Understanding the Female African American Facial Aesthetic Patient

September 2019 | Volume 18 | Issue 9 | Original Article | 858 | Copyright © September 2019


Andrew Alexis MD MPH,ª Charles Boyd MD,B Valerie Callender MD,c Jeanine Downie MD FAAD,d Sara Sangha PhDE

ªIcahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 

BBOYD, Birmingham, MI

cCallender Dermatology and Cosmetic Center, Glenn Dale, MD

DImage Dermatology PC, Montclair, NJ

EAllergan plc, Irvine, CA

The top 3 barriers for not having tried injectable treatments yet were cost (50%), concerns about safety and side effects (43%), and concerns about starting a treatment that they would need to continually repeat (31%) (Figure 8). Among the 36% who would not consider injectables, the top 3 reasons were concerns about safety and side effects (59%), concerns about injecting a foreign substance into their body (53%), and 35% agreed that they did not think they needed it yet (data not shown).

DISCUSSION

 

 


Facial aging is influenced by both extrinsic and intrinsic factors, but the rate and severity of their impacts can vary based on skin type, race, culture, and ethnicity.3-5,14 The degree to which an individual is bothered by the signs of facial aging is also influenced by their social and cultural ideals of beauty, and measures taken to improve facial aesthetics may also depend on awareness/perception of available treatment options. In this survey of 401 African American women aged 30 to 65, common aesthetic concerns, treatment priorities, and treatment awareness/perception were evaluated.
Attitudes Toward Improving Facial Aesthetics
Participants’ attitudes about facial aesthetics trended with their current skin conditions. Notably, a high proportion considered treatments that would address hyper/hypo-pigmentation (64%), and treatments that could make them look less tired (63%); correspondingly, a majority also reported having uneven skin tone/color (57%) and dark circles (48%) and bags under the eyes (37%). This data was somewhat expected and agreed with other studies citing dyschromia and hyperpigmentation as a predominant reason for seeking dermatologic care among African Americans.15,16 While the greater melanin production of more darkly pigmented skin does afford greater protection from UVR-induced fine lines and wrinkles it also increases an individual’s risk of developing pigmentary disorders such as mottled pigmentation, melasma, and PIH.15-18

Most Bothersome Facial Areas and Treatment Priorities
In general, there was a trend toward more bothersome facial areas correlating with higher relative importance. However, short, thinning lashes, which were bothersome yet judged less