19Oct 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 3 Comments

Sun Facts 3: Sunscreen

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Sun Damage, Uncategorized

So we all know that we should be using sunscreen on a daily basis by now, right? But which sunscreen are you using, and are you using it correctly? This is a bit more complex than it seems, and although choosing a higher factor will offer you more protection from the sun there are a few things you need to know when selecting your sunscreen and when applying it too. What does SPF mean? Okay, so you know SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor, and that the higher the SPF the more protection. But it might interest you to know what SPF actually means: Essentially when a manufacturer makes a sunscreen they gather 20 people with fair or sun-sensitive skin. They then expose them to UVB and carefully time how…

09Oct 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za No Comments

Fillers: what can go wrong?

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Uncategorized

We can’t quite believe that we haven’t blogged on this subject yet! For those of you considering having a filler but who are nervous as to what the side effects are read on! We cannot stress enough how wonderful fillers truly are. These quick, easy and relatively painless injections are truly a miracle treatment and in the right hands can take years off your face in only a few minutes and for a very reasonable price. However there are some negative effects that can come from these procedures, and unlike with Botox, some of them can be permanently disfiguring! What are these horrifying side effects you ask? Some doctors may fear putting you off the procedure by informing you of what can go wrong, however we believe that having an…

05Oct 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 3 Comments

What does a Dermapen® treatment feel like?

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Uncategorized

I’ve had the Dermapen 3 device for about a year now, and have been happily torturing people with it and then watching their skins improve amazingly almost daily. I’ve been dishing out advice on how long you will be red for after a treatment and what products may tingle in the first 24 hours and what kind of results to expect with confidence. I’ve been telling people “it’s uncomfortable, but not PAINFUL”, and saying things like “Okay, I’m going to do your nose now, it might feel a bit ugly!” regularly, but I actually haven’t felt the effects of the Dermapen for myself, and this all started to feel a touch sadistic and a little bit fraudulent. SO if you want to hear what a Dermapen treatment is like from…

25Sep 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 1 Comment

Size Matters. What size bra are you wearing?

Aesthetic Medicine, Uncategorized

I come from a family of women with boobs. All of us have boobs, some too big, none too small but all with issues of their own. We have a long line of breast-cancer survivors on my mother’s side, with my mom herself having had cancer in her early 40’s, and on my father’s side we have a Plastic Surgeon. Needless to say, we talk about boobs a lot in my family. It was interesting to me then to find that my dad has taken on a new crusade that he thinks is more important for boobs than surgery is. This is a man who has come into contact with a lot of boobs in his lifetime (more professionally than socially), and who alters more than a few pairs a…

11Sep 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 4 Comments

My laser experience

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Sun Damage, Uncategorized

Growing up in Cape Town, a city that has fantastic summers with white beaches at your fingertips and a huge outdoor culture I have loved the sun for as long as I can remember. Having a father who is a Plastic Surgeon I probably had more education about what the sun can do to your skin and how dangerous it can be than most, but that didn’t stop me from spending entire days in the swimming pool with little sunscreen on, and in my teenage years experimenting with baby- and olive oil as tanning agents! When I now think of how many sunburns I have had that have resulted in blistering and peeling it literally makes me shudder. The first time I noticed that I was developing freckles from my…

09Sep 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 7 Comments

Do you need an antioxidant?

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Sun Damage, Uncategorized

It seems to us that every time we turn a corner there’s a new skincare product that we MUST use, or a new treatment we MUST have. This is all well and good, but there comes a point where one simply doesn’t have enough energy, time, or even enough space on your face to fit all these things in! After cleansing, exfoliating, toning, moisturizing (using a serum, a lotion AND a cream), SPF, and then finally applying makeup and finishing it all off with some mist is there really room for another potion in your regimen? Unfortunately, if you aren’t using an antioxidant the short answer is YES. There is. Don’t panic just yet, you may find that many of the products you are already using actually contain antioxidants, so…

01Sep 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za No Comments

Pregnancy lips. Is that a thing?

Aesthetic Medicine, Pregnancy, Uncategorized

If you have any social media at all you have probably seen Kim Kardashian’s latest #pregnancylips selfies. She claims that her pregnancies (she did this during her last pregnancy too) caused her lips to swell to epic proportions, much like her sister Kylie’s...except that to my knowledge Kylie has never been pregnant. As a doctor I was naturally suspicious when I saw these pictures. During my years of obstetric training this was never a subject that came up in teaching, and was certainly never one brought to my attention by my patients. With Kim’s history of admittedly (and obviously) using Botox and fillers my first thought was whether she had had fillers injected and was passing this off as a symptom of her pregnancy. If you’ve read any of our…

25Aug 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za No Comments

When good treatments go bad…

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Uncategorized

Have you ever looked at someone, be it a celebrity or a friend or the woman behind you in the queue at Woolworths, and wondered “HOW did her face get that way?” “Surely she can see how ridiculous she looks?” “Which doctor did that to her?” “Why hasn’t her family/friends/husband told her to stop?” While the entire medical aesthetic industry gets a bad reputation from these cases, you can rest assured that 90% of these treatments DO NOT end up looking overdone – but how does this happen? Here is our opinion: Patient factors: One thing that anybody in this industry will agree with is that it is amazing how quickly people forget how they look. It is incredibly common for a patient to undergo a treatment, only to come…

17Aug 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 1 Comment

The Pregnant Pause

Aesthetic Medicine, Pregnancy, Sun Damage, Uncategorized

Falling pregnant, and carrying a new life inside you is possibly the greatest miracle your body will ever experience, and with it comes the greatest responsibility. Pregnancy is a minefield of Do’s and Don’ts that changes everything you thought you knew about your body and how you need to treat it. Not only does it require awareness of what you are putting into your body in the form of food and medication, but you should also be extra aware of what you are putting onto your body, and whether it could affect your baby in any way. We’ve put together a short list of things you may need to push “pause” on during your pregnancy. The obvious first point we need to address is whether aesthetic procedures are safe in…

06Aug 2015 by andy@andygilder.co.za 2 Comments

FYI: What smoking does to your skin

Aesthetic Medicine, anti-aging, Uncategorized

Look, we know you know you need to stop smoking. We know you know it’s bad for your lungs and for your heart and for your sex life and for your teeth. We know you need a vice, and smoking may be a lesser evil than other vices. We know you will quit when YOU want to quit, not because of anything we say, but because you’re ready to. We pretty much know everything there is to know about you and your smoking, but did you know what smoking does to your skin? Even if you did, have another read. And even if you’re not a smoker, here is why you shouldn’t enable your smoker friends by standing in the smoking areas with them – second hand smoke is equally…