By Dr. Nikolas Block-Wheeler
Introducing Peripause and Menopause
Peripause and menopause can be a very challenging period in a woman’s life, bringing several physical and emotional challenges, including loss of skin collagen, hot flashes, weight gain, brain fog, and mood changes. Although the existence of perimenopause and menopause is predictable, often occurring around 45 to 55 years old, the experience itself comes with a lot of unpredictability.
At The Block-Wheeler Clinic in San Francisco, CA, we want to help women prepare for perimenopause and menopause by providing information about these life stages. In this blog, we’ll focus on how they can change your face and what to do about it.
What is Happening to My Skin During Perimenopause?
During perimenopause, estrogen begins to fluctuate, causing skin to lose its ability to retain ceramides, which are fatty acids that help the skin retain moisture. This can lead to redness, uneven skin tone, and acne. Your skin is becoming thinner, so your body will have a harder time regenerating cells, leading to a longer recovery after getting spots or cuts.
What Should I Do About It?
At The Block-Wheeler Clinic, we offer several treatments to safely rejuvenate your skin and get rid of these spots and redness that show your age. For example, many of our patients in the San Francisco area who are going through perimenopause get laser skin resurfacing or red/brown spot reduction. These treatments target the specific areas of your skin to restore an even, balanced skin tone and help you appear younger. They are versatile and can be customized to address your individual needs, bringing back your confidence in your healthier, revitalized skin.
Moving Into Menopause
During the transition into menopause, estrogen continues to drop, causing skin to lose its tone and elasticity, bringing wrinkles, jowls, and sagging skin. With this loss of elasticity and radiance, skin becomes duller, and the face shows loss of volume and hollowness.
These facial changes are primarily rapid during the initial years of transition, specifically relating to collagen loss. Learning about these effects ahead of time helps women feel more prepared to maintain volume and texture.
What Should I Do About It?
Moving into menopause can lead to lowered confidence in appearance. We aim to help our San Francisco patients restore their outward radiance and age gracefully. If you are struggling with the appearance of your face due to the effects of menopause, including wrinkles, sagging skin, and jowls, you may be interested in some of our treatments that address these concerns.
are a non-surgical way to address the stern, aged, or tired expression that comes with wrinkles. It is a simple, practically painless injectable treatment that requires no downtime. You’ll come away with a more energized appearance and a reduction in features like fine lines and wrinkles
Skincare
As hormonal changes affect moisture levels, skin thickness, and collagen production, the products that worked well in the past may no longer meet your skin’s needs. A personalized skincare regimen can help support hydration, improve texture and tone, and protect the skin from environmental damage. We can recommend products and ingredients based on how your skin is changing during perimenopause and menopause.
Laser skin resurfacing can address several changes that become more noticeable during menopause, including fine lines, uneven texture, pigmentation, and dullness. By creating controlled injury in the skin, laser treatments stimulate the natural healing response and encourage new collagen production. Treatment can be customized based on your skin concerns, desired results, and appropriate level of downtime.
Biostimulators (Sculptra)
Sculptra is a biostimulator that works differently from traditional dermal fillers by gradually encouraging your body to produce more of its own collagen. For women experiencing facial volume loss and changes in skin quality during menopause, Sculptra can help restore support and gradually improve facial contours, creating results that develop naturally over time.
Facial fat transfer can restore volume diminished by age and hormonal changes by using fat collected from another area of your body. After the fat is carefully processed, Dr. Block-Wheeler strategically places it in areas of facial volume loss. Fat transfer can provide natural-looking restoration to areas such as the cheeks and other regions affected by age-related hollowing.
Changes around the eyes can become increasingly noticeable with age, including excess eyelid skin, under-eye bags, and a tired or heavy appearance. Blepharoplasty addresses these concerns by carefully removing or repositioning excess skin and fat around the upper or lower eyelids. The goal is to create a more rested, refreshed appearance while preserving the natural shape and character of your eyes.
For women experiencing more significant facial and neck changes during menopause, a facelift or neck lift can address concerns that non-surgical treatments cannot fully correct. These procedures reposition deeper facial tissues and address loose or sagging skin, jowls, and loss of jawline or neck definition. Dr. Nikolas Block-Wheeler offers several facelift techniques and can recommend an approach tailored to your anatomy, the degree of facial aging, and personal goals.
Why Choose Dr. Block-Wheeler?
Dr. Nikolas Block-Wheeler is a world-class facial plastic surgeon based in San Francisco. He is recognized for his attention to detail and patient-focused approach, which helps his patients feel comfortable and confident throughout their rejuvenation journey. Dr. Block-Wheeler has helped his patients going through perimenopause and menopause find the perfect procedure for their unique experience and works with them to ensure they reach optimal results.
He excels at producing natural-looking, balanced results that seamlessly blend with the rest of the face and set his patients up for natural, graceful aging.
Schedule Your Consultation
If you are going through perimenopause or menopause and want to address your spotty skin, redness, wrinkles, sagging skin, jowling, dryness, or other facial skin concerns, please schedule a consultation at The Block-Wheeler Clinic in San Francisco. Dr. Block-Wheeler will be happy to listen to your concerns and help you determine which treatment is best for your needs and goals.
