What makes skin care products from The Skin Center superior to similar products I see at the drug store? In general, my partner and I have chosen these particular products for the quality of their ingredients, and for their manufacturer's rigorous testing standards. They’re the same ones we offer our own patients when an over-the-counter treatment is indicated, and our belief in them comes from our having seen and evaluated the results firsthand. In some cases, the differences between these and drug store look-alikes can be very specific and significant. A case in point is the Cellex-C line. Dermatologists have long known that vitamin C helps repair damaged skin. Based on that fact alone, manufacturers have mixed vitamin C into all sorts of skin products. Unfortunately, simply applying vitamin C to your skin produces no real benefits. You have to get it down to the deeper layers of the dermis. At the moment, there is one patented formula, developed and tested at Duke University, that has been proven to do this effectively. That patented formula is only contained in the Cellex-C and SkinCeuticals lines—both available strictly through dermatologists. (Of those, only Cellex-C can be purchased on the Web.) Why do some stores carry more products and why don't you always carry the complete product line? We only carry products and product lines which have scientific studies to support their usage. Many of the product lines we carry have additional products. While these are good products, we have not found them to be superior to less expensive or more readily available products found in your local drug store. Why are dermatologist-direct skin care products more expensive? The unit cost of some of these products may seem a little high, but remember, they’re used sparingly. In fact, my patients are often surprised how long they last! Cellex-C High Potency Serum ($69), one of our most popular products, lasts up to 4 months, making the daily cost only about 60 cents—roughly the price of a soda. That’s not much, considering you’re paying for results you can actually see! And, since the big factors affecting price are the quality of the ingredients and the research and development involved, you can be sure you’re getting the best made, most reliable products on the market. What can I expect from anti-aging products? It’s important to distinguish non-prescription anti-aging products from more aggressive treatments such as deep chemical peels, laser resurfacing, or a face lift—which, depending on the treatment, can cause significant discomfort, scabbing, swelling, and redness lasting from 2-4 weeks to 6 months. Non-prescription anti-aging products offer a gentler, less invasive alternative. They produce results every bit as good as those you’d get with a mild chemical peel—lessening of lines and wrinkles, smoothing of skin, and evening out of color—yet do it gradually over several months, so you don’t experience any significant discomfort or irritation. Optimal results are usually achieved within 6-12 months. What is glycolic acid, and how does it relate to AHA’s, and PHA’s? Glycolic acid is the leading member of the group of alphahydroxy acids (AHA’s) and is very popular at the moment. It is useful for exfoliating and smoothing the skin and plays a role in treating fine wrinkles, acne, and other conditions. The only caveat is that it can be a little irritating if you have sensitive skin. PHA’s, or polyhydroxy acids, (specifically gluconolactone) offer similar benefits and seem to be less irritating. I usually recommend that my patients with dry or sensitive skin begin with the lowest percentage of glycolic acid available. A slight tingling or a small amount of redness is not uncommon at first but it should disappear in a few weeks. If not, there are several options. One is to mix the glycolic acid cream 50/50 with your favorite moisturizer and use it only every other day (or even every 3rd day). Using this approach, nearly everyone should be able to enjoy the benefits these products. If you have sensitive skin, the best alternative to AHA’s is probably Kinerase. Although comparison studies have not yet been done, the preliminary research suggests that Kinerase offers benefits rivaling those of AHA’s (and even of Retin-A) without causing irritation. If I have acne, how often should I wash my face to keep it as clean as possible? Is it true that washing my skin frequently may cause it to secrete more oil? How much oil your sebaceous glands produce is an inherited trait, governed by your hormones—it’s not affected by how much you wash. What frequent washing will do, though, is dry your skin out. This can make it more sensitive, more easily irritated, more red and tingly, and may cause superficial fissures that can be painful. Not really what you’re aiming for. If you have acne, one thing that can make it worse is friction. This means people who try to combat acne by washing repeatedly—especially if they use a wash cloth or buff pad—end up just making it worse. When treating acne patients, I tell them to wash their face twice a day—three times at most. Soap, or a good cleanser like Neo-Strata Facial Cleanser works fine, and may be followed by a toner, or astringent solution, if there seems to be residual oil. Washing more than that is very irritating. I always suggest patients wash immediately before applying an acne medication such as NeoCeuticals Acne Treatment Solution—and those solutions have been shown to be necessary only twice a day. What causes brown spots on the skin, and what can be done about them? There are a lot of reasons someone might have brown spots on the skin. One possibility is that the spots are left over from acne. As acne lesions heal, they can leave red or brownish spots that can take a long time to fade. Spots can also occur from direct damage from the sun—like freckles or lentigines, sometimes mistermed “age spots” or “liver spots.” (Lentigines have nothing to do with your liver—they’re caused by sun. They’re “age-related” only in the sense that you have to be old enough to have had sufficient sun exposure to get them.) A third cause of spots is melasma, a mottled-looking brown discoloration on the cheeks and forehead. Melasma is more common in women, though it does occasionally affect men. It’s an inherited condition whose severity depends on the level of female hormones present, and on sun exposure. Women who tend to get melasma will get it more severely if they’re on birth control pills or when they’re pregnant. And, they’ll find it gets worse with sun exposure. In each of these cases, bleaching or fading products can help, but only if you also address the cause of the spots. If the cause is acne, the most important thing is to treat the acne, thereby preventing new spots while the old ones fade. If you’re dealing with freckles caused by sun exposure, then, of course, the recommendation would be to limit sun exposure, and use sunscreen in addition to a bleaching cream. Melasma patients should also limit sun exposure and (if possible) stop taking birth control pills. Bleaching products are a combination of exfoliant (some mixture of alphahydroxy and/or polyhydroxy acids) to remove the surface layer of cells, and a lightening agent, hydroquinone (usually 2% in over-the-counter preparations; 4% by prescription). The idea is that the acid “peels back” the top layer of skin so the bleaching agent can get in deeper and work better. Some, such as NeoCeuticals Skin Lightening Cream, also have a sunscreen built in to help prevent further sun damage, and to keep existing spots from becoming darker. Are bleaching agents applied just to the spots? In most cases, you’ll get the best results by spreading the cream evenly over a larger area. If you just treat the spot, the edges tend to remain a little sharper than if you blend the cream out well beyond the edges of the spots. Bleaching creams will not affect your general skin color. Skin Care Questions? Although we can’t offer specific medical advice or diagnoses online, we’ll be happy to answer general skin care questions and post the answers. Send to: info@northridgederm.com |
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