The teen years can be a stressful time, which is extra frustrating because acne can be both a symptom of, and contributor to, stress. “Stress can result in increased cortisol production which is a known aggravator for acne,” says Dr. Benjamin Barankin, dermatologist and medical director and founder of the Toronto Dermatology Centre and a spokesperson for the Acne and Rosacea Society of Canada, which marks Acne Awareness Month in September.
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As dermatologists, we are the only true experts in all conditions affecting the skin. We offer various over the counter recommendations, as well as prescription creams, pills, injections, and treatments both medical & cosmetic (e.g. Botox, fillers, lasers, chemical peels, microdermabrasion, fat reduction etc).
Meeting with a professional skin care consultant, such as a medical esthetician at our renowned Toronto Dermatology Centre, can be both wonderful and a little overwhelming. I tend to give my patients a lot of information, right from how to wash their face up to information on lasers and other amazing services to turn their skin around.
When it comes to home care, I recommend medical grade skin care. There is no doubt that it works better due to the quality and percentage of the active ingredients. Testing done on medical grade products are vastly different than those done for products at a store level. Due to the level of activity in the skin to promote healing, prevent acne, etc. These products cannot be sold through stores without a responsible, well-educated skin care professional to guide the patient through the potential expected side-effects that may occur by both using the product correctly and knowing when the product hasn’t been used correctly.
So, you want to have better skin, but you feel you can’t afford the good stuff? How do you transition and make the most of what your budget allows? When I first started in this business, I thought, we’ll start them on a cleanser or something affordable and then as they run out of products we can add the good stuff as we go along. This makes a lot of sense, but the problem is that, although medical grade cleansers are much better than anything sold at a store, they aren’t WOW products. You won’t see a vast improvement all of a sudden, generally speaking.
So, it makes a lot more sense to start with a concentrated, high-quality product that contains something that does give the WOW factor. When I use ZO Growth Factor, or SkinCeuticals CE Ferulic or SkinMedica HA5, results bloom almost immediately. Even though the transformation that is taking place in the depths of the skin will take longer to produce visible results on the surface of the skin, the products themselves leave the skin healthy, hydrated, and glowing. The overall health of the skin appears both superficially and dermally to have improved almost immediately. As the patient begins to love their skin again, they start to understand the quality difference between what they were using before and the potential of what these new products can do for them.
To start, get your skin assessed properly (that part is free at our centre, and also very informative) and have your medical esthetician suggest 1-2 items that will help you to see improvement quickly within the skin. Use those products for several months and as you see the difference in your skin, you will be itching to see what adding other medical grade products will do for you as well.
Sure, it is great if you can start with the cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, eye cream etc, etc., but for those who are more cautious, there is absolutely nothing wrong with starting slowly and moving up. But first, be sure to have your skin assessed properly so that the product you choose is the best one to promote the kind of skin you have always wanted.
~ Sheri Roselle, Medical Esthetician at Toronto Dermatology Centre
Sunburns, and all the symptoms that come with them, are not only unappealing, but also dangerous. While most of us know that getting sunburned increases our risk of developing skin cancer, and that it should be avoided, accidents do happen. And sometimes the resulting damage comes with side effects we don’t know how to handle. Natalie Curcio, MD, MPH, FAAD, a board-certified dermatologist practicing in Nashville, explains why our skin acts the way it does when it sustains a sunburn, and what we can do about it.
“A sunburn is a type of burn caused mainly by ultraviolet B radiation from the sun,” says Dr. Curcio. “It occurs after a body’s defenses are overwhelmed by too much exposure to this UV light. The toxic reaction that occurs is a sunburn.”
Dr. Curcio says the extent of a sunburn depends on your skin type — people with fairer skin are at a higher risk for a serious sunburn — and the amount of exposure to UV rays you’ve received. First-degree sunburns can be red and painful to the touch, but affect only the epidermis, the outermost layer of the skin. Burns of this severity should heal within a few days.
A second-degree sunburn is more serious. “These sunburns are severely red and make the skin swell up and blister,” says Dr. Curcio. “This means that the dermis (a deeper layer of skin) and nerve endings have been damaged. This type of sunburn will take longer to heal than a first-degree burn and will likely be more painful.”
Unfortunately, both of these types of burns can start to peel (usually about three days after you sustain them). So what can you do to combat this?
When skin begins to peel, it is a sign the body is trying to rid itself of damaged cells. You can use many of the same techniques that apply to a non-peeling sunburn to get some relief. Dr. Curcio says that getting out of the sun and treating a sunburn as soon as you notice it is the first step for healing sun-burned skin. “To relieve pain, you can take cold showers or baths and take ibuprofen or aspirin,” she says. “Also, the best thing to do is moisturize the area with an aloe-vera or soy-based product. Moisturizing will help soothe sunburned skin, but be careful to avoid petroleum-based or other oil-based creams. These may trap heat and make your sunburn even worse. In addition, don’t forget to drink extra water to prevent dehydration.”
