The Dermatology Blog

“It’s like a mini tanning bed for your fingers. ”

Artifical nails are a $6.3 billion dollar industry. There are nearly 60,000 nail salons in the US — 5 times as many Starbucks! Many of these nail salons use UV light, which might increase the risk of skin cancer on your fingers.

Researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas noticed that some of their patients with skin cancer on their fingers (an uncommon place to get skin cancer) reported having had UV light for artificial nails. Such UV light has been shown to damage cells’ DNA (the genetic code in all cells) and to cause mutations that lead to skin cancer.

There are several types of nails. The most popular is acrylic, a two part process where a liquid monomer is combined with a powder polymer. It hardens in seconds, but takes an hour for the final hardness to set. Ultraviolet light is used to speed up the hardening.

A second type of artificial nail is the UV-gel. These are more flexible and have a high-gloss finish than acrylics. As their name suggests, ultraviolet light is used to harden the nails.

UV light is also used for a topcoat sealant. Because artificial nails yellow from UV light (especially tanning booths), a top coat can be used to protect the nail. This topcoat is cured (or set) using UV light.

The amount of radiation that your fingers get from the nail treatment is comparable to what you would get in a tanning booth. Because nails are done every 2-4 weeks (one would hope), that can add up to a significant amount of UV exposure over years.

No large scale studies have been done to examine the danger of using UV light for nails, but these patients suggest that there is likely a risk, especially if you have fair skin or have a history of skin cancer.

Photo: Monibela (flickr)

Is the milk you drink rBST-free? Is your physician board certified?

Many people take the time to buy hormone free milk, but they don’t make an effort to choose a physician who is board certified. That’s a shame.

Asking a friend or family member might be a good way to choose a hairdresser, but it is not a good way to choose a physician. Medicine is difficult. The same way that you want the pilot of your next flight to be maintaining his or her skills and knowledge of flying, you also want your physician to maintain his or her skills in medicine. The truth is, you are much more likely to die from your doctor’s mistake than from a pilot’s mistake.

Being board certified is no guarantee that your physician is good (or nice!), but it does assure you that your physician is committed to continuing education and is learning advances in medicine. It also assures you that your physician has completed the necessary training and passed a certification exam for the field of medicine he or she is practicing. Having a license means only that they completed the minimal requirement to practice medicine. Maintaining active board certification means that your physician has undergone yearly continuing education and has passed a re-certification exam every few years.

Certainly there is more to being a good physician than completing residency and passing written and oral examinations. But studies show that high exam scores do correlate with practicing better medicine.

There are 24 board specialties. You can check to see if your physician is board certified by going to the American Board of Medical Specialties site at ABMS.org, registering, and putting in your physician’s name. It is a free and confidential service. You can have a nice glass of rBST-free milk in the meantime.

Post written by Dr. Jeffrey Benabio, Copyright The Derm Blog 2009.

Photo: Ingrid Taylar (flickr)

Last week one of my patients complained that she gets facials every month for her wrinkles, but that she still has prominent wrinkles around her eyes and mouth. “What,” she asked, “is she doing wrong?”

Facials are the third most popular treatment in spas after nails and massage. They come in many flavors like: mineral masks, steam treatments, microdermabrasions, LED light treatments, blu-light, and even oxygen facials.

Facials can be beneficial; they extract clogged pores, exfoliate dull, scaly skin, and give you a deep, invigorating cleansing, leaving your face smooth and silky. But facials cannot treat wrinkles, broken blood vessles, or brown spots.

Facials are done by aestheticians who are not licensed to practice medicine. Aestheticians cannot administer treatments that penetrate the skin or have  biologic effects (by definition, this would be considered medicine and must be administered by a licensed practitioner such as a physician or registered nurse).  Deeper problems such as wrinkles require invasive treatments which cross the line from cosmetics to medicine.

Facial massages or electrostimulations, which are supposed to tone your skin, don’t. Toning or building muscle requires intense and repeated activity. Just like building biceps, firming musles on your face would require working out. The problem is that wrinkles on your face are caused by contracting muscles — crow’s feet are caused by contracting muscles around your eyes; frown lines are caused by furrowing your brow; lip lines are caused by contracting the muscles around your mouth. Any treatment then that firms facial muscles would only make wrinkles worse.

Other treatments such as oxygen facials and mineral treatments have no evidence to support them, (unless you count “Madonna said so” as evidence). Save your money and have your daughter apply a mud mask the next time you go to the beach.

Photo: Arkansas Shutterbug (flickr)

It is a medical breakthrough. No, not a cure for cancer, but for the short lashed. The FDA has approved a prescription medication that makes your eyelashes grow.

We have known for years that prostaglandin medications used to treat glaucoma have an interesting side effect –they make patients’ eyelashes grow. Now a prescription drug is available that is specifically for treatment of hypotrichosis of the eyelashes, (which means sparse lashes).

Eyelashes are hair, just like the hairs on your head and legs. Not all hairs are created equal though; eyelashes are designed to grow a certain (short) length, then stop. The number and thickness of your lashes is determined by your genetics.

Latisse (bimatoprost opthamlic solution 0.03%) is a prescription drug made by Allergan, the makers of Botox. It’s a prostaglandin, an active biologic compound named after the prostate gland, the first place they were found. Latisse has been shown to increase the number, thickness, and darkness of lashes.

Latisse can be applied to the upper eyelashes only and should not be applied directly into the eye. It takes about eight weeks to notice results, and it can take 16 weeks to see the full effects of the drug. Unfortunately, you have to continue using Latisse to maintain the results; if you stop using it, then your eyelashes will go back to the way they were before you started treating them.

Side effects of using Latisse include disoloration of your eyelid. Fortunately this appears to be reversible; the color fades when affected people stop using it. Latisse can also cause darkening of the iris in your eye. Your eye color is genetically determined, but medications can change the color. Latisse might cause increased brown pigmentation of your iris. This side effect, unlike the darkening of your eyelid however, is permanent.

Latisse costs about $120 dollars a month and, of course, is not covered by health insurance. It is apparently already popular among the celebrity crowd: reports say Jenny McCarthy has been using it.  The question is how long will it be before someone starts applying it to their eyebrows? I could be the poster boy.

Photo: Nicholas Kenrick (flickr)

Put your foot into a tub of water and let hundreds of fish nibble on the dead skin on your feet. Who thought this was a good idea? Read more…