Spa Canada Magazine
Paramedical Micro-pigmentation
Paramedical Micro-pigmentation
by Kelsey Wood
Micro-pigmentation (mī-krō- pĭg'mən-tā'shən):
Also known as permanent make-up or cosmetic tattooing, is a procedure that uses sterilized disposable needles to apply pigment into the epidermal and/or dermal layer of the skin. The pigments are made of mineral, iron oxide base colorants. Topical anesthetics are applied to the area prior to the procedure to provide comfort for the client. Micro-pigmentation is used either as a cosmetic enhancement for eyebrows, eyes and lips, or as a corrective procedure for uneven skin pigmentation.
Paramedical Micro-pigmentation
Micro-pigmentation has been used for cosmetic purposes since the early 20th century as an alternative to daily makeup for brows, eyes and lips. Recently micro-pigmentation techniques and uses have expanded to the field of paramedical esthetics. LONG-TIME-LINER®, a semi-permanent makeup centre at the Fairmont Medical Building in Vancouver British Columbia, offers Conture® Makeup services for this type of medical micro-pigmentation. With the collaboration of doctors, dermatologists, plastic surgeons and ophthalmologists, micro-pigmentation can be used in conjunction with medical procedures. Medical micro-pigmentation can be used to camouflage skin discolouration such as hypopigmentation (lack of colour) from vitiligo and hyperpigmentation (excess colour) from scars.
Medical micro-pigmentation can be used to reconstruct areola or improve the color of the nipple after breast reconstructive surgery. Restructuring of the eyebrows and eyelashes can be done to aid people with Alopecia.
Women who wish to wear makeup but cannot apply it easily because they have allergic reactions, vision deficits or poor manual dexterity may also find Conture® makeup very useful.
Medical micro-pigmentation is the metaphorical “icing on the cake” for people that have had injuries, operations, accidents and skin disorders. The finishing touch of the medical procedure is done with medical micro-pigmentation. The goal of medical micro-pigmentation is to create an esthetically natural and beautiful look to the treated area. This helps people achieve a renewed state of emotional well being after a life-changing condition.
Conture® Makeup for Medical Micro-pigmentation
Many irregularities or defects of the skin, eyebrows, eye lines and lips can be perfected by LONG-TIME-LINER® Conture® Makeup for medical micro- pigmentation. Of these irregularities, skin disorders, discolorations and injuries cause the most frequent need for these kinds of treatments.
The medical micro-pigmentation procedure is well received and supported by doctors, plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists and dermatologists. The technicians that perform these services, Linergists®, are certified by LONG-TIME-LINER® for medical pigmentation. To become a professional Linergist® for medical pigmentation, the Linergist® must first complete the License I course for cosmetic pigmentation and work in cosmetic pigmentation for at least 6 months and perform services on at least 50 clients.
Before receiving any kind of medical micro-pigmentation it is important to consult a physician to ensure that micro pigmentation is right for you.
Conture ®-Liner Duo: the device for medical micro-pigmentation
At LONG-TIME-LINER® the procedure is conducted by a trained and experienced Linergist® that uses micr-o- pigmentation dyes and a micro-pigmentation device that are approved according to the European Medical Devices Directive 93/42/EEC and the German Medical Devices Act (MPG). The handheld pigmentation device is governed by the controller box. Through this, the Linergist® can select between one of four settings, each pre-programmed for a typical use. The Linergist® can also adjust the settings manually for a perfect level of control.
The four settings are:
1. Reconvalescence
2. Camouflage pigmentation
3. Eyelash and eye line augmentation
4. Fine hair formation and eyebrow hair replacement
After choosing one of these settings, the Linergist® can then adjust the length of projection of the needle and also its speed (and therefore its stroke-rate between 55 and 70 strokes a second) so that they conform to the pigmentation requirements of the client to be treated during that session. This enables the achievement of optimal results. The settings can, however, also be selected without the need for further adjustment, and they do in fact lie in the region of what experience has shown LONG-TIME-LINER® to be the most commonly required settings.
Since the LONG-TIME-LINER® handheld pigmentation device is driven by a stroke magnet rather than by a conventional motor, it works completely silently. This enables the Linergist® to concentrate better on the important task at hand and leads to a more relaxing experience for the client.
