Skin Myths : and the Reversal of Fortune

1. Smiling makes both you feel better and those around you feel better, but too many smiles, like too many squints doing facial exercises will scruntch your face into permanent furrows. We have all seen it and Studies have proved it. The fix: smile politely, smile to your friends, and consciously un-smile when alone or relaxing. And for really bad habits you have to break: eye twitching and  frowning you don't even know you do, there's Botox!

2. Potent light treatments can kill skin bacteria and heal acne, but a simple tan won't be enough skin heat to do that, but yet over time contribute to skin aging.   A glow of mineral make up with nutrients and antibacterial agents will bronze safely and to promote long lasting health in your skin you need to include healthy eating, vitamin intake, exercising, and using proper cleaning your skin can!

.3.  Exfoliating gently not washing with soap helps to cure acne. Harsh soaps are one of the biggest mistakes you can make and more scrubbing is not better when it comes to the skin. It is ok to clean grime, dirt, sweat, oil, but healthy skin cells are to be treated gently with proper exfoliating blends of cleansers. Alpha-hydroxl acid lotions that clean up old cells and generate new ones is also advisable as well. Education in this area is also invaluable. 

4.    Wrinkles can be erased with wrinkle creams. No, creams are temporary, only treatments like lasers, Botox and fillers can actually erase furrowed wrinkles.

5.   Squeezing out the pus helps the pimple to heal it soon.No, another myth, and darn, your mom was right, this even makes it worse by letting more bacteria in where you are wanting it to heal!

6.    Shaving the legs accentuates the growth of the hair. No, it is what it is as they say. Most hair growth is genetic. If you have hormone imbalances or have taken a medication with a side effect that can cause hair growth, then yes, you may see changes, but it wasn't because you shaved or waxed the area. Neither of those treatments will permanently reduce hair growth though, only laser treatments will do that.
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7.    Healing of wounds by Vitamin E ointment, is another myth! Silicone elastometer gels do work and good nutrition with Vitamin E foods will work. Good circulation to the area is helpful as well. Also avoiding infections helps your scars be pretty. Eventually poorly heaing has to be reversed with treatments like steroid injections and laser treatments.

8.    Eating junk foods causes acne. No, another myth! Not good for you, can cause weight gain, lead to cancers, and all sorts of bad things. But many other factors cause acne including your male hormone levels which can be checked by a gyno.

9.    Vitamin D is necessary. So, we should tan our skin more. No, tanning is not a good way to get most Vitamin D. Many excellent food sources of Vitamin D exist and as we get older the skin cannot produce Vitamin D as it did before anyway.
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10.    Some skin care products are effective for the elimination of cellulite. Again, another myth, just not true. You can hide it: like a self tanner or tight clothes, but to change it you have to break up both the fat underneath the layers as well as the pockets due to fiberous bands that create the dimpled look.

This original article is presented to you by MyHealthToday.com © 2010

Hot! Hot! Hot!

Do you need more heat to your skin?! We used to think tanning improved acne because we believed the skin temperature elevation at the time of tanning could kill bacteria. Tanning is not enough Hot!. Actually clearing the skin of bacteria is a cure for acne, without any of the Hot Hot!. When you get phototherapy in the visible light range with a laser or IPL treatment you generate enough heat to conquer the Staph aureus and the E. coli that that live in the skin and cause most  break outs, that's treating with what some of us like to call Hot Hot Hot!.There are some other strategies to killing off acne, don't just stop with heat though. A major weapon that white blood cells use to kill bacteria is to poison them after they are surrounded off. In fact the WBC actually engulfs the bacteria and then produces a poison pill that is sort of like scrubbing the kitchen sink! A chemical form of the Hot! The white blood cell can produce lethal to bacteria oxidants similar to peroxide and bleach.And don't think the bacteria cannot fight back. The bacteria can turn around and produce a pigment that is similar to the same compounds that give both color and anti-oxidant healthy products to  vegetables such as tomatoes and carrots. "Just as colorful vegetables with antioxidants are touted for their ability to protect us against aging or cancer, we discovered that the GBS bacteria is pulling the same trick to protect itself against our immune system," said the study’s senior author, Victor Nizet, M.D., associate professor, UCSD Division of Infectious Diseases, and an attending physician at Children’s Hospital San Diego. So what is really best is to turn to those lasers, back to the Hot Hot Hot (locally, in a safe and comfortable way with your cosmetic medicine consultant) to kill off those tricky bacteria, so they are eliminated from your skin and your acne can begin to heal.

Wetter Is Better: For Your Skin

Wetter is better: making our facial expressions can etch those smile lines into our skin, but studies also show that well hydrated skin is much less likely to become etched. We know this intuitively: think about folding a thick piece of paper: much harder to really form a crease than a thin piece of paper. How about trying the same technique wet: you may not even be able to generate a proper crease. Studies have started to look at how our skin ages and those who are well hydrated have significantly fewer wrinkles. So that even starting proper hydration at a younger age will improve the skin. And how to get that hydration into your skin is critical. Element protection, sun protection, chemical protection, and proper moisturizing is all important. Your asthetician can help you know if your skin is optimally hydrated or if the next time you select a product your skin hydration can be improved.

