Traditional skincare meets the latest laser skincare technologies at Afterglow Skin & Laser Centre.
Drawing on a local background in family medicine and herbal medicine degree, Dr. Shehla Ebrahim merges long-established Western and Eastern approaches to skincare with some of the newest laser skincare technologies available. Dr. Ebrahim is a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and is a member of many professional societies including the BC College of Family Physicians, Canadian Association of Aesthetic Medicine, American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery and the Medical Spa Society.
Dr. Ebrahim has been quoted extensively in the press. To read some of the articles in which she is featured, please click here.
We are conveniently located in
Westview Centre
104-2609 Westview Drive North Vancouver, BC
Hours of Operation:
Monday - Friday 9-6
Saturdays by appointment
To schedule a consultation, please click here to email our office or call us at:
(604) 980-3993
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Botox Restores a Youthful Look
Wrinkling near the eyes and in the forehead is one of the earliest signs of aging. Even relatively young people can develop lines in these areas as a result of stress or excess sun exposure, making them look older than they actually are.
Fortunately, this problem is one of the easiest to correct. Approved by Health Canada for the treatment of lines and wrinkles, Botox can quickly restore a natural, youthful look to the face.
Injection with Botox takes about 15 minutes. Shortly thereafter, Botox begins blocking nerve transmission to specific muscles, putting those muscles to rest for the next few months. That causes wrinkles in the affected muscles to virtually disappear. The full effects of Botox appear within 2 to 10 days after injection and results last from 3 to 4 months.
One of the greatest benefits of Botox is no downtime. Patients can go back to their normal routine immediately.
To read more about Botox, please click here. To view before and after photos, click here. To schedule your appointment, click here. |
 Fractional Repair: The Most Advanced Skin Rejuvenation Yet
The next generation of skin rejuvenation is here! It’s called fractional repair, and it provides faster and better results than ever before.
Fractional technology is itself a vast improvement over earlier approaches. First introduced in 2005, fractional lasers direct energy exclusively to a “fraction” of the area – the damaged sections - while leaving healthy, surrounding skin untouched. These untreated zones help dissipate energy so that treated areas heal faster; they also make it possible to use greater energy on targeted areas, for more significant reduction of wrinkles, uneven skin tone and texture.
In contrast, older, non-fractional lasers deliver energy uniformly to both healthy and unhealthy skin. This results in longer healing times and less dramatic improvements.
The fractional approach has proven so effective, that in 2006, it was awarded Best Product of the Year by Time Magazine.
To learn more about fractional laser skin rejuvenation and view before and after photos of actual patients, please click here. To schedule your appointment, click here. |
Essential Summer Beauty Fix: Light-Based Hair Removal
Since its introduction in 1995, light-based hair removal has come a long way. It’s now one of the most popular medical cosmetic procedures, according to the Canadian Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, with over 200,000 treatments performed last year.
With bikini weather here, it’s not hard to understand why phototherapy has been so well-received. The procedure is fast, easy, and quickly clears large body areas that would otherwise require repeated shaving, painful waxing or messy usage of chemical depilatories.
During treatment, light energy is delivered to the targeted area with an intense pulsed light system (IPL) and absorbed by the pigment in the hair follicles. This absorbed energy creates a short burst of heat, which damages the germative cells that make the hair grow. With repeated damage, these cells lose their ability to form hair and are eventually removed from the body. Because hair tends to re-grow finer and thinner in treated areas, if it grows back at all, Health Canada allows the process to be described as permanent hair reduction.
The procedure lasts anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or more, depending on the size of the area being treated. A series of several treatments is usually required, since the laser only treats hairs that are actively growing but does not address those that are dormant or resting.
Because it’s so fast and effective, many men now prefer light-based hair removal to other methods like waxing and plucking. According to a recent survey from Cargo Magazine of 500 men in North America, 54% remove hair on their back, 45% trim chest hair and more than 70% remove hair around their eyebrows, ears or neck. Of those, one in five said they prefer light-based hair removal.
For more details about hair removal with IPL, and to view before and after photos, please click here. To schedule your appointment, click here. |
Photodynamic Therapy Solves Acne Problems
 More than 17 million men and women in the U.S. suffer from acne; for about a third, acne is severe and leads to embarrassing outbreaks, rashes and scars. Although many products are available to help control acne, few have been clinically shown to effectively reduce acne and prevent it from returning.
Photodynamic therapy (PDT), however, has demonstrated excellent results in eradicating acne. This is because by combining light energy with a special topical photosensitizer, PDT can selectively destroy acne-causing bacteria.
In one clinical study of 72 persons with moderate to severe acne on the face, those receiving PDT experienced a 61% decrease in acne lesions after four PDT treatments at 2-week intervals. Side effects and discomfort were minimal.
The first step in treatment is the topical application of Levulan to the skin. Levulan is a 20% Aminolevulinic Acid (ALA), a substance that is found naturally in the human body. After Levulan is absorbed into the skin, it is converted into a potent photosensitizer, protophorphyrin, that can absorb light energy of certain wavelengths. Because ALA is absorbed into the sebaceous (sweat) glands, it selectively targets them. The skin is then bathed in blue light from the BLU-U system. This activates the protophorphyrin which leads to shrinkage of the sebaceous glands. By shrinking the sebaceous glands, acne-causing bacteria is reduced and acne is improved.
To find out more about PDT treatment for acne, please click here.To view before and after photos, click here. To schedule your appointment, click here. |
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