Beauty injections - what is possible and what is not possible during and after pregnancy

Photo: Hamid Kootval

Being a mother of small children meant having a minimal amount of time to take care of yourself. Even in the dentist’s office, having learned that I had little boys at home, the doctor sighed: three minutes, only those who have no idea about children can brush their teeth. But I’ve long since become proficient in these matters: I put on makeup as a show for the baby, I made a show with a fountain out of brushing my teeth, I had creams placed throughout the apartment so that I could intercept them at any time. We play ice with Melky - we wipe our face with a cube. Let's go to the beach - here's a scrub. And everything would have been fine if not for a strange new feeling! All this was uninteresting, to say the least. As if the heavy cup of worries simply outweighed the light ephemeral one called “mother’s beauty.” I haven’t been to cosmetics stores for a long time, I wasn’t interested in new products, as if the beauty world could no longer surprise me. I went through the same stage with Melky - somewhere around the turn of seven months, experiencing complete apathy in relation to ways of caring for myself. The exhausted, sleep-deprived look did not go away with the help of even the most beautiful creams. But in the end he disappeared with the help of a cosmetologist. Having written a post about this, I received a huge number of questions about what can be done right now, that is, without waiting until the entire pregnancy-childbirth-breastfeeding cycle has passed. It was with them that I came to an interview with cosmetologist Dr. Alexander Dobrin. But before that I made a verdict to myself...

I was 34 years old, already had two children behind me. The baby doesn't let me sleep and he eats me. The little one also doesn’t let me sleep, he also eats, but in a different sense. There are no wrinkles, although my eldest son once wondered where I got some stupid stripes on my forehead. He said: “Well, mom, ugh, take them away.” The complexion is normal, Miami. No acne either. The pores are noticeable, but better than they were at 20 years old. There are no hollows under the eyes. I am a client not to change my appearance, but to support it, I decided. Here is my honest photo. Light of the day. Photoshop no. Two weeks ago, I did mesotherapy in my cheeks and for a day scared everyone with pimples. At this point I decided not to look for more good from good.

The interview with Alexander was planned and rescheduled many times, but one day I ran from home to the meeting. The doctor worked in Miami only a few days a month, then went to New York, where he practiced in his clinic. We knew each other for about two years, during which I saw his work on all my friends and acquaintances. More precisely not so. I didn’t see her, I just knew that she was there. This is exactly what I thought modern cosmetology should look like. Namely, to maintain maximum naturalness and know when to stop.

i — Alexander, tell me, do pregnant and lactating girls often come to you?

— The stereotype that absolutely everything is contraindicated for pregnant and lactating girls, fortunately, is becoming a thing of the past. This opinion certainly has some basis, since most drugs can affect the development of the fetus and pass into breast milk. But the procedures are all different. There are those that are prohibited, and they are the majority, but there are others that are absolutely harmless. More and more of my clients are interested in new opportunities and do not wait for the end of pregnancy or lactation. There are several procedures that are allowed to be done. One of them is mesotherapy of a certain type. The other, most common and effective is PRP (Platelet-Rich Plasma).

i — What effect do they help to achieve?

— The PRP procedure occurs as follows: blood is taken from the patient and passed through a special centrifuge, which separates the plasma from the red cells. The gros factor is released from the plasma - this is a substance that is responsible for regeneration in our body. It can be injected into any part of the body, but it is mainly injected into the face, neck and décolleté. You can inject into the stomach or thighs if you have stretch marks or cellulite. Active tissue regeneration occurs in the areas where PRP is introduced. But here many clinics mislead patients. There is a real PRP procedure, which was invented 15 years ago and is used in orthopedics and sports medicine when joints suffer from mechanical damage. About five years ago, a doctor in Manhattan tried injecting PRP into damaged skin. And after some time, when the patient returned for dressing, it turned out that the wound had completely healed. Thus, we learned that PRP acts not only in the joint area, but anywhere in the body. At the same time, PRP began to be actively used in cosmetology. Today there are other simplified versions of this procedure. But this is not real PRP, but its derivatives. I would not recommend doing them, because there will be practically no result. Real professional hospital equipment is very expensive in itself, even the personal set that is used for the patient is expensive. Due to this, the PRP procedure itself is not cheap. Its cost varies from 1000 to 3000 dollars. There are five companies that offer PRP derivatives, calling them Tru PRP, Equipe PRP, Vampire Face Lifting, Mesolifting. These companies take the simplest centrifuge and an ordinary beaker for measuring blood. Due to very small investments, the procedure is cheap. This has led to confusion among many customers who think that the same thing is offered at completely different prices.

i: If a girl decides on PRP, how many times does she need to do the procedure?