LONG-TIME-LINER's® Conture®- Liner Duo is manufactured in-house at the company's own production facilities in Germany. The company's operations in the area of medical technology are certified according to the international quality management standards of the International Standards Organization directive 13485:2003, meaning that they consistently meet regulatory requirements applicable to quality control standards and related services.
Conture ® 2000 Colours: the dyes for medical micro-pigmentation
LONG-TIME-LINER® has experience since the late eighties in the production of micro-pigmentation makeup colours. The pigments’ ingredients are created to conform to European Economic Community(Community (EEC) standards, with heavy metal and organic impurities much below legal requirements.
Inorganic pigments are used for every shade, except for the red lip colors, because there is no bright red or pink inorganic non-poisonous pigment available. The only organic pigment used is D&C red no.30, an indigo colour.
All ion oxides used are food grade certified. Ion oxides have earthy colours and come in black, red or yellow in their pure form. In micro-pigmentation colours they are blended and mixed with titanium dioxide to create a color spectrum from dark black, dark brown, red to ochre. Skin tones are achieved by adding more titanium dioxide. Titanium dioxide can absorb ultraviolet light, helping to protect oxide pigments from fading. Ion oxide and titanium dioxides are safe for micro-pigmentation and rarely cause allergic reactions. The investigations by the inspection authority TÜV have been executed by means of REM/EDX Analysis and Gas chromatography and have certified and registered the Conture® 2000 Colors in conformity with the European Union Council Directive 93/42/EEC for Medical Products.
Indications for Medical micro-pigmentation
Vitiligo
Description: a chronic disorder that causes de-pigmentation in patches of skin. It occurs when the melanocytes, the cells responsible for skin pigmentation, die or are unable to function.
Causes: The precise cause of vitiligo is complex and not yet fully understood. There is some evidence suggesting it is caused by a combination of autoimmune, genetic, and environmental factors. It is also common in people with thyroid disorders.
Conture® Makeup Solution: Clients must receive approval for camouflage pigmentation of this area from a dermatologist. Most of the time, the Conture® Makeup should not be done unless the vitiligo has been static for 7 years. Once a dermatological certificate is presented, the Linergist® will use skin tone camouflaging pigmentation to cover the de-pigmented areas.
Scars
Description: Atrophic scars are depressed scars that form a valley or hole in the skin. Elevated scars that subside with time are called Hypertrophic scars.
Causes: Scars are the result of an injury to the skin that causes an exaggerated healing response that interferes with proper wound healing. These scars can arise after a variety of injuries, burns, operations, injections, accidents or skin diseases such as acne.
Conture® Makeup Solution: It is important to treat the different types of scars uniquely. For Hypertrophic scars, the Linergist® must wait until the scar is no longer swollen. The colour of the scar can be blended in as the same colour as the surrounding tissue, however the skin tissue will not physically change, it will only appear smooth. The reaction of the altered tissue is different from that of normal tissue. The scar tissue may cause the pigments to fade because the skin in that area cannot always absorb them. In this case, the camouflage procedure must be done more than once.
Alopecia areata
Description: Alopecia areata is a hair-loss condition which usually affects the scalp. It can, however, sometimes affect other areas of the body. Hair loss tends to be rather rapid and often involves one side of the head more than the other. Alopecia areata affects both males and females.
Causes: Alopecia areata is most likely caused by an abnormality in the immune system. The immune system attacks the hair follicles and disrupts normal hair formation. Biopsies of affected skin show immune cells inside of the hair follicles where they are not normally present. What causes this is unknown. Alopecia areata is sometimes associated with other autoimmune conditions such as allergic disorders, thyroid disease, vitiligo, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and ulcerative colitis.
Conture® Makeup Solution: The Linergist® will use restructuring fine pigmentation to recreate the appearance of eyebrows with precise hair-like pigmentation. The Linergist® can also create a fine line to support the eye line and then follow with eyelash thickening to create the look of eyelashes.
