Cascadia MediSpa Offers 'Health Care for the Skin'

Skin is often described as the largest organ in the body. It also the most visible organ, and when it shows signs of aging, becomes damaged or shows excessive hair, it's there for everyone to see. These days an ever greater number of people are unsatisfied with the course of nature and choose to try products or treatments that conceal skin flaws. To help ensure that those procedures and products are medically sound, Froedtert & The Medical College of Wisconsin opened the new Cascadia MediSpa, across Watertown Plank Road from the Medical College, in 2004.

Cascadia MediSpa is described as "more than just a spa service"; instead, it's a facility that "delivers true health care for the skin." It does offer the rejuvenation and beautifying treatments typically offered at resort health spas - rejuvenation and resurfacing of the skin, body wraps, cosmetic therapies, facials and specialty makeup. But unlike typical beauty and health spas, the MediSpa is a "medical-grade spa with physicians on staff," says Kimberly Spitz, RN, BSN, and a certified plastic surgical nurse specialist who is also manager of Cascadia.

"We are a division of the Medical College's Department of Plastic Surgery, and their offices are in the same building," she says. The facility is overseen by David L. Larson, MD, FACS, Medical College Professor and Chairman of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Cascadia MediSpa, and five other board-certified plastic surgeons who are available for medical consults. The medical staff also includes two nurses and three medical assistants.

The MediSpa grew out of an established facility, the Mayfair Esthetics Clinic. In addition to Spitz, the MediSpa staff includes two licensed clinical estheticians, who offer a menu of noninvasive skin procedures. These include:

• BOTOX cosmetic therapy to relax and soften facial creases
• Soft tissue enhancement using collagen, Restylane and other fillers approved by the Food and Drug Administration
• Laser hair reduction on all areas of the face and body
• Vein therapy to treat undesirable blood vessels and lesions on the face and body
• A variety of peels to resurface and rejuvenate face, hands and body
• Spa treatments including facials, back treatments and full body wraps
• "Permanent cosmetics" - tattooing to enhance natural features such as brows, eyelids and lips
• Physician-strength skin care products and five lines of specialty cosmetic products
• Makeup application and instruction

"Our focus is on patient education," says Spitz. "We want everyone who comes in here to understand what certain procedures and products can and cannot do." If a client requests it, the MediSpa will schedule a complementary skin care analysis with one of the estheticians and with Spitz. "We address their concerns, discuss their goals and present options. At the first visit, we analyze the patient's skin type and discuss treatment possibilities and an individualized skin care regimen. We take before and after photos, and follow up with every patient."

Lunchtime Treatments
A typical client, she says, "is a woman in her mid- to late-40s who wants to look more youthful without having surgery - and she doesn't have time for lengthy procedures."

For such women, the MediSpa offers brief procedures like the 30-minute Mini Facial or the "lunch hour peel." One of several lunchtime resurfacing and rejuvenation peels is the BioMedic MicroPeel, a three-step acid peel and dermaplaning designed to remove the dead-skin cell layer and improve the skin's tone and texture. For people with a little more time, other acid peels are available, including the Trichloroacetic Acid Peel (TCA). It's described as a "client-specific procedure capable of providing a light-to-deep peel to help reduce wrinkles and even texture and color in all skin types." Unlike the lunch-hour peel, where the skin remains reddened for 30 to 60 minutes afterward, the TCA peel leaves the skin red for up to one week.

Although most patrons of the MediSpa are women, some of the services are sought by men. "They often inquire about laser hair removal for their backs," Spitz says. For this procedure, the MediSpa uses a Lumenis 800 nm Diode laser. After a series of treatments, hair growth removal is permanent.

The MediSpa offers both laser therapy and sclerotherapy for clients with spider veins, rosacea and other benign blood vessels or lesions of the face and legs primarily. Laser uses light therapy; sclerotherapy is done through an injection.

Facials and Other Spa Services
The spa services offered at the MediSpa includes a variety of facials lasting from 30 to 75 minutes.

The signature Cascadia Facial is 75 minutes of deep cleansing, exfoliation with steam therapy and a customized mask, followed by a light massage of the upper body. During this procedure, feet and hands are enclosed in heated mitts to lock in moisture during treatment. Another 75-minute procedure is the Paraffin Facial, designed for dry, dehydrated skin. It combines upper body massage with a paraffin treatment.

A 60-minute procedure is the SkinCeuticals Firming Facial, designed to leave the skin feeling and looking healthier and the complexion firmer. Two 45-minute facials are the Salt Glo, where sea salts are used to exfoliate dead cells and buff the skin to a smooth finish, enhancing the skin's ability absorb nutrients from treatments to follow; and Steam and Extractions, which uses deep cleansing and steam therapy to exfoliate and soften the skin, followed by extractions of blackheads and blemishes. The treatment is finished with a light massage and moisturizer.

Besides facials, two other spa treatments are Bronze A-Piel and Back Treatment. Bonze A-Piel is a 90-minute procedure that starts with a head-to-toe exfoliation, followed by an application of self-tanner (for health reasons, the MediSpa does not offer UV tanning treatments). Back Treatment is a 45-minute deep cleansing and enzyme therapy under steam. Afterward, the back is covered with a pore-refining mask and finished off with a personalized moisturizer.

For additional information, visit the web page of the CascadiaMediSpa or call 414-805-6014.

Barbara Abel
HealthLink Contributing Writer

MCW Health News presents up-to-date information on patient care and medical research by the physicians of the Medical College of Wisconsin.