Category: General Dermatology

Cyst removal performed by Dr. Ricardo Mejia on a patient. The procedure is done without shaving the hair or damaging any hair follicles. All hair follicles are preserved and important at Jupiter Dermatology & Hair Restoration.

Is this email not displaying correctly? View in Your Browser Dear Patient: Providing quality care and meeting the needs of our patients is very important to our office. We want to be certain that we are providing you with first class care along with special and personal attention. To accomplish this, we need your input. Your concerns and suggestions are important to us. In order to continue our high quality of care and to better serve you, we are asking you to take a few minutes to complete our patient survey. We encourage you to be open and honest in your assessment. Your responses are confidential. We strive to deliver high quality care and make your experience in our practice the very best. We welcome your feedback to achieve this goal. Sincerely, Jupiter Dermatology & Hair Restoration Jupiter Dermatology & Hair Restoration, 2101 U.S. Highway 1, Jupiter, FL 33477 [Unsubscribe]

We had another fun year supporting Blue Water Babes Fish For A Cure event to promote breast cancer awareness and raise funds for various organizations related to Breast Cancer.  Different teams create fun themes around saving breasts, promoting checkups and getting your mammograms done at the Captains Party on Friday.

Our theme was “Save Second Base”. Our whole staff was dressed in red and white baseball outfits. We didn’t win a prize, but we had lots of fun. The second day of the event was the actual fishing. We were very lucky to catch seven fish even though Ely, our medical assistant got a little sea sick.

Black Tip Fishing joined us and did this amazing recap video during the fishing tournament.

Here are some pictures of the event. You can see all of them at our Sunblock Challenge Facebook page which is the non-profit Dr. Mejia created to promote skin cancer awareness.

Here is the recap video from Jennifer McGrath, founder of Blue Water Babes.

There are many different mosquito repellents on the market claiming to get rid of the pesky insects. In this WPBF25 news report, Gary Good whose job is to get rid of mosquitos says that the best product to do the job is one containing deet.

However, Dr. Mejia who was interviewed in the video, says that large quanities of deet can cause neurological problems if taken in high doses. WPBF25 News found that one product contained 98.25% deet, where Dr. Mejia states that you generally only need 10-30%. It has a higher risk of systemic absorption and can potentially cause concern if used too much on  your kids. So be careful in what product you use to prevent insect bites.

Note: You can see Dr. Mejia speaking in the video at  at 1 minutes, 55 seconds.

Stretch Marks (Striae) form on areas of the skin that undergo continuous or rapid stretch and tension, and most commonly occur on the abdomen, buttocks, thighs, and breasts. Both males and females experience stretch marks, commonly during rapid growth periods (puberty), weight gain, pregnancy, and even from body building. Stretch marks occur when skin distension affects the connective tissue framework of the skin and damages collagen and elastin. Stretch marks may appear as thin flattened pink skin, red and raised, or as white depressed bands on the skin.

Many people become concerned with the appearance of their stretch marks and want to know the options available for treating them. While many treatments are available to improve the appearance of striae, it has been very difficult to completely get rid of them. Expectant mothers may use intense moisturizers such as cocoa or shea butter, and other over the counter products to help prevent striae from forming. Patients should avoid rapid weight gain or building of body mass in a short period of time, as skin cannot compensate for such quick changes. Topical retinoids and antioxidants have been shown to improve the appearance of stretch marks. These products are available through your provider at Jupiter Dermatology.

Our office provides three laser and light treatments that may further improve the appearance of stretch marks. ND YAG is a vascular laser which helps lessen the appearance of stretch marks by targeting the dilated blood vessels within stretch marks that are red and raised. We typically recommend 3-6 laser treatments for optimal results. CO2  Fractional lasers are used for laser resurfacing in stretch marks that have been present for a longer time. During this procedure, the CO2 laser targets pinpoint areas of the skin in a grid-like pattern, allowing healthy surrounding skin to contract and tighten skin as well as inducing collagen production. More than one treatment may be needed for this procedure. IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) is a non-laser treatment that helps to induce the production of collagen and elastin, thereby improving the appearance of stretch marks over time. Your provider can evaluate which treatments would be most beneficial, and review any side effects or expected downtime associated with each of these treatments.

Many of our patients have heard of Dysport or Botox (abobutulinum toxin A and onobotulinum toxin A, respectively) but are not clear on the difference between the two cosmetic products. Both of these FDA approved products are composed of an isolated protein used to relax the muscles of the forehead, glabella, and crows feet. The difference between these two products chemically is minimal, making their use and the results of their use almost identical. In our practice we say “Comparing these two is like comparing Coke and Pepsi”- ie. two great sodas, each with their own brand recognition but in the same category of soft drinks.

The duration of treatment when using botulinum proteins are very similar as well. Typically, Botox and Dysport last approximately 3 months. In some patients we see the product may last slightly longer or slightly shorter, due to our body’s metabolism of the product. Just as one may prefer Coke over Pepsi, many of our patients who have tried both products feel that they like the results of one product over the other. Continue reading “Dysport or Botox: What’s the Difference and Which Lasts Longer?” →