08/Oct/2009
Rejuvinate Your Skin To
Make It Smooth and Sleek
By Ashley Uter,
Laserworks of Lousiana
Now that
the summer is over it’s important to take care of sun damage. Many years of sun
exposure will eventually catch up to a person.
This makes us look older than we are.
Symptoms
of this kind of damage include premature wrinkling and a form of skin damage
called photoaging as well as actinic keratosis – skin growths that occur on
areas of the body that receive the most sun.
Photoaging, unlike natural aging, results in
coarse, dry skin, freckling, skin discoloration, leathery skin and deep
wrinkles.
There are
several ways to help correct skin damage and reverse years of sun exposure:
- Chemical peels
are an effective treatment
used to minimize sun-damaged skin,
irregular pigment and superficial scars. The top layer of skin is removed with
a chemical application. After removing the top layer the skin regenerates.
This often improves the skin's appearance.
-
Microdermabrasion
uses small
particles passed through a vacuum tube to remove aging skin and stimulate new
skin growth. This procedure works best on mild to moderate skin damage and may
require several treatments.
- Intense
pulsed light (IPL)
therapy is different from laser therapy in that it delivers
multiple wavelengths of light with each pulse (lasers deliver only one
wavelength). IPL is a type of non-ablative therapy.
-
Laser skin
resurfacing
uses high-energy light to burn away damaged skin. Laser
resurfacing may be used to minimize wrinkles and fine scars. A newer treatment
option is called non-ablative resurfacing, which also uses a laser as well as
electrical energy without damaging the top layers of skin.
-
Tretinoin
treatment, a prescription topical
cream, can reduce wrinkles and treat rough and discolored skin.
Prevention of sun damage is the real key to retaining a youthful
appearance. Practicing safe sun exposure habits, such as using sunscreens
correctly, staying out of the sun as much as possible, and wearing protective
clothing and hats, are essential to keeping the skin healthy. Also, practicing
sun safety may even prevent the development of skin cancer later in life.
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