Red Face in Teens, Tweens or Twenties Not Likely Rosacea

Have you been worrying about the red color to your face? Did you think it was left over sunburn from not using proper sunscreen? Rosacea is a skin condition. The most common feature is a dry patchy redness to the skin, and it is a specific skin condition many do not know they have. It's important to get a diagnosis and skin care can treat and calm or make it worse and ideally should be tailored to your individual skin. Teens and young tweens do not need to be as concerned with this condition however as it usually occurs between the ages of 30 and 60. Another reason to get a consultation with your esthetician as you age is to take into consideration that you may have now developed Rosacea that you had not realized that you have had. Red face in youth may more likely be allergic reactions, inflammation due to acne, sweating or blushing.

Stand Up, There, That's a Better Smile Too!

Slumping never helped our circulation, our mood, nor our shape. Posture is critical to one's inner beauty and demeanor. Everyone knows that when we want to survey ourselves critically, do we look glance as we slouch in front of a mirror, of course not, we stand up, maybe even hold our breath, and tightened those stomach muscles. And suddenly your face brightens and your natural glow is enhanced. But posture is more than just not slouching when you drive, cook, or type. Posture can be one's bone health. At least 25% of women over the age of 50 will experience a spine fracture in their lifetime. The permanent hunch that results from spine compression fractures cannot be reversed. So when you are thinking about your skin, and your beauty, don't forget your posture, and get your physician to evaluate your posture for medical conditions that may be compromising it.

When is A Flush Not Just A Blush Or A Rush

Are you suddenly flushed? Feverish, hot flashing, embarrassed because you mom just busted out nude pictures of you to your new boyfriend? All of those reasons to be flushed are not much to worry about. Flushing to the skin in those cases probably is just actual blood flow rushing to the skin filling the blood vessels: blood red, and the flush can subside as quickly as the giggle of embarrassment or the heat of the hot flash. But other responses, don't be so fast to write them off. For instance, flushing red within 15-60 minutes of eating fish could actually be a sign of poisoning. Now those suffering from that sort of reaction the skin flush is a histamine release and the histamine release doesn't usually just cause cheek blush: could be whole upper body and have other symptoms such as fast heart rate, nausea, headache, and in worse cases more severe system wide symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. If the flush you have is itchy, as a raised area or a bump, consider a bug bite. But simple blush to both sides of cheeks, it's unlikely that's going to be the source. Those with more chronic red and blotchy completions are more likely to have Rosacea, a skin condition that is common, and formal definitions can be found at their national organization site. Those with rosacea also may have a burning or stinging to the redness, feeling like you've just come in from the sleet or from running a 5K into the wind on a sandy beech. Too harsh a chemical in your soap can also produce that same redness and stinging feeling that's just improper skin care. If you regularly get care with an aesthetician then she can help you understand your diagnosis, which is the first step in leaading to a cure.

Gain a Pound, Gain a Pimple

We make a liver protein called Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), and it carries around our hormones making sure they don’t over act. Too much and we don’t have enough free hormone too little and we have too much. I think of it as a scrotal hormone, odd, I know, but there you have it, the same stuff , or darn near the same stuff, in guys, is made in the scrotum. Yuk right, but you won’t forget the thing will you! Here’s a new fact: Weight gain will decrease SHBG. This is mediated by both direct liver effects, and the amount of cholesterol and hormone production, as well as the amount of insulin in the circulation which is increased by being over weight or obese. In fact insulin is so tied in with SHBG you can use blood testing of it as a predictor of who is going to become diabetic.

Laser Skin Treatment Safety

Women who are considering laser treatments for skin conditions such as rosacea, acne, pigment changes, read spots, vessels around your nose, wrinkling or hair removal have concerns about the safety and the possibility of side effects. Laser light is electromagnetic radiation, when used in a specific beam length and in a focused way, can be designed to treat the conditions mentioned. Lasers make use of photothermal, photochemical and photoablative effects on the tissue and it's imporant to understand which therapy deployed is most likely to help you accomplish what you want to treat. Laser therapies when used properly are extremely safe, but it is still possible to have a side effect. Ablative lasers have more potential to treat severe conditions, but the non-ablative therapies can be extremely effective with less risk of side effects. One of the best ways to check this out is to first have your physician do a test spot treatment. In our practice it is standard to do some form of test spot. We just fire the laser and watch the effect over a few minutes. A more effective way to check this is to do a test spot and then recheck the skin’s response in 24 to 48 hours.  Since all skin types react differently to lasers, it is important to carefully monitor the test spot to see how your individual reaction may be. Most changes you will see are completely normal in the laser healing process including: a darkening of freckles or pigmented lesions, slight sunburn appearance 1-24 hours after treatment, minimal temporary swelling, and you may in addition have minor discomfort 1-2 hours after treatment. What you should not see if blistering, prolonged redness or moderate to severe swelling. Some time we use additional therapies to cool the skin or heal the skin after laser treatments. These aren’t really necessary after most spot treatments, but don’t forget to ask your individual provider if you need any special skin care after your test spot is done.