A male's guide through the plastic surgeon's office

Now, although I love bright shirts (see photo) and Skittles is my favorite color for professional wardrobe, I am a man's man. Ex-cop, Harley rider, gym workout rat, blah; but I am also a former model and spokesperson that may use more "product" than many ladies - it is what it is and it's all good. At 40ish, I look 30ish I'm told, so yay for product. Given that skin care in some form another equates to a billion dollar yearly business, I know I am not alone. 

Recently, I have really been eyeing some reddish discoloration around my baby blues along with some crows feet I have been holding at bay with numerous OTC snake oils and such. I will let you in on a fact that I am a very thrifty sort of guy, so I also love Living Social deals and I recently saw a super deal for photo rejuvenation treatment at off Atlanta Road in Smyrna.

Hmmmm...okay.

Being a highly trained practitioner and teacher of Investigation Techniques, I am a whiz at researching stuff online, so I went at it. I researched the facility at length and liking what I learned, promptly phoned them up. 

Cindy Hamby, the practice administrator, had the kind voice that greeted me and we discussed what I was looking for and all that her office could offer. Now talk about customer service scheduling as I had an appointment for the very next morning.

At 10:30, I walked into a facility that one would normally equate with Buckhead (in my snobbiest tone of voice), yet was located right next to a on the corner of Lee Road at Atlanta Road. 

I may be biased, but when I tell you the staff behind the desk are all of model caliber - it's no joke! The ladies are drop dead gorgeous, but down to earth and super friendly. (They liked my shirt of psychedelic colors so it was love at first meeting for me on that point alone!) I handed over the pre-emailed new patient forms courtesy of Cindy and within a span of five minutes was greeted by Ricky Davis, the managing partner of the facility and also the laser specialist. 

After a brief consult and a problem area once over, it was determined that I would not yet need to go "under the knife" with the skilled hands of Dr. Jeffords. Rather I would benefit from going "under the light" with Ricky. In this case, the light is a new approach to phototherapy called BroadBand Light, or BBL.

In layman's terms, it's a laser that delivers a tremendous amount of directed light energy to your skin in a controlled environment to achieve a desired outcome. Kind of like a sunburn on steroids to fix skin damage caused by, yeah, in some cases, the sun.  (The treatment is a lot more, but that typed out the best here)

Now, since I commented on the ladies up front, I have to say that Ricky also could have been a male model and is built like a NFL wide receiver, but has the gentle hands of an artist in scrubs. He talked me through the process, as he was preparing for treatment concluded that I have Rosacea, which I never knew. He explained that for me in treating Rosacea, heat from the vascular laser causes damaged blood vessels under the skin to collapse and disappear, thus making my fair skin appear more uniform in color without the red spots that I had initially reported with beside my eyes.

As I lay back on an examination table, Ricky administered a topical numbing gel all over my face, then put solid plastic goggles similar to those one would use in a tanning bed on my eyes. In so doing, he explained that there would be brilliant flashes of light and a slight rubber band-like snapping sensation on my skin as he worked the laser over my face. He told me to keep my eyes tightly shut and then began...snap, flash, crackle, flash, pop, flash...you get the idea. There was hardly any pain at all in the procedure; it was exactly as if someone was gently popping you with a rubber band. 

I was done in about thirty minutes from the time we started to checkout time. I have two more sessions, each in a month with long intervals to allow the controlled burning effects of the laser light to heal properly. Having observed and diagnosed my underlying Rosacea as Ricky did, we have prevented what would have turned into much more of a cosmetic problem later down the road. In closing, if any of you, whether male or female, have been contemplating "getting a little work done," whether it isa  simple procedure like mine, or a medically necessary life-changing, body-altering procedure, I encourage you to give this local gem, Paramount Pastic Surgery, a look and see.

Nip and Tuck their link here and look for my (possible) mild dose of Botox installment to a little later!