10 Things Damaging Your Skin... that you would never have thought of!

Forbes magazine had a great article about 10 Sneaky Things Damaging Your Skin. It takes a bit of time to work your way through it, so I thought I'd summarize the list below:

Driving without sunscreen

The glass in car windows normally does not block UVA rays, which cause skin aging (UVB rays cause skin to tan or burn.)


Sitting in the Shade Without Sunscreen

UV rays reflect off both sand and water, even if you're in the shade.

Wearing Old Sunscreen

Most sunscreens expire after one to three years.

Your Hairstyle

When wearing their hair back or up, women often forget to apply sunscreen on their neck and ears. Parting hair can also cause skin damage on the scalp. There is just no way around it.... Wear a hat!

Thinking Clothing Blocks the Sun

Here's news for you! A typical white T-shirt offers you about a 7 to 8 SPF and then when it gets wet, the sun protective factor goes down to a 3!

Thinking Your Sunscreen is Waterproof

There is a big difference between waterproof and water-resistant sunscreen. It should be reapplied when you exit the water.

Medication

Antibiotics and some antihistamines increase the skin's sensitivity to sunlight. If you are now out in the sun without a good sunscreen, it will cause tissue damage and intensified sunburn.

A Base Tan

Seriously! Who came up with this? The normal way to get a "base tan" is to use a tanning bed. ..and see what THAT does to you!

A Cloudy Day

UVA rays penetrate clouds more readily than UVB rays. So, even when it is cloudy, you are at risk of skin aging and damage.

Not Applying Enough, Often Enough

Most people use less than 50 % of the recommended amount of sunscreen, according to a study published in the Archives of Dermatology.

Skin Care Myths Debunked (Part 2)

Click here if you missed Part 1.

Continuing with our list of popular skin care myths...

Natural and organic products are always better

This just sound so right! However...you really need to be careful. Many natural and organic products commercially available are not what they claim to be. Synthetic products or compounds can actually be identical to those found in nature, and may be more effective. Natural vs. synthetic should not automatically lead to an up or down decision about whether a product is good or bad. Not all chemicals are bad, and not all natural or organic ingredients are good... so do take the extra time to do your homework.

A suntan will clear up my acne

Have you forgotten that "tanning is skin cells in trauma, trying to protect themselves from cancer?" You're more likely to do serious damage to your skin. In the MedSpa, certain light-based treatments use the blue light frequency of the visible spectrum to eliminate acne. However, this is a much more controlled process than lying with your face in the sun! And here's another question to ponder: Does the sun's intense light (from the total spectrum, including the feared UVA and AVB rays) and the heat flush out the sebum to clear acne, or does it produce more oil to clog pores?

If you're a tanner, you're risking skin cancer. But not only that.... you are also prematurely again your skin. There are quite a number of effective acne treatments, but sun tanning is not one of them!

At Sona you can control Acne with light-based treatments utilizing Advanced Fluorescence Technology (AFT), killing acne-causing bacteria by interrupting the metabolic process. Treating active acne in its early stages minimizes the potential for scarring.

We will continue this series and expose more Skin Care myths in Part 3.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month

May is skin cancer awareness month, and we are already a week into the month. So let's get started with some disturbing skin cancer facts (courtesy of the The Skin Cancer Foundation):

More than a million skin cancers are diagnosed each year. That is a disturbingly high number for a society that knows the primary causes of skin cancer!

Let us put this into perspective: Randomly pick four of your friends...or four of your family members. Now add yourself to this group. One in your group of five can expect to develop skin cancer over the course of a lifetime.

Skin cancer is more prevalent than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.

Women under the age of 40 have a higher probability of developing melanoma than any other cancer, except breast cancer.

There are many resources on the internet on skin cancer prevention and awareness.

• American Cancer Society
  
• Skin Cancer Foundation
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  

See what clients want, despite the economy

This post may be a little late, as the first signs are there that the economy is starting to turn. The stockmarket is almost back up to the point where we started 2009... way up from the low point reached on March 9.

So what did clients still want, even during these difficult times?

• BOTOX - up 8%*
• Hyaluronic dermal fillers - up 6%*
• Laser skin resurfacing - up 15%*

Who would have thought that?

Here is something else that you may be interested in. Summer is approaching rapidly, and we really want to look after our skin as we start enjoying the nice weather.

Over many years, your skin has been exposed to a number of environmental factors, all of which stresses the skin. These stressors cause damage that can reach the deepest layers of your skin.

 Damage caused by the sun’s harmful rays is the main cause of the fine lines, wrinkles and age spots that you may already see ... or you will eventually see on your face.

 

The Obagi Nu-Derm System is the physician-dispensed, prescription-strength skincare system that can transform your skin right at the cellular level. 

By addressing the signs of sun damage and restoring the healthy function of your skin cells, this system is clinically proven to result in younger- and healthier-looking skin.

(*source: American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Economic Impact on America's Skin Care Habits)

Why can't we look young forever?

