Anti-Wrinkle Treatment
Also known as: Botox, Botulinum toxin, Anti-wrinkle injections, Muscle-relaxing injections, Wrinkle relaxers.
A prescription-only medicine, best known by the brand name Botox, injected in very small amounts into the specific facial muscles that crease the skin when you frown, raise your brows or smile. Movement softens rather than stops, the effect builds over about two weeks, and it wears off gradually over three to six months. It is provided only after a face-to-face consultation and a prescription.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Medical Anti-Wrinkle Treatment
Also known as: Therapeutic anti-wrinkle treatment.
The same prescription-only medicine used for a medical rather than a cosmetic reason: jaw clenching and teeth grinding, jaw tension and TMJ pain, hay fever, excessive sweating and some migraine presentations. The target is the overactive muscle or gland causing the symptom, not a line in the skin.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Dynamic and Static Lines
Also known as: Expression lines, Resting lines.
A dynamic line appears only when you move: the crease between the brows when you concentrate, the fan at the outer eye when you smile. A static line stays there when your face is at rest. Dynamic lines respond to anti-wrinkle treatment; static lines usually need the skin itself treated as well.
Dermal Filler
Also known as: Facial filler, HA filler.
A gel, almost always made from hyaluronic acid, placed under the skin to restore volume the face has lost or to add definition it never had. Used in the lips, cheeks, chin, jawline, temples, nose and tear troughs. Hyaluronic acid fillers can be dissolved, which is what makes them a reversible choice.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Hyaluronic Acid
Also known as: HA.
A sugar molecule your body already makes, which holds many times its own weight in water and gives skin its plumpness. It is the base of most dermal fillers and skin boosters, and the ingredient behind the word "hydration" on most product labels.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Hyaluronidase
Also known as: Filler dissolving.
An enzyme that dissolves hyaluronic acid filler. It is used to correct filler that has migrated, lumped or simply stopped suiting you, and it is the emergency treatment if filler ever compromises a blood vessel. Its existence is the main safety argument for choosing a hyaluronic acid filler over a permanent one.
Source: www.jccp.org.uk
Tear Trough
Also known as: Under-eye hollow, Nasojugal groove.
The groove that runs from the inner corner of the eye down along the top of the cheek. When the fat pad above it slips and the skin thins, that groove reads as a shadow, which is why people describe it as looking tired even after a full night of sleep.
Masseter
Also known as: Chewing muscle.
The thick chewing muscle at the angle of the jaw. Grinding and clenching make it stronger and larger over time, which both widens the lower face and causes the jaw ache, headaches and worn teeth that come with bruxism.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Bruxism
Also known as: Teeth grinding, Jaw clenching.
Grinding or clenching your teeth, usually without knowing you are doing it and often while asleep. It wears down enamel, cracks restorations, and leaves the jaw, temples and neck aching in the morning. A mouth guard protects the teeth; it does not stop the muscle contracting.
Source: www.nhs.uk
PDO Thread Lift
Also known as: Thread lift, Non-surgical facelift, PDO threads.
Fine absorbable threads made of polydioxanone, the same material used in surgical sutures, placed under the skin to reposition it and to stimulate collagen along their length. The threads dissolve over about six months; the collagen response is what carries the result beyond that.
Source: www.jccp.org.uk
Mono Threads
Smooth PDO threads placed in a mesh pattern to thicken and firm an area of skin rather than to lift it. They are used where the skin is crepey rather than sagging, such as the upper lip, neck or the area around the mouth.
Bio-Remodelling
Also known as: Profhilo, Skin booster, Injectable moisturiser.
An injectable treatment that spreads through the skin instead of sitting in one place, improving hydration, firmness and glow without adding volume or changing shape. Profhilo is the best known example. It is a skin-quality treatment, not a filler, and the two are often confused.
Source: www.jccp.org.uk
Polynucleotides
Also known as: PN, Polynucleotide injections.
Purified DNA fragments, usually derived from salmon, injected to calm inflammation and support the skin repairing itself. Used for thin, tired under-eye skin, for overall skin quality, and on the scalp alongside hair treatments. Given as a course, typically three sessions.
Exosomes
Tiny vesicles that carry signalling molecules between cells. In aesthetics they are applied to the skin or scalp immediately after microneedling, while the channels are open, to support repair. The evidence base is young compared with hyaluronic acid, and that is said plainly at consultation.
Source: www.jccp.org.uk
Microneedling
Also known as: Collagen induction therapy.
Very fine needles create controlled micro-channels in the skin, which triggers its own repair response and builds collagen over the following weeks. Used for texture, scarring, pore size and overall quality. It is usually a course rather than a single treatment.
Source: dermnetnz.org
Chemical Peel
Also known as: Skin peel.
A clinical-strength acid solution applied to lift away dull, damaged surface layers so fresher skin comes through. Depth is chosen for your skin and your goal: a light peel brightens with little downtime, a moderate peel does more and asks for a few days of recovery.
Source: dermnetnz.org
Prescription Skincare
Also known as: Compounded skincare, Medical-grade skincare.
Topical treatment containing active ingredients at strengths only a prescriber can issue, compounded for one person after a medical assessment. It is not a stronger version of a shop-bought cream: the formula is chosen for your skin, your diagnosis and what you can tolerate.
Source: www.gmc-uk.org
Androgenetic Alopecia
Also known as: Pattern hair loss, Male and female pattern baldness.
The most common form of hair loss in both men and women, driven by an inherited sensitivity of the follicle to androgens. Hair does not fall out all at once: each cycle produces a finer, shorter hair until the follicle stops producing a visible one.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Telogen Effluvium
A temporary shedding in which stress, illness, childbirth, surgery or a crash diet pushes an unusually large share of hairs into their resting phase at once. It shows up two to three months after the trigger and usually recovers, which is why the cause matters more than the shedding.
Source: www.nhs.uk
Hyperpigmentation
Also known as: Pigmentation, Dark spots, Melasma.
Patches of skin that are darker than the skin around them, because the pigment cells have produced more melanin. Sun exposure, inflammation such as acne, hormones and some medicines all drive it. Without daily sun protection any treatment for it is working against the tide.
Source: dermnetnz.org
GMC (General Medical Council)
The statutory regulator for doctors in the UK. It holds the register, sets the standards doctors are held to, and can restrict or remove a doctor from practice. Dr Toro is GMC registered, and you can check any doctor on the public register yourself.
Source: www.gmc-uk.org
CQC (Care Quality Commission)
The independent regulator of health and social care in England. Clinics providing certain regulated medical activities must be registered with the CQC and are inspected against its standards. Most non-surgical aesthetic clinics are not required to register at all, so registration is a meaningful difference rather than a formality.
Source: www.cqc.org.uk