Friday, Aug. 08, 2008

Skin Deep

Medical spa smooths lines, wrinkles

By AMANDA ROGERS

News-Mirror Writer

Karen Sticka got into the medical field to help people.

As co-owner of Simply Skin Medical Spa, she helps people feel better about themselves.

"Coming into this business I wondered what my clients would be like," said Sticka, 33, who spent seven years in emergency medicine.

She soon discovered that her original calling was the same one she would need in the medical spa.

"I help people feel good about themselves," she said. "Mostly it’s about how it makes you feel."

Most people notice areas of their bodies that bother them a lot more than their friends, family and co-workers do, Sticka said.

"Even when it’s pretty extreme, that’s not how they see you," she said.

At Simply Skin, Sticka and Dr. Ramano Sprueil smooth lines and wrinkles, remove unwanted hair, do chemical peels and microderm abrasions to remove dead skin from faces, give teen facials, do laser photo facials and treat spider veins.

A lot of her clients have the same complaint.

"They say 'I’m starting to look like my mother,’" Sticka said.

Botox is the most common treatment that Simply Skin performs, Sticka said.

"Botox treats lines and wrinkles of the face caused by excessive movement of muscles in the face," she said. "It’s easiest done before you have a lot of lines or as you start to get them."

Still a lot of people are concerned about Botox, she said.

"We try to educate our clients about what Botox is, the risks, benefits and side effects," Sticka said. "It’s a derivative of botulism, so it’s safe. It’s pure protein. There’s never been a death attributed to Botox used for aesthetic use."

The most common places Botox is used are between the eyes, on the forehead and for crow’s feet on the side of the eyes, she said. A Botox treatment between the brows can range from $240-$300 and lasts three to five months. The more often the client has Botox injections the longer the effect lasts, she said.

Microderm abrasions and chemical peels remove the top layer of dead skin, giving the face a fresh look, much like a facial, but longer lasting. A chemical peel runs about $100, while a microderm abrasion costs $125.

Hair removal can take six to eight treatments to remove 95 percent of the hair. The most common areas are the lip, underarms, legs and bikini line. Each lip treatment costs $100.

Simply Skin also applies injectable fillers, Restylane, that puts the volume back into the face. By the time a person is age 40, 50 percent of the volume in their face is gone, Sticka said. The fillers fill in the laugh lines and lips, she explained.

"My goal is not to sell as much as I can, just to give you what you need," Sticka said.

Sticka, who is from Buffalo, N.Y., has six years of medical training as a physician’s assistant. After finishing Canisius College in Buffalo and LeMoyne College in Syracuse, Sticka worked for two years in orthopedic and trauma surgery in Virginia. She moved to Texas in 2001 and worked in emergency medicine at Presbyterian Hospital for five years, where she met Sprueil.

In 2005, her son, Brandon, was born and she began looking for a job with "normal" hours.

"I stumbled upon a spa in Arlington," Sticka said. "It started out as a spa salon that included medicine. It was different for me to work in a non-medical spa."

A client there, Shelley Gardner, approached her about opening their own medical spa.

"She said 'I love how you make me feel,’" Sticka remembered.

The two decided to become partners, but needed a doctor to work alongside Sticka. A vendor of Sticka’s suggested a doctor she knew, Sprueil, who Sticka had known at Presbyterian Hospital.

The three became partners in Simply Skin. The business, which opened June 11, 2007, has seen 900 clients in its first year.

"We have a very small number of people that money is not an option, but 90 percent are average Mansfield citizens," Sticka said. "With the economy, medical spas are not suffering. It’s a feel-good thing. It’s for people who want to feel good and look good.

"People say Botox is an antidepressant," she said. "It’s because they feel great."