Health

Want To Remove Unwanted Blemishes?

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Written by Tim Barnes-Clay

Guys, you may have noticed a bunch of blemishes, like moles, skin tags and little red dots appearing on your body as you’ve got older?

The red dots on my skin, known as cherry spots (cherry angiomas) are what bug me. I wanted them gone for practical as much as aesthetic reasons. You see, as a bloke who shaves his head, the razor sometimes catches a couple of these little cherry angiomas on my scalp. They bleed like hell, and it’s just a ball-ache when that happens. I’m not gong to lie, either – I want as many blemishes gone from my body as I can, so I figured checking out a local clinic might do the trick.

I researched a bunch of clinics near to me and managed to book a consultation with Emily Louise Beauty & Aesthetics. The owner, Emily-Louise, couldn’t have been more helpful when we met, and she said she’d sort my cherry spots in no time. So I booked a date and returned for the procedure a couple of weeks later.

But what does the treatment involve? Well, there’s no slicing of skin, I can tell you that much. Instead, Emily-Louise uses cryotherapy. Basically, this is where a fine jet of super cold Nitrous Oxide is fired under high pressure onto your blemish with millimetre precision.

The gas is deployed using a device that looks like a pen. In fact, it’s called a Cryopen. The Nitrous Oxide then destroys the tissue by freezing the inter-cellular fluid, forming ice shards and crystals. These rupture the membrane, thereby destroying the cell. That means there is no damage to healthy surrounding tissue.

It is so incredibly accurate and practical. Traditional cryotherapy used in the NHS required patients to re-attend their GP to have dressings applied to the area and the wound monitored. With the Cryopen, it meant I could have the procedure done in just a few minutes and then head straight back to work, with no downtime.

Apparently, my treated cherry spots should completely heal within four to six weeks, and any scabs formed around them will shed after a week to 10 days. Some people may even develop a temporary change in skin colour (pigmentation) or slight scarring in the treated area.

Hair follicles can also be damaged by cryotherapy, but seeing as I shave my head, I’m not particularly bothered by that. Rarely, there is also potential for superficial nerve damage, depending on the location of the treated lesion. This may cause a temporary feeling of numbness or tingling in the area. I seem to have escaped this, though.

So far, I haven’t noticed much change in the cherry angiomas on my head, but I know I need to be patient over the next few weeks to see them fade away. Emily-Louise did give me a few bursts of cold gas on some other spots I had, and some of these, especially one near my lip seem to be changing colour. That one even blistered. That’s normal, though, and your skin is more sensitive on some parts of your body than others.

I’m happy I went ahead and did something about my cherry spots. Most people have moles and blemishes, and I don’t think many of us notice others’ imperfections. But it’s easy to get fixated on things that you regard as unsightly or just irritating when these blemishes are on you and you see them day in day out. So, even though I felt a little weird walking into a beauty treatment clinic full of lovely ladies, pink decor and not any other men, I did it.

I’m glad I went ahead with it all. And guys, I recommend you kick any anxieties about getting your blemishes sorted, too. Visit a place like Emily Louise Beauty & Aesthetics and you won’t go far wrong. In fact, now I’ve seen what else is on offer, I’m keen to go back to get some other skin imperfections sorted out.

And before you say it, I know we can’t be perfect!

But when there are reasonably-priced solutions available to make you feel better, then what’s wrong with a little bit of personal TLC on your dad bod?

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