The New Year often signifies a “reset button” for improving our health and wellness after the decadence of the holiday season. This year, let part of your wellness resolutions involve taking better care of your skin! Here are a few tips to help you with the healthiest skin yet:
Wellness and Our Skin. Skin health can be divided into preventative and restorative procedures. A good sunblock is the foundation of preventative skin health. As opposed to sunscreens, sunblocks contain ingredients such a titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which physically block both UVB (responsible for burning the skin) and UVA (the main culprit in skin aging and wrinkles) rays. Sunblock should be used every day, even during cloudy days and in the winter.
Restorative wellness procedures include treatments such as skin resurfacing, which removes sun-damaged skin and stimulates growth of fresh, healthy, new tissue, reducing wrinkling and discoloration. When performed properly, skin resurfacing has even been proven to reduce the risk of developing future skin cancers. Skin resurfacing can be performed on most body areas but requires a great deal of knowledge and expertise to obtain best results; choose your provider with the same diligence as you would a surgeon.
Topical skincare products can also promote restorative wellness. A word of caution: approach those proclaiming to be “natural” with caution; some are indeed superior but remember that poison ivy is also natural. Just because a product claims to be natural does not mean it is automatically superior to others. Consult a knowledgeable skin care specialist to choose the products that are best for your skincare goals.
Facial Wellness and Appearance. Restoration and maintenance of a youthful facial appearance can be achieved with a variety of minimally invasive techniques. Injectable fillers produce the soft curves and fullness characteristic of youth along with injectable muscle relaxing drugs such as Botox® to soften and prevent the development of lines. Noninvasive skin tightening procedures such as Thermage® and Ultherapy® also stimulate production of fresh new collagen, one of our skin’s critical structural components to improve skin tightness and contour.
Aesthetic treatments are an important part of our physical and mental wellness. Use great discretion when selecting an expert who can guide you to your wellness goals.
Written by Brian S. Biesman, M.D.
Sophisticated Living Nashville JAN_FEB 2018