Since retiring two years ago from a long career dedicated to helping others as a social worker, Anne Lawlor has discovered a renewed sense of self-confidence, perseverance and appreciation for the beauty of life.
“I just take on anything now,” she says, while taking a break from a woodworking project she’s undertaken on her property on the north shore of Lake Erie. “It’s confidence that’s been built over the years,” she says, and that confidence urges her to dive into various restoration projects that have helped convert a modest cottage into a beautiful home over the past three decades.
But the confidence she had always carried began to waver near the end of her working career, and she credits Dr. Harold Hynscht and his assistant, Marcy Kendrick, of the RiNu MediSpa and Vein Clinic in Simcoe Ontario with helping her regain her sense of self. Looking back to the time before retirement, she recalls some of the younger people who’d been hired to work alongside her treating her differently.
“I realized they weren’t taking me seriously anymore,” she says, “and I figured out it was an age thing.”
Over time she’d developed what she describes as deep marionette lines along the edges of her mouth and other signs of aging began to show on her face. Perhaps it was coincidental that her own perception of self began to change as she sensed the perceptions of others do the same, but after she had one Hyaluronic Acid Facial Filler Injection procedure with Dr. Hynscht she noticed a difference.
“I don’t think I did the fillers because I wasn’t being taken seriously at work. I did it for me,” Anne says, “but the side effect I noticed was people would say ‘you look really different, what have you done?”
“I don’t think I did the fillers because I wasn’t being taken seriously at work. I did it for me,” Anne says, “but the side effect I noticed was people would say ‘you look really different, what have you done?’
“There was a whole different attitude from the younger women and men at work, who, I guess, were looking at me like I was a dinosaur. It was so interesting because their behaviours were so incredibly noticeable.”
After that initial treatment, younger colleagues began to seek her advice again, which hadn’t happened in recent times and had slowly impacted her sense of self-worth. She had begun to question her abilities and the important role she played in the lives of clients, but when those same colleagues reconnected with her after that initial treatment she realized it wasn’t her perceptions that were skewed, it was theirs.
Anne originally had that first facial filler injection to treat the deep facial effects of her marionette lines but in doing so, she inadvertently addressed some of the deeper emotional self-confidence issues inside that had developed subtly over time. She decided then to commit to the personal transformation she’d sparked.
There was the Intense Light Pulse IPL treatment that followed around 2010, which eliminated the brown pigment in her skin known as age spots, giving her a more even, constant complexion. Her sense of renewal grew.
The following year she continued with three spaced out hyaluronic acid facial filler injections, which helped rejuvenate the natural volume in her face that she had lost with aging while also helping to tone her skin.
“My daughter was with me and she said she could see the small lines disappear”
“My daughter was with me and she said she could see the small lines disappear,” Anne recalls. Any doubt about her self-worth began to disappear as well.
Anne says the filler treatments tend to last about two years for her so after the success she first saw, it was more about “maintenance,” and she would visit Marcy and Dr. Hynscht to ensure she kept the natural look for her age she had attained.
In terms of innovation, Anne has been excited to be at the forefront of new techniques to enhance natural beauty. She tried laser genesis treatment when it was first introduced at RiNu, which helped boost her skin’s natural elasticity and eliminate craping.
“It’s a great treatment,” says Marcy. “It’s a constant, steady pulsing of laser going into the skin, heating up tissue causing a beneficial and therapeutic thermal injury underneath the skin. In turn, the injury from the laser triggers the tissue under the skin to repair and heal itself that results in a collagen elastin boost in the skin. The result can be amazing because to the beneficial toning and tightening of the skin.”
Anne admits it sounds counterintuitive what the laser does but she couldn’t be happier with the results. She recently looked at photos of herself from 10 years ago, “and I haven’t aged a day,” she says.
Anne admits it sounds counterintuitive what the laser does but she couldn’t be happier with the results. She recently looked at photos of herself from 10 years ago, “and I haven’t aged a day,” she says.
“I’m in a really good spot.”
The last treatment she had was a series of three platelet rich plasma (PRP) therapy sessions. Her blood is drawn and placed in a machine that spins it high-speed, increasing the platelet concentration significantly. The concentrated blood is then re-injected into her face with a special injector system that provides multiple tiny, precision-controlled injections.
“Honestly, it’s amazing and it doesn’t hurt at all. What happens is your skin seems to regenerate – I can’t explain it, it’s just unbelievable.”
“Honestly, it’s amazing and it doesn’t hurt at all,” Anne says. “What happens is your skin seems to regenerate – I can’t explain it, it’s just unbelievable.”
She’s committed now to one PRP treatment a year she says. Again, now it’s all about maintenance, both in terms of treatments and the healthy lifestyle she’s embraced.
She’s decided to pursue life on her terms. Her career asked so much of her, for example, mentally and emotionally, so two years ago she answered the call to retirement. She’s since traveled with her daughter, tackled those many projects around her property and found a new circle of friends with whom she shares her passion for life.
Sometimes, she visits the RiNu MediSpa for a rejuvenation treatment, and other times she simply stops in to say hello to Marcy when she’s in town. Her life, in many ways, is greatly enhanced thanks to her relationship with RiNu, and her gratitude rings through in her laughter as she talks about the personal transformation that’s happened over the past five or six years.
“You’ve got to be doing this for you. If you’re doing it for somebody else you shouldn’t do it.”
“You’ve got to be doing this for you,” she says, of the commitment she’s made. “If you’re doing it for somebody else you shouldn’t do it.” If your mindset is pure, however, great things are possible, and Anne is a testament to this. “If you’re open to the universe,” she says, “it just comes to you.
A lot of it is about a mindset and what you send out there you’ll get back tenfold.” She feels beautiful once again, both on the inside and of course, on the outside.
