If you have the dime, you can turn back time. Through cosmetic medicine you can laser laugh lines, zap zits, halt unwanted hair and vanquish varicose veins. No surgery required. Be prepared to dish out the dough: cosmetic procedures, which can range in price from several hundred to several thousand dollars, are generally not covered by insurance. But in this age of perfectionists, with baby boomers battling the wages of aging any way they can, looking younger is worth every dollar.

“Nobody today wants to look their age, especially since they are living longer,” says Deborah Dunn, president of the Lancaster School of Cosmetology, 50 Ranck Ave., where there is always a waiting list for the school’s 300-hour cosmetician program (study of aesthetics). According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, all cosmetic procedures are on the rise, with the greatest growth in non-invasive treatments such as Botox (tiny injections into facial muscles), which remains the most requested procedure. Although mostly women seek aesthetic treatments, men are starting to make a dent in the cosmetic clientele base.

“Baby boomers have changed forever the face of aging and that, as much as anything, has driven this industry,” says Dr. Alice Cohen, who relocated her Randali Centre for Aesthetic Medicine to 160 N. Pointe Blvd. a year ago. “They have by far been the highest educated and have had the highest income of any generation before.”

In October, the Randali Centre, in conjunction with an open house celebrating its first year in a new location, will offer a makeover contest. Entrants will be asked to submit a photo and an explanation about how a makeover would impact their lives. “I believe people shouldn’t be embarrassed or let vanity stop them,” Cohen says. “Although we don’t like to believe it sometimes, looks do matter. “You deserve to be good to yourself and to look good.”

Got zits? Just zap ’em. Thanks to the recently-released Zeno, one of the many products riding the cosmetic industry wave, you can push a button to banish blemishes. The Zeno (affectionately known as the “zit zapper” at the Randali Centre) is a hand-held electronic device resembling a small tape recorder. “Zeno is just flying off the shelves here,” says Adrienne Wright, the director of Physicians Day Spa, 2110 Harrisburg Pike, where a starter pack which includes skin treatment solutions sells for $265. “We owe a lot of that to a Philadelphia radio station which did consumer reports on (the Zeno) and gave it a thumbs up.”

Another up-and-coming treatment here is the minimally invasive “face-lift” procedure known as the Contour Threadlift. The procedure utilizes specially-designed sutures that lift muscle tissue. Cohen believes she is one of the first practitioners here to offer the procedure, which she says gives impressive results without the discomfort and expense of surgery.

Cohen also hopes to get training in a non-surgical form of liposuction which relies on tiny injections to dissolve fat and has been widely used in Europe.

While Botox is the trademark in skin rejuvenation, other injection treatments include Restylane, which offers soft tissue augmentation, and sclerotherapy for varicose and spider veins.

As products and procedures flourish in aesthetics, more clinicians like Cohen, who formerly practiced family medicine, are jumping on the bandwagon. “I love beauty and beautiful things, and I have a real passion for this,” she says. “There’s also a creativity to it I like.”

Spas and salons are definitely a growth industry in Lancaster County, where the telephone directory listings of similar enterprises continue to grow. Pampering yourself is big business.  Irean Landis, the owner of Merle Norman Cosmetic Studio and Day Spa, 1038 Lititz Pike, is anticipating an expansion from 2,000 to 3,077 feet of space when she moves her business to Kissel Hill Commons. Her new location will include a multi-purpose room for classes. “We do everything from head to toe, from facials to pedicures,” Landis says.

Kathy McCarty-Ward, an aesthetician who works at the Randali Centre, and is a graduate of the Lancaster School of Cosmetology, not only works in the field, she has also benefited as a client. For McCarty-Ward, taking the cosmetic plunge into the fountain of youth with procedures such as Botox was well worth it. “It’s amazing,” says the smooth-faced 36-year-old.“What I look like now compared to the way I looked then is just incredible.”

Got time on your face? Hair in an unwanted place? Pesky pimples that won’t go away? No problem. Forget about no pain, no gain. Your solution can also be relatively pain-free.

“It used to be if you wanted a change, you had to go with plastic surgery,” Cohen says. “There are so many (non-surgical) options now. What I tell people is that I’m not creating anything new per se, I’m giving you back what nature’s taken away. You can opt, if you want, to look the way you want without an invasive procedure.”

At Physicians Day Spa, Wright believes the services are a bridge between the cosmetic counter and surgery. She offers everything from hair removal to Botox and an assortment of skin treatments. “There are an amazing number of women out there who struggle with facial hair, particularly women over 40,” she says. “This is something they really struggle with, and that they deal with silently. It gnaws at them.”

Laser hair removal can be permanent after several treatments and is much less time-consuming than electrolysis. The procedure also is considered relatively painless. “It sort of feels like a rubber band just barely snapping your skin,” McCarty-Ward says. Laser can also be used for skin tightening, Rosacea and scar treatment as well as for birthmark and mole removal. In addition, laser is used in conjunction with the topical Levulan solution for skin rejuvenation and repair. Levulan is also now being touted as an effective treatment for acne. “Acne is not a glamorous subject,” Cohen says. “But it can alter a life.”

Deniece Leber, the Randali Centre office manager, is being treated there with a combination of laser and Levulan (Photodynamic Therapy) for her Meslasma, a hormonal condition which is often called the mask of pregnancy. “I just absolutely love the difference,” Leber says. “For 10 years I wanted that off.”

“One of the things that excites me so much is that this field has grown so rapidly and there are so many things available and more coming,” Cohen says. “In many cases things that were not available before are now available. This is such a great way to boost self-esteem. You can truly make people happy.”

This article originally written by Susan Jurgelsky and appeared in Lancaster New Era Newspaper