St John Clinic Newsletter March, April, May 2016

Lady St John of Bletso MBChB MRCOG

I’m delighted to let you know that my website has at last been updated to make it “mobile friendly”. You’ll be able to view details of all clinics, current pricing and previous newsletters. I hope to find the time to update the content more frequently from now on! Please see www.stjohnclinic.co.uk for details.

In this newsletter, I’d like to concentrate on sagging or “jowling”. This is such a common complaint amongst my clients that it deserves some explanation as to its aetiology and treatment options. Thread lifts have been much talked about recently. I’ll explain why I remain rather reserved about their efficacy both in the short and long term.

My offer continues to be a heavily discounted second syringe of filler (two syringes for £700). Should you opt for the tear trough treatment at £500, your second syringe of Juvederm voluma (retailing at £395) would be available to you for £200. Alternatively you could take advantage of the opportunity of defining your lips, for example. The choice is yours. I’ve found that by spending a little more, my clients tend to be far happier with the results of their treatment.

Ageing is not just about tissue loss and we must not overlook the importance of skin texture. Now is a good time to optimise your skin’s appearance. A course of Fraxel treatments (ideally four spaced every 4 weeks) will tighten your skin and reduce the appearance of imperfections.

I’m offering a course of four treatments half price. You can choose whether to treat your whole face (effectively at £400 instead of £800 per session) or the part of your face which concerns you (e.g. cheeks would effectively be £200 instead of £400 per session). This treatment is only available in Kingston. Please make an appointment to discuss your particular needs.

Finally I’d like to compare pricing of “Latisse” (lumigan) that we offer for purposes of eyelash lengthening and to show you why we offer you such good value for this product.

Special offer – two syringes of Juvederm for £700 for treatment areas of your choice. Offer ends 31.5.16.

“Jowling” or sagginess of the jaw usually manifests itself due to tissue loss that occurs as a result of the ageing process. When we lose the “building blocks” of the skin (reduced thickness of the deep layer where collagen is made, loss of elasticity of retaining ligaments etc.), loss of fat, the skin has nowhere to go but downwards. This results in the tear trough deformity (under eye shadows), nose to mouth folds, drooping of the mouth corners and loss of definition of the jawline.

I don’t believe the answer is to pick up the skin and to force it upwards (as in the thread lift process). We aesthetic doctors have to address the cause of sagginess and to replace volume in key areas if we are to optimise outcome for our patients.

Thread lifts have become very trendy recently. In good hands and with good patient selection, though expensive, I’ve no doubt they can produce good, if short term results. Problems may occur due to a reaction in the skin of the thread material itself and this complication may not become apparent for months or even years following treatment. I therefore reserve judgement and currently have no plans to offer this procedure at my clinics until longer term results are known.

As we age, we generally lose volume in the mid part of the face and accumulate tissue at the jaw line This effectively elongates the face and is why, when a client complains of sagginess of the jaw I tend to treat them much higher up – usually at cheekbone level.

You’d be surprised at how small quantities of a lifting filler such as Juvederm Voluma in the outer cheek bone area can improve the jawline. And not a pillow cheek in sight! This particular filler represents very good value as the results are apparent for at least a year, possibly two.

Fraxel laser for skin tightening – half price course of four to be completed by end August 2016 *

Any controlled injury to the skin can promote the production of the beneficial effects of collagen production. I like Fraxel laser because of the computerised precision and safety of this injury and because it results in minimal downtime, suiting many of us with our busy working and social lives. A course of fraxel treatments will make your skin look its best. I advise you to be more stringent with your sun protection while you are undergoing treatment so the sooner you start your treatment course the better. Do read more about what fraxel restore can do for your skin on my website or on fraxel.com.

* 1st and 2nd full price, 3rd and 4th free

Latisse ( lumigan)- miracle eyelash lengthening lotion

This anti-glaucoma eye drop was granted FDA approval many years ago for the treatment of inadequate lashes. It really works and I personally use it on a daily basis. I’ve been extolling its virtues for many years now and I am finding clinics are now cropping up with all sorts of encouraging offers for this product.

I’ve always tried to be as competitive as possible. To that end I thought I would compare my prices per ml with another clinic website (named “mylash.com”). This source of latisse is in our view giving misleading information as to how long a 3 ml bottle actually lasts. It is quoted that a 3 ml bottle lasts about 3 months when it was originally intended for safety reasons to be used for one month only. Lumigan has recently been repackaged into 0.4ml vials (presumably with infection control in mind). Here is a comparison of our pricing per ml:

St John clinic – 4ml for £85 (£21 per ml) or 12ml for £170 (£14 per ml)
Mylash – 1 bottle for £105 (£ 35 per ml) 2 bottles for £205 (£34.2 per ml) 4 bottles for £375 (£17 per ml).

Please note that this is a prescription drug and therefore needs a consultation with a doctor before use.

Exactly the same drug is used (Lumigan by Allergan). I do not think that the thickness of the applicator brushes is a significant factor and I can personally use one drop per side per night without difficulty. The brushes I include are the original type supplied with the Latisse product which gained FDA approval in America in 2008.

London clinic times

Please note the following Clinic opening times:

Monday – Fulham (am), Wimbledon (am), Kingston (pm), Richmond (eve)
Tuesday – Fulham (am), Wimbledon (am), Kingston (pm), Richmond (eve)
Wednesday – Richmond (am), Kingston (am), Wimbledon (pm), Fulham (eve)
Thursday – Richmond (am), Kingston (pm), Fulham (pm), Wimbledon (eve)
Friday – Kingston (am), Wimbledon (am), Fulham (pm), Harley St (pm)
Saturday – Occasional Wimbledon Clinics

Forthcoming clinic dates outside London

Bath
Jan 9th/10th, Feb 13th/14th, Mar 12th/13th

Scotland
Glasgow / Edinburgh EH3 : Jan 16th, Feb 6th, Mar 19th, April 23rd,
May 21st, June 11th, July 16th and Aug 20th

Edinburgh EH13 / Aberdeen : Jan 17th, Feb 7th, Mar 20th, April 24th,
May 22nd, June 12th, July 17th and Aug 21st

I look forward to seeing you at one of the St John Clinics soon.

With all best wishes,