Once skin starts to peel, she adds, continue to moisturize your skin, which helps peeling skin heal faster. Be sure to take extra care to protect and cover peeling skin as it heals.
It may be tempting to try to exfoliate a peeling sunburn in an attempt to remove the dead skin, but Dr. Curcio says this isn’t a good idea. “Do not pull off your peeling skin, and avoid active exfoliation,” she says. “Instead, allow it to slough off your body on its own. Peeling usually stops when the burn has healed — about seven days for mild to moderate burns.”
Finally, it’s imperative to practice effective sun protection while a peeling burn is healing. “After sustaining a sunburn, your skin is more sensitive to additional UV damage,” Dr. Curcio says. “Wear protective clothing that covers your skin when outdoors.”
In addition to covering up with clothing, you can seek shade and avoid peak sun hours (10 AM to 4 PM) to help you sidestep additional sun damage while your skin heals. If you take care of it and avoid additional sun exposure, a mild to moderate burn should heal in around seven days.
But the best way to avoid all this trouble is, you guessed it, avoiding sunburn in the first place. “Exposure to UV light is the most preventable risk factor for sunburn and for all skin cancers,” Dr. Curcio says. “Protect your skin from those harmful rays and always remember to wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher!”
Get the facts straight about shielding your skin from damaging UV raysLike brushing, flossing, and eating vegetables, it’s important to wear sunscreen—whether we like it or not. When you let your sun safety habits slide, you leave your skin vulnerable, not only to sun damage that will cause wrinkles and brown spots but also possibly life-threatening cancer. An estimated one in five Americans will develop some type of skin cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).
And although genetics can certainly affect your skin cancer risk, proper use of sun protection plays a huge role in prevention. In fact, a study published in 2011 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that daily sunscreen use may cut the risk of melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) in half.
The key, however, is not just to wear sunscreen but to wear it properly. And research shows that many people don’t. For example, a 2017 study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology examined sunscreen use in more than 2,000 state fair attendees. Free sunscreen dispensers were placed at 10 fair information booths. Only 33 percent of people who used them applied sunscreen to all of their exposed skin. The rest focused only their faces and arms—leaving plenty of other areas unprotected.
“People were most likely to ignore their legs,” says Ingrid Polcari, M.D., assistant professor of dermatology at the University of Minnesota Medical School and one of the study authors. “For too many people, sun protection is not a priority. They either underestimate the risks of the sun or find sunscreen a hassle or too messy.”
Click here to find eight common sun-protection beliefs below. Take a look at these true-or-false scenarios and see whether you can separate the facts from the myths.
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Earrings are not only attractive fashion accessories but also personal statements. However, they can take a toll on your earlobes, especially if they are heavy or large. This issue becomes even more prominent if you have a young child at home who may inadvertently pull on them. As a result, split or torn earlobes, whether partial or complete tears, are a common deformity experienced by many individuals.
Fortunately, at the Toronto Dermatology Centre, we are privileged to have Dr. Robert Backstein, a full-time plastic surgeon who specializes in repairing partial or full tears of the earlobe. With his expertise, patients can undergo a seamless procedure that takes less than 20 minutes, resulting in minimal scarring. The recovery and healing process is remarkably quick and easy, with no significant downtime required.
If you would like more information about our earlobe repair services or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. You can email us at [email protected], and our dedicated team will be more than happy to assist you.
Take the first step towards repairing your earlobes by contacting us today for more information.
We have come to the time of year when everyone needs to be reminded about the daily duty of considering the sun.
“We don’t want people to just stay inside,” said Dr. Lawrence F. Eichenfield, a professor of dermatology and pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego and Rady Children’s Hospital. “We know that sun can have harmful effects including increasing the risk of skin cancer, sunburn, aging of skin — sun protection makes sense.”
Dr. Miriam Weinstein, a pediatric dermatologist at SickKids (The Hospital for Sick Children) in Toronto, and an associate professor of pediatrics and medicine at the University of Toronto, said: “We know from research that much of a lifetime of sun exposure occurs in childhood.” But the outcomes that we’re trying to prevent, whether carcinogenesis or just sun-related aging of the skin, occur much later in life, and trying to change behaviors is more difficult, she said, when a bad outcome seems remote.
Many parents are also familiar with recent reports about the possibility that chemicals in sunscreens may be absorbed into the bloodstream.
Click here to read the full article.
Credit: nytimes.com
When you think of dermatologists, images of pimple popping, skin scraping, and a stern “Don’t forget to wear sunscreen!” may come to mind. Sure, dermatologists do all the above, but there’s so much more to the job than that. For an inside peek at what the years of schooling entail (including how coveted getting into a dermatology program is), and what a dermatologist’s daily workload is like, we asked a couple well-respected doctors to chime in.
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Body mass index (BMI) and moderate drinking are modifiable risk factors associated with the development of psoriatic arthritis in people who have severe psoriasis, according to a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology.
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Credit: dermatologyadvisor.com
