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PROTECTING YOUR SKIN FROM THE SUN
There is a bewildering array of skin and hair
care products confronting men and women in magazine and
television advertising, at cosmetic counters, and in
pharmacies. The manufacturing and sales of these products is a
huge industry.
The single most important thing you can do for
your skin is to wear a sun
block every day. All ultraviolet (UV) rays damage the
skin. Tanning is a treatment for animal skins that makes
leather tough, colored, and suitable for clothing, saddles,
and gloves. Sun-tanning will eventually make your skin
thickened and tough, with irregular brown areas, wrinkles, and
dilated blood vessels. Tanning beds work the same way, and
should not be used. Tanning can also cause skin cancers (basal
cell or squamous cell carcinoma) that will need to be removed
surgically, leaving small or extensive scars. The melanoma
form of skin cancer can kill you.
A good sun block will
prevent damage from the full range of UVA and UVB rays. You
should apply it to all normally exposed areas of the face,
neck and hands every morning. When you are involved in
activities that expose you to especially high doses of solar
radiation, such as skiing or water sports, a complete sun
block in the most vulnerable areas is essential, and should be
re-applied throughout the day. It is incredibly easy to suffer
a second-degree radiation burn while skiing, resulting in
blistering and a dramatically increased risk of skin cancer.
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MINIMIZING AND TREATING OF SCARS
All surgical procedures result in scars. One of
the main skills of plastic surgeons is to control scar
formation. This is done by carefully choosing the incision
location and patterns, by gently handling the skin with
fine, specialized instruments, and by the skillful and
careful repair of surgically or traumatically created
incisions and wounds.
For some operations, the development of
"minimal incision" (or endoscopic) surgery has
been a significant advance in reducing scar formation.
However, the extent to which you will form scars depends
mostly on the location of the incision, and your racial
and genetic predisposition to scarring. People with black
African and yellow Asian skin are especially prone to
excess scarring, and incisions must be very carefully
planned.
Normal scar formation develops according to a
rough schedule. During the first few weeks, the scar
develops some strength. It usually looks a little pink
when the stitches are removed, but it is flat. From 3 to 6
weeks, it becomes thicker and often redder as it gains
collagen protein, and it looks its worst at this time.
Then maturation begins, which may take from 6 to 18 months
or even longer. During this phase the scar continues to
get stronger but gradually flattens, softens, and becomes
pale.
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RESTORING SKIN DAMAGE
Wrinkles
are not caused by dry skin, but by environmental damage,
mainly radiation from the sun.
This damage is cumulative, meaning that the total dose you
have received over your lifetime determines how much damage
has been done. If you tanned heavily as a child and teen, that
damage is still present, so it is especially important to
avoid adding insult to injury by continuing to lie in the sun
or burning your skin when at a high altitude or when spring
skiing.
Daily
treatment with Tretinoin® (vitamin A acid) for a prolonged
period, in the right dose, will improve the skin by repairing
some of the old damage. It should be applied every night, and
will result in a more even skin texture and more even
pigmentation. Small wrinkles will also improve.
Since
wrinkles are not caused by dry skin, moisturizers cannot
prevent or treat wrinkles. Nor do creams "feed" the
skin. Nutrients come to the skin the same way they do to other
parts of the body, via the blood stream. Pores do not
"open" and "close," nor do they
"breathe." All a moisturizer can do is reduce water
evaporation from the skin surface. All you need to prevent dry
skin is a water-based emollient (skin softener) that does not
block pores.
In
the winter, expect the skin on your body to be dry. Your legs
and torso have far fewer oil glands than your face, so these
areas are more likely to be dry. Dry skin itches because the
main function of skin is to be a barrier to the outside world,
and dry skin is a less effective barrier. Soap, water and heat
will more easily irritate the small nerve endings in the skin,
and frequent showers and chemicals in deodorant soaps will
only make matters worse.
Furnaces
also dry out the air. Relatively moist air from outside loses
its moisture as it is heated by a furnace to "room
temperature." Therefore, try to humidify your home to the
right level, about 50%. Use a simple moisturizer after your
shower, while your skin is still damp.
Finally,
if you smoke, quit. Smoke is as damaging to the skin as it is
to other parts of the body.
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