The Genesee Valley Esthetic Center is a 1,250 square foot facility located in the same building as and adjacent to GVLC’s main office. The Esthetic Center consolidates several of our services that are primarily cosmetic.
The Centre’s cosmetic boutique offers GlyDerm and MD Forté® product lines as well as Skin Medica and Jane Iredale products.
Several of our lasers have been moved to the Esthetic Center, and patients relax on our new ultrasoft Ritter tables. With our in-house nursing expertise and resources, patients can compare, sample, and select the products best suited to their need, whether it be rejuvenation, repair, or revitalization. Call our office to make an appointment with Jennifer Arsenault, Esthetician, to learn what our center offers and how we can help you look your best.
Sometimes it happens gradually. Other times it’s sudden. But eventually you may look in the mirror and see a reflection that looks older than you feel.
Turning back the hands of time doesn’t have to be expensive, disruptive, or painful. We offer a range of affordable, in-office skin treatment options and products that can address a variety of concerns. These can include:
 Fine lines and wrinkles
Skin discoloration and blemishes
Frown lines
Forehead lines
Crow’s feet
Horizontal neck lines
Sun damage
Age spots
Acne scars
Smoker’s lines
Today you have more choices than ever for enhancing the appearance of your skin. Some treatments can completed within minutes, and results are seen over several appointments. Others offer dramatic results and may involve anesthesia and post-operative care. We will work closely with you to determine the most appropriate treatments for your individual needs and lifestyle. Here is a brief overview of some of the treatments we offer.
Facial Treatments
Deep Pore Cleansing Facial. Featuring MD Forte products. $60.00
This facial is recommended for extremely oily/acne-prone skin. We start with a thorough cleansing that will eliminate toxins from clogged pores. A rejuvenating mask is used to help problematic skin while exfoliating surface cells to protect agains future breakouts. Length: 50 minutes.
GVLC Signature Facial. Featuring Skin Medica products. $70.00
Relax with our signature facial. This facial begins with an invigorating cleansing, followed by a gentle exfoliant to reveal smooth, glowing skin. A face, neck and shoulder massage will emphasize relaxation. A hydrating masque followed by a rejuvenating moisturizer rich with antioxicants and vitamins complete this treatment. Length: 50 minutes.
Makeup Application. $35.00
Whether it’s everyday makeup or camouflage for post-laser procedures, let our Esthetician show you the proper techniques to leave you looking your best. Length: 30 minutes.
Facial Waxing.
- Eye brow: $16.00
- Sides of face: $15.00
- Lip: $14.00
- Chin: $14.00
Skin Care Consultation. $15.00
This service is complimentary with the purchase of any products.
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Thermage
Thermage is the latest technology in non-invasive cosmetic surgery, allowing an alternative to patients who are looking for wrinkle reduction, skin tightening, and overall skin rejuvenation. Requiring no anesthesia, Thermage uses heat from a radio frequency device to tighten or lift skin. This device can elevate the eyebrows, soften the nasolabial and marionette lines around the mouth, and help tighten the jowls on the neck.
Gly Derm Facial Peel
During a Gly Derm facial, esterified glycolic acis is applied to the face for one to three minutes and rinsed off with cool water. The strength of the application is customized to your skin. You may feel a slight tingling for a few minutes. Your skin will look better and feel softer after just a few treatments. These applications generally continue weekly or bi-weekly for about six to twelve weeks. After that, you may wish to continue with freshening peels once every month.
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Microdermabrasion
Using the Mega Peel machine, this is a non-invasive, chemical-free procedure that gives the skin a softer, more even texture. It uses a fine mist of crystals in combination with vacuum suction to remove the dead outer layer of skin. The procedure is pain free. Requiring less than a half hour, patients can return to work immediately. It is ideal for treating a variey of concerns including sun-damaged skin, age spots, fine lines, wrinkles, and enlarged pores. For patients with sensitive skin, it is a good alternative to glycolic acid facials. The complete program is usually a series of treatments, depending on your needs.
Collagen Replacement Therapy
This treatment smooths facial lines that are caused by sun damage and the effects of aging. The treatments supplement the natural collagen under the skin by placing collagen implants into the skin. A maintenance schedule of treatments is intended to provide an immediate, visible difference to the appearance of your skin and its contours.
Botox (Botulinum) Injections
Botulinum injections are used to decrease lines caused by facial expressions, including frown lines, forehead lines, crow’s feet, and glabella lines. Botulinum is carefully injected into facial muscles to relax those that cause these lines. Dramatic improvement can be seen from several hours to one week following the injections, with results typically lasting three to six months.
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Leg Vein Treatment
GVLC's success in treating varicose and spider veins depends on a systematic approach to identify their location and treat them using sclerotherapy, laser therapy, or ambulatory phlebectomy. At the inital consultation, each patient undergoes a complete medical history and physical, followed by a close examination of the affected area. A venous Doppler test is then performed, which enables the physician to listen to blood flow and determine the location of the leaky valves. Photographs are taken to document your progress. The physician then prescribe a course of treatment that is best suited for the patient's case.
Varicose veins are abnormally swollen or stretched veins that protrude from the surface of the skin, usually on the legs. They bulge due to poor blood drainage caused by the vein's defective valve or a weakening in the vein wall. Up to 80% of all varicose veins are accompanied by some form of spider veins.
Spider veins, or broken capillaries, are medically referred to as telangiectases. They are dilated capillary veins, less than two millimeters in diameter, just below the surface of the skin on the leg or face. Spider veins are blue, red or purplish in color with a web-like or linear appearance.
Sclerotherapy
Sclerotherapy, or injection therapy, can successfully treat 90% of all spider veins safely, effectively, and painlessly with excellent cosmetic results.