Good question indeed! Why can’t we look young forever? Today people tend to live longer and live a more healthy life. The work environment has also become so competitive that clients are looking for non invasive ways to achieve a more youthful appearance. As we grow older, the skin ages, showing signs such as fine lines, wrinkles and folds. This is brought about through the depletion of subcutaneous fat and the loss of collagen in the skin.

The traditional solution was a face lift to tighten the skin. This approach has a multitude of potentially negative concerns: complication can include a hematoma or an infection or a reaction to the anesthesia, and quite a few more. Today, a multitude of minimally invasive procedures are aimed at rejuvenation without the risk, recovery time, and expense of major surgery.

Augmenting the soft tissue has become a popular means of addressing defects in the skin that result from aging, photodamage and trauma.

Modern day augmentation of soft tissue dates back to the late 19th century when Neuber first used fat derived from the patient’s own body to correct depressed facial folds and defects. Injectable paraffin gained popularity in the early 1900’s. In the mid 1900’s the use of injectable silicone emerged and rapidly gained ground. However, due to a number of adverse effects, the use of silicone as a cosmetic agent has been banned.

The second half of the 1900’s saw an explosion in new technologies contributing to a cascade of new dermal implants. Injectable bovine collagen was developed in the 1970s. The most recent advances in dermal filling technology are in the form of hyaluronic acid derivatives, contained in products such as Juvederm, harvested and cultured autologous dermal implants, allogeneic products, and synthetically derived products. Continuing research promises that advances, such as recombinant human collagen, are on the horizon.

Despite Current Economy Women Are Still Spending Money on In-Office Procedures and Skin Care

According to two new skin care surveys, women are not scaling back on their anti-aging skin routine, despite the current state of the economy.

The Economic Impact on America’s Skin Care Habits, sponsored by Obagi Medical Products, Inc., reported that many continue to spend their hard-earned money on favorite at-home regimens, continuing with regular visits to the doctor and sacrificing other luxuries in order to do so.

Further supporting this study, a recent article in Global Cosmetics Industry (GCI) magazine published a forecast from Mintel, a leading global supplier of consumer, product and media intelligence, that stated they expect a 20% increase in anti-aging skin care sales over the next five years.

The Economic Impact on America’s Skin Care Habits survey found the majority (98%) of women 25-54 years of age surveyed say that they currently spend up to $500 a year on facial procedures and half (50%) would be willing to spend up to $300 on a personalized skin care regimen.

Yet even those women, who are still spending money for in-office procedures at their dermatologist or plastic surgeon’s office, are looking for ways to save money. According to the women surveyed, such savings come in the form of choosing a professional skin care regimen that helps to extend and enhance the benefits of their in-office procedures.

Source: Business Wire Press Release

Can I Improve My Skin Without Downtime?

Twenty-four-seven – that’s the pace we all run at… There is just never a break. So, if you can’t handle any down-time, what can you do to improve your skin? We all desire healthy and radiant skin. Environmental factors, genetics and stress take a toll on your skin. Over time, the aging process and the effects of the sun, wind and pollutants in the air can wreak havoc on your skin. Unfortunately, our highly competitive society places a premium on a youthful look.

Depending on what your concerns are, there may be a no down-time solution available. If you have always felt self conscious about those brown spots (maybe even a birthmark), the fine lines or wrinkles that are starting to show, Intense Pulsed Light Technology (IPL) may be the answer for you. Often referred to as “The Gold Standard” for photorejuvenation, IPL is a breakthrough, age defying procedure that treats skin damage safely, effectively and non-invasively and consists of a series of gentle pulsed light treatments intended to improve the appearance of sun damaged and aged skin, as well as reduce redness and flushing; resulting in a more youthful appearing skin. Photorejuvenation uses no chemicals, has no recovery time, and does not disrupt the skin surface.

IPL and the next generation called Advanced Fluorescence Technology (AFT™*) has received international recognition and media attention from programs such as “Good Morning America,” and magazines such as Vogue, Allure, Good Housekeeping and Harper. It was also featured on Access Hollywood (see the video below).



Sōna's skilled use of FDA-approved AFT can hone in on color-producing melanin cells within pigments, in effect "bleaching" the cells. (Darkening may occur for a few days before the age spots begin to lighten.) Rejuvenation is the process of restoring to a new or more youthful appearance, and that's exactly what our treatments aim to do for your skin. By using specialized handsets and precisely controlling the amount and intensity of light, we are able to effectively treat problem areas with pulsed light - without damaging healthy surrounding skin. And we can do all of this in a 30-minute procedure in which intense pulses of light are used to penetrate deep into the skin, causing collagen and blood vessels below the epidermis to constrict, reducing redness and age lines. The procedure involves only minimal discomfort, while the redness and swelling that sometimes occur after treatment disappear shortly afterwards. The benefits of a photorejuvenation occur gradually in the weeks following treatment.