
T
Tear trough
The hollow that runs from the inner corner of the eye down across the top of the cheek. The least forgiving area on the face to treat, and the one where doing too little is always better than doing too much.
Comes up in: tear trough filler, polynucleotides
Your first visit
Three steps
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Consultation, £150
He assesses you and writes a plan. Book it even if you are undecided.
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Your price
Guide fees are published. The exact fee comes after he has seen you.
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Treatment
About an hour, awake, under local anaesthetic.
8 Hollywood Road
Chelsea, London
- +44 7503 126644
- Telephone
- 07456 935887
- info@drsultan.co.uk