Protecting Your Skin With Products

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By Dr, Brandith Irwin  –

I really recommend that women spend their money on three areas. Anti-oxidants, vitamin e creams, retinoids, and then sometimes, cell-growth factors. Sunscreen is really the first line of defense for prevention. I mean, that UV… the little bit of UV every day, 365 days a year, really adds up. So, using a quality sunscreen and by that I mean, the ones that have at least 8 to 10 if not more, high percentage of zinc. Totally key. Many of my patients ask me about cell-growth factors, because they’ve been a hot topic in skin for the past few years. If you’re doing all the basics, and money is no object and you want to add something else, go for it. It won’t hurt you, it will help, and the data –you know, there’s more and more research going on in this area.

As far as vitamins on the skin, topically, in addition to vitamin C, the vitamin A creams, they’re still a gold standard. Most everyone has heard of Renova, retin-A, and those are various forms of that there are many others now and often times called retinoids. Also, topical vitamins in the form of vitamin- B, niacinmai for example, has some good data behind it now being used, particular in combination with Hyaluronic acid as a moisturizer. Whether or not you will look younger with use of good skincare products, that depends a little bit on your age. Skin care products are best for prevention. You will look better with skincare products. You may even look a little bit younger, but you cannot take a decade off with skincare products and I think we all know that.

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Making Sense of Lasers

Lasers are magic. They’re light concentrated in a specific way that has amazing affects on skin. And they’re a very powerful tool. And many of us will be using them over our lifetimes for their benefits. They can build collagen, they can reduce brown spots, they can reduce broken blood vessels, they can smooth wrinkles, they can tighten the skin, they can reduce acne scarring… they are very powerful tools. It’s important when choosing a laser treatment to pick the doctor and the clinic first. Because the expertise of the doctor or the nurse operating laser is much more important than the exact laser. They will guide you when you find that clinic that you trust toward the right laser for your particular condition. I think it’s important to have realistic expectations about laser treatments.

They will never correct the problem to 100%. So if we can get a 50 to 90 percent improvement depending on the problem, that’s a good result. Be very aware of “specials” in physician’s offices if you are not familiar with that office. That is often a way for doctors who are not particularly trained or ethical to bring you into the office and sell you procedures that you don’t need. It’s also important to remember that what you have seen in magazines or on the web is marketing. It has often very little to do with the reality of that laser treatment. When you’re choosing a laser treatment, remember it’s a cost/benefit analysis. Only you can decide whether this treatment is worth it to you for the results it will give you and the money it will cost. Best case scenario is the wrong laser could waste your time and money; worst case scenario you may end up with scars or injury. Be realistic with expectations.

Do your homework on your provider so you have confidence in them and do your cost/benefit analysis.  Then you’ll have wonderful results that you’ll be happy with for many years.

 

 

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Protecting Your Skin With Products
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