— One procedure is done every four years. The person in the areas where PRP was injected does not age for four years. This has been proven by scientists from the Harvest company, which produces hospital equipment. Today, they practice introducing PRP into the scalp to restore hair growth - girls especially often turn to this after childbirth, when active hair loss begins, hair splits or becomes thin. Many people ask to inject PRP into stretch marks, scars and cellulite.

i - Is it possible to remove blue eyes by using PRP?

- This is not 100% guaranteed, but in my practice this has often happened.

—i — Do deep wrinkles go away?

- They are improving, becoming much softer. Due to the production of collagen, a supportive cushion appears inside, which partially smooths out wrinkles. The skin itself becomes different - its color changes, it becomes more elastic, and the walls of blood vessels are strengthened.

i — That is, issues that can be resolved with the help of fillers cannot be resolved by PRP and it is better to postpone them for later?

— In anti-aging medicine, we divide all procedures into two types. We call the first ones immediate beauty - this is when there is an immediate effect. We did the filler and we immediately see the result. But such a procedure is purely cosmetic and gives an effect only for a certain time. The second type is treatment. These include PRP. This is when your body rejuvenates at the histological level.

i - What is the recovery period after PRP?

- About two hours. Exactly the same as after the introduction of instant beauty products.

— i - Is it possible to do immediate beauty procedures immediately after delivery?

- Can. Instant beauty products work very well in combination with PRP. But drugs such as Botox, for example, are strictly prohibited for pregnant and lactating women; moreover, in the States, administering Botox to pregnant and lactating women is prohibited by law.

- i - If a girl does not decide on PRP injections in the abdomen and hips, then what other means are there for these zones?

- Basically it is mesotherapy. Mesotherapy is always a lot of shots. But now it is possible to inject drugs with the help of the Terma Pin typewriter - the procedure with it is less painful, without losing its effectiveness. Mesotherapy is selected depending on the skin type, depending on the problem - these are the so-called vitamin and hyaluronic acid cocktails.

- i - Does it make sense for girls to rub creams into problem areas, or is their minimal effectiveness?

- Minimal. There are several layers of skin. And there is a protective layer that does not allow foreign substances into the body. Moisturizing the skin occurs on the most superficial layers, but they cannot penetrate deeply and lead to noticeable changes.

- - What is the probability of complications after such procedures as PRP or mesotherapy?

- They almost never happen.

- i - What advice would you give pregnant girls on lifestyle, personal care, nutrition?

- I am telling everyone that it is much easier to prevent the development of stretch marks and cellulite than to treat them later. Two components that I recommend to rub into the skin of the abdomen and massage - coconut oil and shea butter. Do it when the development of the fetus occurs and the belly grows. In 90 percent cases, stretch marks can be prevented. The skin is torn in the upper layers, and it is in these cases that the cream can be effective.

- i - I noticed that in America Botox and fillers are often offered at the offices of dentists, therapists, dermatologists and other doctors. Do they have the right to conduct these procedures?

- In the medical hierarchy, ideally, the doctor should be Board Certified in your field. I am a Board Certified doctor in anti-aging medicine. In America, there is A4M (American Academy Anti-Aging Medicine). To become Board Certidied A4M you need to study for three years, pass two serious exams, be a practicing doctor for at least 5 years, and three doctors who are members of this association for at least three years must vouch for it. Today, many doctors are doing cosmetic procedures to increase their income, while not being specialists in this field. They simply take an 8-hour course and give injections. It is better to go to specialists of a narrower profile who know their business in order to avoid rework later. These doctors can be amazing therapists, but they don’t know and do not know how to correctly administer cosmetology products.

Our interview ended with my inspection. I was breastfeeding, and was one of those to whom “nothing is impossible.” By that moment, I had already done mesotherapy (having christened it approximately like this - I will pause more useful things in case I don’t have time to rub it in). After that, I received a blessing from the doctor to do nothing more, and to take a tired look with compresses from tea bags. But we decided to return to the conversation again and continue it on the topic: what should those who have given birth do not breastfeed, and finally everything can!