Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Fight Unwanted Hair with Hormone Balance

There are actually medical reasons that your hormones are off balance and begin to cause unsightly hair to grow where you never had it before. Women with irregular periods, the condition called polycystic ovaries, those with genetic traits that predispose them to these conditions and a variety of less common causes can be diagnosed by your gynecologist. About 50% of women with polycystic ovaries (PCOS) will have some degree of glucose metabolism problems, actually a pre-diabetic state. Controlling those hormones can help balance hormones for more benefit when treating unwanted hair. For those wanting to read about a variety of hormone issues go to GynoGab. If your gyneocologist wants you to have medical therapies we often do use the oral contraceptive, and picking the right one or adjusting the kind of hormone can be beneficial to some women. There are also a number of other medications such as spironalactone, eflornithine in a cream, flutamide and finsteride that have been used and may be covered by your insurance plans. Not all hair will be successfully removed by medical treatment. It takes bout 6-112 months for full effectiveness and may still require advanced treatments for long term successful hair reduction. We suggest that patients come in for a consultation, talking to someone knowledgeable about both skin and unwanted hair can be the first step towards success!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Starry Eyes or Sleep Deprived?

Are your undereye areas shiny and the whites of your eyes a bit pink or red? Did you get smoke exposed, or sun burned eyes or just too much glare from being in the front row of the concert last night? Bright eyes are one of the first things that signal overall health and wellness when you are making an impression, and you cannot have bright healthy eyes if you are sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation will make the undereye turn more hollow and bluish, and even dehydrate the tear ducts so they cannot give your eyes proper moisture. Lack of moisture makes us rub our eyes and the extra rubbing inevitably leads to increased bacteria exposure which can account for minor inflammations. Your skin can't glow, you can't concentrate your best, and now it seems you can't even loose weight if you let those triple threats of sleep loss, depression, and stress continue to pile up. And we tend to show it in our eyes first! So be good to your eyes, get proper sleep and nutrition, and proper sun protection for the sensitive eye area. My favorite eye protection is by Colorescience, come in to Hada Cosmetic Medicine and see how truly great it is!

Monday, September 12, 2011

Allergic To Your Makeup?

Allergic reactions come in various degrees and forms! Women who wear makeup regularly are more likely to develop allergies than the occassional user in part because the continued exposure to the allergens in the products. The traditional makeups soak into one's skin, and proper cleaning needs to be quite thorough to really get it off each night. The mineral make up users have a bit of a advantage as it's not so likely that the makeup will really soak in, the minerals stay above the skin and are thus less likely to trigger the factors that physiologically will comprise an allergic reaction. It is not uncommon to have an unwanted reaction after wearing makeup in terms of irritation. In part the fact that you may have used a brush with residual chemicals, or applied roughly, or were also in a social situation that caused flushing or sweating. Even if it is a make up that you have worn before, minor irritations are not uncommon with traditional makeup. True allergic reactions have to do with a histamine response, and in some cases may just be a more dramatic reaction than the 'minor irritation' type reaction. Certainally you shouldn't be getting hives, or physical itchiness, or bumps. It is important to figure out if the allergic reaction is due to what is in the make up or if it is something different. Hidden substances in your makeup products that may cause allergic reactions are metals, fragrances, talcs, dyes, powders that aren't talc, or preservatives are most likely to cause allergies which is why the purest mineral makeup lines avoid these contaminants.

Sunday, September 11, 2011

The Fastest Increasing Cancer

Melanoma in increasing with new cases found more rapidly than any other cancer. The rates have actually doubled in the years between 1973 and 1993, and now in these next two decades we can expect the trend to continue. For women, most are found during the youthful so called 'reproductive years' which correspond with sun exposure. the factors leading to malignant melanomas include our immune system and genetic factors as well as ultraviolet radiation exposure. Early diagnosis is important as the only curative treatment is excision. If the excision is in a sensitive or critical area then the amount of tissue removed is best if can be minimized. Eraly diagnosis helps to be able to treat the melanoma before it enlarges. We recommend noting any lesions of your skin that are new, that are changing, or that are bothersome and getting them checked regularly.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Not in the Pink? Think of Zinc!



  If your skin doesn't have that healthy pink glow, could it be that you are lacking zinc? Zinc is potent micronutrient that we need for general as well as gyno health. Health effects on the fetus of being deficient in zinc has been known for over 50 years and some famous studies of dwarfism in Iran had been traced to zinc deficiencies. It is a trace mineral, also called trace elements, widely available in meat and plant sources. Because the zinc is harder for us to chemically extract from vegetarian food sources so there is lower bioavailability in plant sources. In otherwords, having lower bioavaibility means, its there in your food, but you just can't extract it. Vegetarians and vegans are urged to get approximately 50% more zinc than those who do eat meat. In fact your zinc blood levels will vary depending upon how much meat you do eat. Fish sources have zinc too, and oysters are among the best way to get zinc into your diet.

Zinc is necessary for the function of dozens of our body's metabolic enzyme systems; it is important for our immune system, the repair of DNA and for wound healing. Over 70 enzyme systems need zinc for proper function. It is linked to skin disease, poor sense of smell, inability to taste as well, infertility, and poor resistance to infection. It may be a cause of hair growth cycle disturbances. For those getting cosmetic treatments getting the right amount of zinc in your diet will help you heal more quickly and help enhance the way your products are working for your skin’s protection. Sun screens and cosmetics with zinc can help your skin be less irritated and less dry or flaky. If you have had diarrhea your skin can be listless for a variety of reasons: low fluid levels, too little magnesium and potassium in your system due to the loss during diarrhea, but low zinc can be responsible for the symptoms of being pale as well.

Remember there are hidden ways doing things you think of as beneficial for your health, that actually can be detrimental. Since zinc is absorbed in the small intestine too much fiber can oddly bind up your zinc and you can suddenly have a zinc deficiency you did not have before. For instance too much zinc can be both toxic and compromise the amount of copper, another trace mineral, in your body. Too much iron can also affect how we absorb zinc from our intestinal track.  Discussing these issues with your gyno, boils down to a basic diet analysis. There is no approved blood level tests for zinc, and hair analysis is inconsistent, so you just have to rely on the content of our diet to get enough zinc in!