The next few weeks I will be covering, in this blog, my philosophy and approach to common skin problems. I hope this will be helpful to some of you. As a cosmetic surgeon, we see these problems commonly.
For a good laugh with a little ring of truth.
What are the causes of skin damage, pigment issues and other skin problems? The answer to that question is fairly complex. We do know some of the answers but certainly do not know them all. First of all.....exposure.
Have you ever seen a new car that was wrecked and then left out in the elements??? Over time, the paint becomes dull, faded, and if you rub it, it comes off on your finger. This is called oxidation. The same thing happens to our skin over time. Elements in the air.... pollutants, and sun work on the skin from the outside making it less youthful. The other factor that works on the skin is what we put IN our body. To use the car analogy, if water gets into the metal under the paint, you get rust from the inside.
So, all analogies aside, our skin is effected by exposure and what we eat. There are 3 or 4 main problems that people complain about related to their skin: First is wrinkles...these are caused by the skin adapting, over time, to motion of the underlying muscle. Add this to the aging process where our bodies produce less collagen (the substance that gives our skin strength) and less elastin (the substance that gives our skin elastic qualities). This process goes on even when we remove all of the other variables unfortunately and actually has been proven to start in the late 20's age group which is not considered old to me. These wrinkles are very predictable. They occur between the eyes (the elevens), around the eyes (crows feet), across the forehead, and around the mouth. They are created by frowning, squinting, pursing the lips, and elevating the brow. The second problem people complain about are pigment issues....brown and red "spots". These are caused by changes in pigment production and areas of blood vessel changes in the skin, usually related to UV (sun) exposure. The third problem is "sagging" of the skin. This is again related to loss of collagen and skin elasticity but is contributed to by loss of underlying support structures, i.e. facial fat. The fourth problem people complain of is the developement of "lesions" or rough areas that may or may not be pre-cancerous.
In the next blogs I plan to cover these issues one by one and give you some ideas on how to deal with them.
Come see us at INTEGRIS Total Body Surgical for your skin care concearns.
Remember to check out our Breast augmentation and hair removal specials too!!!