Taking Care Of Your Skin

There is a variety of skin care products on the market, and many of us have several products at home for everything from acne to dark circles. Our goal is to have healthy skin, but what does that really mean?

Healthy skin is smooth, firm/tight, even in color, hydrated, tolerant and free from disease.

• Smooth skin has a soft and compact outer layer that has unbroken cell renewal and a regulated skin repair cycle
• Firm/tight skin is full and has an abundance of optimally functioning collagen and elastin
• Even-in-color skin has properly functioning pigment with even production and distribution
• Hydrated skin has a barrier function that produces natural moisturizing factors that are formed within the structural proteins of the skin
• Tolerant skin has a functional barrier that is tolerant to the surrounding environment
• Free-from-disease skin is not sensitive, nor does it have pre-cancer or cancerous lesions

It doesn’t take dozens of products to address skin concerns. The board-certified experts at Luminis Health Plastic Surgery recommend these four products:

• Cleansers remove oils, dirt and makeup without damaging the skin
• Exfoliators are necessary to remove dead skin cells and increase new cell regeneration — this helps produce more even skin, helping to ensure better distribution of your other skin care products
• Toners help to balance the pH of your skin, remove impurities, reduce pores, and keep your skin feeling fresh and hydrated
• Finally, daily use of sunscreen (30 SPF or higher) will decrease the risk of sunspots, skin cancers and wrinkled skin

These core products will build a solid foundation of basic skin care.

If you have skin care questions, concerns or goals, it is important to work with board-certified professionals to ensure that you choose products and tools that are the best fit for your skin.

If your goals include smoother or plumper skin, some patients find that Botox and fillers are the best tools.

For those looking for smoother skin, Botox can help. A provider injects it into muscles to smooth the look of moderate to severe forehead lines, crow’s feet lines, or frown lines between the eyebrows. Botox works by temporarily weakening or paralyzing certain muscles to smooth facial wrinkles. Botox typically lasts between three and 12 months.

For those looking to plump certain features, such as lips or cheeks, filler can be helpful. Filler is a general term for hyaluronic acid or similar substances used to “fill in” areas that have lost volume. Compared to Botox, which freezes muscles to stop creases and wrinkles, filler helps to add volume for a smoother look.

The Luminis Health Plastic Surgery team offers a variety of skin care products to help patients create a smoother, clearer and more refined appearance. Skin care can be personalized to your goals including overall skin health, texture repair, skin brightening, complexion clearing, or anti-aging. No two patients are the same, so Luminis always recommends an in-depth discussion with one of its doctors or specialists to determine your goals. This helps them customize a skin care plan for you.

Derek L. Masden, MD, is the chief of plastic surgery at Luminis Health. Visit www.luminis.health/plasticsurgery or call 443-481-3400 to make an appointment.