Indoor Tanning JUST ONE TIME!

Indoor Tanning JUST ONE TIME!

Talk about depressing news! The Skin Cancer Foundation just shared a report given at a recent meeting of the Association for Cancer Research by Dr. Mingfeng Zhang, a research fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Zhang looked at the information collected from the Nurse’s Health Study II (1989-2009) of 73,000 female nurses and found the following: High school/college age women with the history of just ONE indoor tanning exposure a year increased their risk of developing a basal cell carcinoma by 10%. If they exposed themselves more than SIX times a year, their risk was 82% greater than a non-tanner. We have to protect our young ones and ourselves.

The other depressing news is the exposure to UV radiation (sun & tanning beds) is the main cause of aging skin. If you are a frequent indoor tanner, you can be exposed to UV doses as much as 12 times higher than regular sunshine.

This confirms my mom’s often repeated saying, “The sun bathers of today are the apple dolls of tomorrow.”

Moisturizer Information

New Year and new or renewed goals including blog writing! Actually, I really do like to write down what I am thinking and/or reading. It feels like I have spent too many hours coming up with good moisturizers for the different needs of my patients. I am finally happy with the list but know as always, good information about products is a continued “work in progress”! I did notice a compilation of different presentations by the cosmeceutical experts at the December meeting of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery. The conclusion was that the most important product choices are moisturizers and sunscreen. (I personally would also add something from the retinoid family). Dr. Zoe Draelos, who is my favorite of the cosmeceuticals researchers, lists dimethicone, glycerin and/or petrolatum as key ingredients to have in a good moisturizer. So if you shop “over the counter” keep those ingredients in mind.

Tanda

A Tanda Update: I have used my Tanda 3 times a week religiously for 2 months on my 66 year old, sun damaged skin. I precede the treatment with my clarisonic and a gentle cleanser and follow it with 0.025% or 0.05% tretinoin and moisturizer. My skin definitely looks smoother and feels softer. What is surprising to me is that this also includes the fine lines under my eyes and over the lower orbital bone. These come back with my day of smiling but at rest looks a little better. I just started to notice a tiny improvement in my chin “crinkles”. I am anxious to hear what my patients and several staff members think they notice on their much younger skin. My main conclusion so far is that this works for compulsive people with a reasonable understanding that tiny improvement is a fact of life in aging, sun damaged skin but better than nothing.

Clarisonic Reviews

What a giggle! The Wall Street Journal December 27th, 2011 in the Aches & Claims section had an article about the Clarisonic brush entitled “Deep Cleaning Faces at the Speed of Sound”. Just last week, Tuesday, January 10th, Good Morning America’s Becky Worley had a piece on “New Face Cleaner Make’s Waves” also discovering the Clarisonic. (fashion beauty 2659) We have used Clarisonics at CDLC as part of our pretreatment prep for the past 4 years. I brought it into our clinic after reading a report of the studies in one of my professional journals and being introduced to it at the annual American Society of Dermatologic Surgery meeting. It was an immediate hit with my staff and patients (and daughter)! We were able to proceed with any of our clinic treatments with the reassurance that the skin was free of make-up or skin oil. This allows for better penetration and freedom from concern of introducing bacteria or “foreign material” into the skin.

Very clean skin also allows for better penetration of home care products whether they are for acne, aging, antioxidants, or shaving (both face and legs). We had patients come in to get a brush head for “him” because “her” device was disappearing into the shower with “him”.

I love reading journals and going to meetings for the “what’s new” and have learned many times in the past 33 years to look for the science and not the sales pitch. I have a list of luminaries whose research/conclusions I can trust and can share with my patients several months to years before the Wall Street Journal finds out about it.

Dr. Ann