HEALTH & WELLNESS
TURN BACK TIME
WITHOUT SURGERY
Noninvasive Procedures to Restore a Youthful Appearance
begins and continues over a period of
two years, keeping the texture of the skin
smooth and supple. My patients love to
look years younger without surgery with
the “lunch time facelift.”
Thanks to advancements in technology,
you can spot reduce fat without diet and
exercise. Developed by the two Harvard
physicians that invented Fraxel laser hair
removal technology, CoolSculpting® is the
world’s number one non invasive body
sculpting procedure. More than eight
million procedures have been performed
to date, and it’s more popular than ever.
Here’s how it works. You are born
with a finite number of fat cells, and
they do not divide after adolescence.
CoolSculpting applicators attach to fatty
areas with vacuum suction. Proprietary
cooling plates are activated, and after a
few minutes the area goes completely
numb. After 35-45 minutes, depending on
the area treated, the applicator is removed
and the area is massaged for two minutes.
The body naturally processes the fat and
Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald
Medical Director/Creator PureLife Medi-Spa
eliminates the affected cells from the body over the next 16 weeks.
If you can squeeze it, we can freeze it and spot reduce fat for good
without cutting.
Patients typically relax and watch movies during the procedure
and can return to their normal routine afterwards. It requires no
surgery, no anesthesia, no knives, and most importantly, little to
no downtime. CoolSculpting has been FDA-cleared since 2010
and can treat love handles, belly fat, inner and outer thighs, back
fat, bra fat and those stubborn lumps and bumps. We’ve also seen
excellent results for upper arm fat and for male breasts. My “goat
throat” is gone forever. My transformation was impressive, and I
am now a nationwide male neck model.
If you’ve been feeling like it’s time to turn back the clock,
PureLife Medi-Spa has an extensive menu of services to help
restore your youthful appearance. When you look good, you
feel good. Call (727) 595-3400 to schedule your complimentary
consultation. For more information and before and after images,
visit purelifemedispa.com. 9
EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. G. Joseph Fitzgerald, DO, MT (ASCP), owner and
medical director of PureLife Medi-Spa, has been practicing family medicine
for more than 25 years. Dr. Fitzgerald is also a medical technologist, and
was awarded a U.S. patent in 2013 for colon cancer prevention.
MARCH/APRIL 2021 | TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE 95
Spring is here. It’s a season that
reminds me of my youth, the days
when you could eat as much as you
wanted and still looked great with
your shirt off, the days before skin started
to wrinkle, sag and the age spots started to
emerge. Nobody even thought of applying
sunscreen before a full day in the sun. For
most of us, those days are long gone and
we have to work hard to maintain a good
physique with diet and exercise. We have
to protect our skin and find ways to keep
looking and feeling youthful.
Despite how much effort we put into
taking care of ourselves, most of us have
stubborn fat that lingers in the love handles,
saddlebags or under the chin. Others will
find their bodies improving, but their faces
aging more rapidly as they reduce their
BMI (Body Mass Index), a measure of body
fat based on height and weight. I tell my
patients not to worry, there are state-of-theart
aesthetic treatments that can improve
these issues and help them look and feel
better than ever.
The PDO Thread Lift is a procedure that rejuvenates, regenerates
and improves the structure of the face, in a similar way to a surgical
facelift, but without the need for surgery. The PDO Thread Lift uses
specialized threads that are introduced into the skin with a cannula
to lift tissue and muscle and improve skin texture. The threads can
be used all around the face and neck and are extremely versatile.
They can be used to treat vertical and horizontal wrinkles on the
forehead, sagging brows, drooping cheeks, pronounced nasolabial
(nose to mouth) and marionette (corner of mouth to chin) folds,
sagging jawline and neck and folds and wrinkles on the chin. The
threads are made of soluble PDO (polydioxanone), a material
that has been used in medicine for many years, mainly in surgery.
PDO sutures are used to perform cardiothoracic surgery (such as
open-heart surgery in pediatric patients) and are one of the safest
materials that can be implanted in the body.
Research has shown that PDO relaxes muscles and tendons, and
also stimulates the production of new collagen in the skin. It also
stimulates the synthesis of elastin and hyaluronic acid, both of
which are vital for keeping the skin looking plump and youthful.
Improvement is gradual, with the best results seen over the next
few months as the skin builds new collagen. The PDO threads will
give the skin an immediate, natural improvement in appearance.
After about 10-14 days, the process of natural body protein synthesis
B. LIVELY IMAGES
By Dr. Joseph Fitzgerald
PureLife Medi-Spa Wellness & Skincare
12442 Indian Rocks Rd., Largo FL
727.595.3400
PureLifeMediSpa.com
Fitz Tropics Family Care
12464 Indian Rocks Rd., Largo FL
727.596.5446
fitztropicsfamilycare.com
/purelifemedispa.com
/PureLifeMediSpa.com
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