I take the escalator to the second floor and make my way to Renergy Derm Spa. The place hardly feels like a doctor's clinic. An artistically mounded pile of sand forms the base for a gurgling fountain. Various skin products are meticulously arranged on the shelves. As a member of the female species who has never visited a dermatologist, I felt lost amid the myriad of beauty products. Instead, what catches my eye is the flat-screen TV attached to the wall. On loop play are videos demonstrating the various wonders of modern-day science in the field of skin care. Despite the promise of youth that the science may offer, it's the flat-screen TV that I want to take home. Beneath the TV lies the only clue that I am indeed in a waiting room of sorts (though these are also present in parlors): stacks of beauty magazines.

    Dr. Ma. Carmina Chong welcomes me into her office with a gracious smile. Renergy, she explains, is "a merging of clinic and spa." She continues: "The main difference between a regular spa [and Renergy is that] procedures here are done under medical supervision. It's not only therapists who are in the facility … board-certified doctors-dermatologists certified by the dermatology society." Aside from Chong, these are Drs. Georgina Pastorfide, Lucia Castro-Fores, and Isabel Mangubat.

    The other dermatologists have their own thoughts about Renergy. Says Pastorfide: "We're not just an ordinary dermatologic clinic.… We just decided it would be nice to combine [a clinic and a spa], because it would be more well rounded. If your patient just wants to really relax-doesn't really have any medical problems-then we can offer it. But aside from that, if they need our dermatologic services, then we can offer them as well."

    "This is the first dermatologic spa in the Philippines, which means that your treatments are specifically catered to your type of skin," adds Fores. "It's not a de-kahon process."

    Chong takes me on a quick tour around the clinic. From the outside, you would hardly suspect that Renergy has three massage rooms and four treatment rooms, plus a pantry and a bathroom. As we walk through the corridor accented by a candle on the floor, I mention that everything smells new. Chong smiles and confirms that it is, having only been in operation since the beginning of the year.

    The spa offerings are almost Spartan and the interiors zen-like when compared with those of other spas, but just as relaxing. They offer body scrub with mud, Swedish massage, Shiatsu massage, and combination massage. For people with special skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis, there is the Renergy skin-care massage. Often conscious about their condition, these patients do not go to a regular spa to have a massage, explains Fores.

    She continues: "Why shouldn't patients such as these have the opportunity to also have such procedures that are safe for their skin? We can actually change the medication or the topicals that are being applied during the massage and so forth to suit your skin condition."

    Chong points out that they are, after all, "more of a clinic than a spa," and you will not see any rose petals strewn about the clinic. What they do have are machines that have been documented to work. "It's not all hype. These are machines that have studies and literature proving their effectiveness."

    One of these machines is the Accent, popular for tightening and contouring the body through fat loss. Pastorfide explains that it works using radiofrequency, which heats up the collagen in the dermis, thereby contracting it. This results in tightening and firming of the area. Fat loss occurs as the heat is transmitted to the subcutaneous fat. The best thing about it is its effects last after the procedure is done. The thermal injury to the dermis stimulates the fibroblasts to produce collagen, "so even after you've had your treatment, these fibroblasts should continuously produce collagen which adds to the firming."

    Pastorfide notes that the treatment is popular not only among females, but also among males. Though results are not as dramatic and fast as liposuction's, the Accent does away with confinement, longer recovery time, and pain after surgery. "You just have to tolerate the heat," she says. "That's one of the most popular [treatments] now because especially [in] summer, people want to look good."

    Another popular treatment is the facial that makes use of the Computer-Aided Cosmetology Instrument or CACI. Using microcurrents together with vitamins and nutrients applied onto the skin, CACI helps tone and lift muscles by stimulating them and improving blood circulation. I was urged to try out the procedure.

    "As long as my face isn't pricked," pleaded this facial first-timer. I was reassured that I did not have any acne to be pricked anyway, so I complied. Paz, one of the clinic's nurses, applied vitamin C on my face and neck and proceeded to use different probes to massage these areas. She warned me about a metallic taste I might encounter, and the tiny zaps that I sporadically felt on my skin were more ticklish than painful.

    Although Paz administers facials using the CACI (she was sent to Singapore specifically to train for this), all the other machines are used only by the dermatologists. "We're very hands-on," says Fores, but there is a premium on having a dermatologist handle your body's largest organ that not a lot of people understand.

    "A lot of doctors have lasers in their clinics," says Chong. The difference is, "if you're a board-certified dermatologist, you can handle the complications. You can explain what to do. You know how to minimize the risks." M

 

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