Sun Damage

It is that time of the year again, “resolution time” when you make promises to yourself and others. Some are easy to fulfill and others fall by the wayside or are forgotten altogether. Since this is the case with many of our New Year’s Resolutions, why not then make a resolution that is easier to keep? Something as easy as starting a new skin care regimen can make a difference in your whole outlook this year. With thousands of skin care options available today, it is hard to know how to best take care of your skin. The good news is, when it comes to skin, there are 3 basic steps to taking care of it: Exfoliation, Hydration, and Protection.
Whether you have oily skin with breakout/acne problems or aging skin with hyperpigmentation issues, applying the right exfoliator to your skin rejuvenates its underlying structure by stimulating collagen, and cuts through sebum dissolving black heads and killing bacteria. An exfoliating regimen can include ingredients such as Salicylic Acid, Glycolic Acid, and Phytic Acid.
No matter what skin type you are you almost always need a good hydrating topical. A basic law of beauty is that everyone, no matter her skin type, should moisturize. Even if your skin is oily, it will benefit from moisturizers. A good hydrating or moisturizing regimen would include ingredients such as Hyaluronic Acid, Glycerin, and Lactic Acid. So how much should you hydrate? Your skin will tell you. When your skin is tight, it’s crying out for moisture. Be careful not to over moisturize — this can clog pores.
For many people summer is the most critical time for protecting the skin. Unfortunately this is a misconception as we often put away our sunscreen and forget about protecting our skin during the cold season. We stop worrying about UV rays and concentrate on keeping warm. In reality, winter conditions can do more damage to your skin than the summer sun. You should continue to protect your skin against UV rays and also against winter’s ever present dry air and cold wind. Using a sunscreen that combines high UVB absorption and dynamic UVA blockage with a combination of zinc oxide is ideal.
There are many skin care lines out in the market that are full of claims and promises. A word of advice is to use a medical grade skin care and to stick to your basic needs. It is also important to understand what active ingredients are in the topical and how they address your skin problems given your skin type and condition. Consulting with an experienced medical professional is always advantageous since they can recommend the appropriate regimen given your health history and medication you may be taking.

Living in rainy Pacific Northwest deprives the body of the essential Vitamin D. Besides bone health Vitamin D also plays a major role in skin health as it contributes to cell metabolism and growth and lessens itching and flaky skin. While creams and supplements can fight Vitamin D shortages, they can also cause toxicity if the dosages are not monitored carefully while they can be ineffective if taken in moderate dosages. Since Vitamin D is best produced in the skin by exposure to the sun, many of us Seattleites try to compensate for the lack of sun exposure by going to tanning beds with UVA and UVB rays. We all know that excessive tanning can lead to skin damage or even skin cancer. How do we then, make up for the lack of Vitamin D that is essential to keeping our skin looking healthy without risking aging it? That is quite a quandary.

The outer most layer of the skin is called the epidermis. Vitamin D3 is produced in the deeper layers of the skin as a result of the pre-vitamin D3 ‘s exposure to the sun’s UVB rays. UVB rays do not penetrate the skin past the epidermis layer but UVA rays do. Since most sunscreens on the market protect only against UVB rays, it is essential to find ones that protect from UVA like sun blocks with zinc oxide. So if you expose yourself to the sun or in the case of us, Seattle folks, to the tanning beds WITH MODESTY while using the right sun block, then you should be able to compensate for the lack of Vitamin D without damaging your skin with wrinkles and spots. Again I emphasize “WITH MODESTY”.

Katy Issa

People living in the Pacific Northwest tend to forget that the summer sun can still have a damaging effect on the skin especially when during the rest of the year we live in an overcast rainy weather that causes our skin to be more photosensitive. The summer of 2009 we had here in Seattle was a prime example of an unforgiving hot summer. The face is a very important part of our everyday appearance and is the most exposed, so it is very important to keep it looking young and healthy. If we forget to wear adequate sun protection we will most likely end up with sun spots, wrinkles and lines or red complexion which will make the faces look older.

A new and effective skin treatment technique called IPL FotoFacial combines intense pulsed light (IPL) with bi-polar radio frequency to provide non-ablative treatment for any of the mentioned skin conditions above. Using IPL FotoFacial does not damage the surface of the skin, and uses high intensity pulses of broadband light different from the narrow band light of lasers. IPL FotoFacial does not damage the surface of the skin as it works on the deeper dermal layer. This means that there is no recovery time after undergoing this treatment that takes between 30-45 minutes on average. IPL FotoFacial treatments are progressive in nature and hence multiple sessions spread 3 to 4 weeks apart are recommended. The end result is radiant skin improved with tone and texture.

A common misconception about IPL FotoFacial treatments is the assumption that they fix scarring. For acne scarring and other deeper wrinkles lasers such as Erbium Yag and Diode can be used for skin resurfacing as well as skin tightening. The one thing to remember with IPL FotoFacial is that it is safest and works best with skin types 1 through 4. So IPL FotoFacial produces great results for Caucasian, Middle Eastern Olive, and Asian Skin. It is however inadvisable to use IPL FotoFacial on darker East Indian or African American skin due to the pigment in the skin and the risk of burning and scarring.

Katy Issa
Clinic Manager