Chemotherapy
Description: Hair loss does not occur with all Chemotherapy, it depends on the drugs and doses during treatment. Chemotherapy induced hair loss may be sudden or slow, may include all of the hair or just some of it and often the hair comes out in clumps rather than small pieces. It is common for hair loss to include hair that grows anywhere including eyelashes and eyebrows.
Causes: Chemotherapy involves injecting chemicals that destroy cells. The idea is that the cancerous cells are weaker and will be eradicated. The problem is that healthy, normal cells get killed too. Hair follicles are vulnerable cells that tend to die off during treatment, although they do grow back after chemotherapy ends.
Conture® Makeup Solution: Hair loss is one of the most distressing side effects of chemotherapy treatments. Recreation of the eyebrows and eyelashes can be performed by the Linergist® using restructuring fine pigmentation.
Trichotillomania
Description: Trichotillomania is an impulse-control disorder characterized by individuals who repetitively pull out their own hair. Most common areas that hair-pulling occurs is on the scalp, eyelashes, and eyebrows.
Causes: Scientific research regarding trichotillomania suggests causes are only theoretical. Psychoanalytic theories suggest that the behaviour is a way of dealing with unconscious conflicts or childhood trauma. Biological theories find a genetic basis; people with trichotillomania often have a first-degree relative with an obsessive-compulsive spectrum disorder. Behavioural theories assume that symptoms are learned independently, that hair-pulling may begin as a response to stress and then develop into a habit.
Conture® Makeup Solution: Trichotillomania is a mental issue and must be treated as such. Conture® Makeup can greatly improve the overall physical appearance of a client with trichotillomania by creating natural looking eyebrows and eyelashes through restructuring fine pigmentation. This will aid in providing a renewed self confidence in the client.
Cleft Lip and Palate
Description: Cleft lip and palate are variations of a type of clefting congenital deformity. A cleft is a fissure, gap or opening left as a non-fusion of the body’s natural structures that form before birth.
Causes: Cleft lip and palate are caused by abnormal facial development during gestation.
Conture® Makeup Solution: Most individuals born with cleft lip and/or palate will have surgery to close the cleft lip and correct the palate; this leaves a malformed lip with a scar. The scar becomes less visible with age but can be colour corrected with Conture® Makeup for camouflage pigmentation. The lips can be balanced through the convalescence pigmentation. The Linergist® will first contour and then shade the lips and apply camouflage pigments to the surrounding parts to create balanced and detailed lips.
Areola Discoloration
Description: Discoloration of the nipple or areola of the breast.
Causes: This may occur due to a surgical operation of the breast area or breast feeding. Typically, breast reconstruction is performed following a mastectomy (i.e. the breast has been removed because of breast cancer), but occasionally techniques of breast reconstruction are used to treat women who have an abnormal development of one or both breasts. Breast reconstruction is a field of plastic surgery in which the goal of surgery is to provide the patient with two balanced and symmetrical breasts, the final step of the procedure is to graph an areola and nipple. The colouration of the areola is not always blended naturally or balanced.
Conture® Makeup Solution: Linergists® can effectively reduce the appearance of surgery scars as well as colour correct the areola using camouflage and restructuring pigmentation.
Other uses for Conture® Makeup
Those who wish to wear makeup but cannot apply it easily include those with:
• Allergies to conventional cosmetics
• Vision deficits such as cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, migraine headaches
• Poor dexterity from arthritis, strokes or Parkinson’s
Contraindications for Medical Pigmentation
Conture® Makeup cannot be used in the case of, or to correct:
• Skin changes such as birth marks or warts
• Varicose veins
• Malignant tumours
• Eczema and skin allergies
• Developing or existing viral infections
• Contagious infections
The future of paramedical micro-pigmentation
Paramedical micro-pigmentation is a unique practice that fills a much needed medical niche. Medical procedures and medical micro-pigmentation work hand in hand. The medical procedure corrects the function of the area and the micro- pigmentation corrects the form. This type of balanced medical and aesthetic relationship promotes an improved self confidence to people that have had a dramatic life-altering condition.
For more information on medical micro-pigmentation please visit LONG-TIME-LINER®’s website at www.longtimeliner.ca. If you have any questions regarding medical micro- pigmentation training or services please contact the LONG-TIME-LINER® staff by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or by phone at 604-261-3322.