The procedure is simple. A mild chemical solution is injected into the affected vein, causing the walls of the vein to become irritated and collapse. The vein is then absorbed by the body as a natural healing process. The blood from the closed vein is rerouted to a healthy vein, thus restoring proper circulation.
Following the injections, special bandages are placed on the injected sites and should remain in place for several hours. Compressing the vein helps insure it stays closed. Over the next two to three weeks, the affected veins begin to heal and disappear.
Vein Laser Therapy
Laser therapy is used primarily in the treatment of the smallest telangiectases, commonly called spider veins or broken capillaries.
The Pulsed Tunable Dye Laser or Sclerolaser emits a very specific wavelength of high energy pulsed light which goes through the skin without damaging it. The light is absorbed by the red blood cells in the capillary, which causes the blood to heat up and coagulate along the walls of the blood vessel, disappearing from sight within a few weeks.
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Hair Removal
Today's advanced solutions to hair removal deliver longer-lasting results than older, traditional hair removal treatments such as shaving and waxing. Because the laser treats more than one hair at a time, it is possible treat larger areas such as the back, shoulders, arms, legs and face. Laser treatments leave your skin looking and feeling smoother and silkier. They are a safe, fast, gentle and effective alternate method for hair removal.
The number of treatments you may require for optimal long-term benefits depends on the area you wish to have treated, the hair density, and your hair's growth cycle. Age, ethnicity, weight, hormones, diet, medication, and metabolism all play a part in your hair's location, thickness and resilience. The laser treats the hair in the growth cycle only. Since all hair follicles are not in the same growth cycle at the same time, multiple treatments are required to deliver optimal results. Treatment results will vary from patient to patient depending on skin and hair color.
Removing hair does not make it grow back thicker, darker or quicker. The opposite is usually the case. The laser may cause the hair to come back slower and thinner.
For more information on laser hair removal, please go to the GentleLASE® Alexandrite Laser System.
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Tattoo Removal
Having second thoughts about your tattoo? Many people from all walks of life decide that what once seemed like a good idea no longer fits their image. Using our advanced laser system, we can safely remove your tattoo without leaving a scar.
Medical lasers use an intense beam of light to significantly lighten or completely remove your tattoo. When the ink particles of the tattoo absorb the light from the laser, they are broken up into tiny fragments. These fragments are then absorbed through your body's natural cleansing mechanism. This cleansing process generally takes a few weeks. Larger ink particles may require multiple treatments.
The Q-switched ruby laser provides the best results available for tattoo removal. Amateur tattoos usually contain less ink than professional tattoos and therefore respond more quickly to the treatment. Red and yellow tattoo inks are often more difficult to remove than the darker inks such as black, blue, and green.
As for side effects, your skin's natural pigment, melanin, also absorbs the laser's energy, so in darker skinned people the area treated by the laser may become lighter than the surrounding skin for a period of months. Melanin repopulates this area, restoring the skin to its original color. The tattoo ink, however, is permanently removed.
In general, scarring by the ruby laser is not a significant risk. Because the laser beam is absorbed only by the tattoo ink and not by normal skin structures, the surrounding skin is not affected by the treatment.
The treatment itself, some patients say, feels like a slight sting, like the snap of a rubber band on the skin, followed by the feeling of sunburn. Many treatments do not require anesthetics. However, some patients feel more comfortable with a local numbing agent like ice or an anesthetic cream. For others, a local anesthetic injection may be beneficial.
Immediately after laser exposure, the treated area turns white and may swell slightly. This whiteness usually fades in about twenty minutes. Over the next several days, blisters may form and then a scab or thin crust may follow. Often the scab is the same color as the tattoo. The scab falls off, usually in 5-7 days. The skin usually returns to normal in about 7 to 10 days.
The number of treatments required depends on your tattoo's size, location, depth and color. Amateur tattoos usually require 6 to 8 treatments while professional tattoos usually require six or more treatments. Treatments should be spaced eight weeks apart to allow your body's natural immune system to remove the maximum amount of ink particles between sessions. Your tattoo will continue to fade in-between treatments as more ink is removed by your body. However, some tattoos may only lighten.
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Age Spot Treatment
Pigmented lesions such as age spots occur when skin cells are stimulated to produce higher-than-usual amounts of melanin, the normal skin pigment. Exposure to ultraviolet light, such as from the sun, can stimulate melanin production, resulting in lesions such as solar lentigines. Other lesions are visible at birth or shortly afterward and are a result of body chemistry.
The Q-switched ruby laser provides the best results available for removal of pigmented lesions. It emits short pulses of intense red light which pass harmlessly through normal skin to the pigment. The pigment selectively absorbs the laser light, which causes it to fragment into minute particles easily removed by your body's immune system. Any remaining pigment will require additional treatments. Normal skin is not harmed by the treatment, and only excess pigment is removed.
How well your lesion responds depends on several factors. Superficial lesions such as freckles and age spots tend to respond more quickly as compared to deeper, more complex lesions such as nevus of Ota. Depending on the size and location of the pigmented lesions, a typical session runs from five to thirty minutes.
The treatment itself, some patients say, feels like a slight sting, like the snap of a rubber band on the skin, followed by the feeling of sunburn. Many treatments do not require anesthetics. However, some patients feel more comfortable with a local numbing agent like ice or an anesthetic cream. For others, a local anesthetic injection may be beneficial.
Immediately after laser exposure, the treated area turns white. This whiteness usually fades in twenty minutes. Over the next several days, blisters may form and then a scab or thin crust may follow. The scab falls off after several days. The skin usually returns to normal in about 7 to 10 days. Treatments should be scheduled eight weeks apart to allow for healing.
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