WAVERLY -- Troubling facial hair? Remove it for good.

Ugly veins keeping you from wearing shorts? Zap 'em.

And shaving? That's history.

There's no excuse for not feeling comfortable in your own skin, said Suzanne Bartlett, a doctor at The Spa at Waverly Health Center.

Since January, the medical spa has helped more than 150 men and women turn back the hands of time. Nonsurgical treatments like Botox and the ever popular laser hair removal address cosmetic concerns associated with aging.

Spa services are delivered by four trained professionals at the same location as the general surgery and women's clinic.

Bartlett's mom, Barbara Parrish, 65, of Cedar Falls has been told her face glows since her two microdermabrasions, a process that removes dead and flaky skin cells and reduces wrinkles, fine lines, acne scars and pigmentation.

"Wow, it is so smooth," said Parrish, brushing her hand over her cheek. She also buys lightweight glotherapeutics skin care and glominerals makeup products sold at The Spa.

"I think the skin is considered the largest organ in the body," she added, "and since I do all these other things for my heart and cholesterol, I thought, well, I might as well treat the skin."

As someone who's never considered an appearance-altering face-lift, Parrish is pleased with the results of noninvasive procedures.

"She looks great," Bartlett said. "She's loving it. It's fun to have people not be able to guess your age."

Consultations precede treatments, which not only enhance beauty but also restore confidence, doctors say.

"I've had people say they don't go to the pool with their kids because their veins or back hair are so bad," Bartlett said.

One woman initially wanted vein therapy from the knee down to wear capri pants.

"So we did a treatment, and she goes, 'I think I can wear Bermuda shorts instead of capris,' " said Amber Koehler, an aesthetician at The Spa. "Then she came in and she goes, 'I'm wearing regular shorts.' She was just a completely different person."

Other patients have been inspired to exercise, lose weight and eat better.

"It can open up so many doors and opportunities," Koehler said. "People just don't want to step out and put themselves out there because somebody's going to notice something."

Procedures are addicting but affordable, Bartlett said. Six full back laser hair removal treatments, for example, cost $2,295. Six sessions for the upper lip: $405.

"For laser hair removal, typically they start with the problem area, whether it be their lip and chin, and once that's done and they see how good the results are, they start moving down the body," Koehler said.

Even injectables like Botox or Juvederm are relatively painless and easy, with no recovery time.

In addition to waxing and laser hair treatments, a Juvederm injection smoothed away deep parenthesis-like smile lines for Karmen Rottinghaus of Waverly. The gel restores the skin's volume.

"We are not freezing faces, per se," Bartlett reassured. "They can go back to work, nobody knows, and yet it's a subtle difference they can definitely see.

"You only live once," she added. "Why not be having fun?"

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484 or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.