6 Steps to Younger-Looking Skin
If you haven't been protecting your skin,
it can start to give away clues about your age. Fine lines and wrinkles
begin to appear, along with brown spots and rough skin patches caused
by sun exposure. Your skin might be producing less collagen, and dead
skin cells don't flake off imperceptibly anymore. If this sounds like
your skin, it's time to turn to anti-aging products and treatments to
slow down, reduce, or even reverse the signs of aging and regain younger-looking skin.
Any skin that's been regularly exposed to the elements can be
expected to show its age and needs special care to maintain its youthful
look, says Sonia Bangladeshi-Banal, MD, CEO and medical director of
Elite MD, Inc. Advanced Dermatology, Laser, and Plastic Surgery
Institute in Danielle, Calif.
Your Anti-Aging Action Plan
At-home and doctor's office procedures can have a visible impact on your complexion, giving you back younger-looking skin.
- Protect your skin. The first rule of thumb: Prevent the damage. "The best thing to do to protect your skin is prevention," Dr. Bangladeshi-Banal says. The sun is enemy number one, so you need to wear sunscreen with a sun protection factor, or SPF, of 30 or higher whenever you're outside. You also should wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. Protect your face and neck with wide-brimmed hats, your eyes with sunglasses with UV coating. Dryness is enemy number two, making lines seem more noticeable, so choose a moisturizer made for your skin type and use it regularly to keep skin supple.
- Apply a vitamin A cream. Prescription-strength, vitamin A–based topical gels or creams known as cretinous can reduce wrinkles and produce younger-looking skin. "It helps to build collagen, which can prevent the development of fine lines and wrinkles, and to lighten dark spots," Bangladeshi-Banal says. "We also use it to treat acne, and it can help prevent precancerous growths." Prescription cretinous include Re tin-A and Re nova (Trevino), Differing (Magdalene), and Av age (carotene).
- Bleach your brown spots. You can try lightening brown spots (also called age spots) with a bleaching cream that contains hydrophone. "Hydrophone helps inhibit an important enzyme in pigment synthesis," Bangladeshi-Banal explains.
- Pick up a interdependent anti-wrinkle cream. These anti-aging creams stimulate the skin's production of collagen and elastic and are found in some drugstore or beauty counter products. "You're helping to build back the support structure that's been lost through aging and sun damage," Bangladeshi-Banal says.
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Peel to reveal fresher skin. Dermatologists use
various methods to remove the top layer of skin and expose new skin.
These procedures can help tighten the skin and diminish fine lines and
brown spots. "By exfoliating that top layer, you're allowing the
moisturizers and other products we use to penetrate deeper and work
better," Bangladeshi-Banal says.
Procedures include:- Chemical peel solutions to loosen and slough away the top layer of skin
- Laser skin resurfacing to vaporize the surface skin
- Microelectronics that sprays tiny particles to strip away topmost skin cells
- Plasma skin regeneration using a stream of ionized nitrogen gas to heat the skin and cause the top layer of cells to flake away
- Consider Botox. Injections of botulinum toxin have become tremendously popular as an anti-aging therapy. The injections relax the muscles under the skin and can eliminate deep lines and wrinkles around the face. Botox treatments also can help prevent new wrinkles from appearing.
You have many options available to create younger-looking skin.
Factors including cost and the recovery time associated with procedures
like peels will help you decide on your best course of action.