Tag Archives: moisturizer

Fall Is Here, Time To Change Skincare Products In Your Vanity

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Your skin needs a change this fall, too.

Fall is finally here. It’s time to change the clothes in your wardrobe to flared pants, mid-length skirts, strong-shouldered blazers and power parkas, says Vogue. It’s also time to change your skincare products, says @dermdoc.

Most of us associate changing seasons with changing wardrobes, but it’s also the time to evaluate your skincare routine. Humid, warm air will change to dry, cool air like greens to reds on maple trees. Your skin is a living organ and actively responds to these environmental changes.

  • Dry air means your skin will produce more oils to protect itself.
  • Cool air means that previously flushed skin will pale.
  • Less sun means that thick skin will shrink.
  • Less ultraviolet B light means that tanned skin will fade to allow for maximum vitamin D production.

When you start packing away your shorts and spaghetti strap dresses, remember that your skin needs you to pack away some of your summer products.

  • Dryer, thinner skin is more sensitive; consider exfoliating less frequently. Some scrubs or at-home microdermabrasions should be reduced to once every few days or week.
  • Some retinoids like Retin-A or Renova, can be reduced from everyday to every other day to minimize irritation in fall and winter.
  • Listen to your skin. Is it increasingly red and stinging as the weather changes? You might have to stop some peels or toners completely until spring.
  • Consider switching soapy facial washes to soothing or creamy washes.
  • Change from a lotion moisturizer to a thicker cream moisturizer. If you haven’t moisturized everyday, then you might start now.
  • Depending on how far North you live and your skin tone, you might be able to cut back on sunscreen for winter. Although complete sun protection is the best way minimize all damage to your skin, wearing sunscreen year-round may not be necessary. If you’re not sure, talk to your dermatologist.
  • Remember that even in winter, at high altitudes and where the ground is covered with snow, ultraviolet light can be strong, more like summertime sun. So you always need sunblock when skiing.

Photo: j-No

Weak, Split, Torn, Brittle, Frustrating Fingernails

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Ever have a beautiful woman walk up to you, thrust her fingernails in your face and say, “Why do my nails keep splitting like this??” I have.

One of the rare hazards of being a dermatologist is being accosted with skin, hair, or nail questions at social settings. Broken, split, weak, or brittle nails are common, so I get this question a lot.

Nails are an appendage of skin and are made up of protein. Nails need moisture to stay healthy and pliable. They dehydrate much like your skin dehydrates. Dry nails are brittle: instead of flexing, they fracture and split from the tips backward. Once a nail is split, it is difficult to stop the split from spreading. Nail splitting occurs more frequently in winter when your skin and nails are  dry.

Nail polish can help protect your nails; however, nail polish remover worsens dryness. Therefore, the more frequently you paint and remove polish, the more your nails dry out. If you paint your nails, then touch up chips rather than remove the polish frequently. Keep the polish on for as long as you can before removing.

What else can you do to strengthen weak nails?

Apply to your nails a moisturizer with urea, like Eucerin Hand Creme. This puts moisture back in the nails and keeps them pliable.

Avoid excess washing. Soap and water dry your skin as well as your nails. (I can write you a doctor’s note that says you are not allowed to wash the dishes. If you must, then wear gloves).

Remember that once a nail is split, it cannot be repaired. The key is to keep the base of the nail healthy so when it grows out to the tip, it stays strong and intact. Fingernails grow 3 mm each month, so a 2-3 mm split will take a month to grow out.

There are lots of products that promise to strengthen or harden nails. Most of them are a waste of money, for example,  gelatin tabs. Gelatin tablets are animal collagen derived from bone. The collagen is broken down into protein by your digestive system. As such, taking gelatin tabs is no better than eating a piece of chicken or any other protein. Eat plenty of protein as part of a complete diet, but don’t bother with supplements.

Don’t waste money on calcium or other “mega-nail” vitamins. There is no calcium in nails and loading up on vitamins will not make nails grow faster or stronger.

There is some evidence that taking biotin, a B-complex vitamin, at 2.5 mg each day can help weak nails by improving protein synthesis. Remember though, if you start taking biotin today, it will be June before you see improvement because you can only improve nail that hasn’t yet grown.

Just like trimming dead ends can help your hair, trimming split ends can help your nails. Try to clip off the split part, but avoid being too aggressive because you can spread the split farther. With a little effort and a lot of patience your nails will be hard as nails.

Oh, and next time, a least buy me a drink.

Photo: KW Sanders (flickr)

Eczema and Asthma Link

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inhaler-penreyes

Eczema or atopic dermatitis is a common skin disorder seen mostly in children. It is characterized by a red, scaly, itchy rash that can occur on the face, neck, arms, legs, and sometimes the trunk.

We have known for some time now that eczema, also called atopic dermatitis, is also associated with asthma and allergic rhinitis (hay fever). At least 50% of children with severe eczema also develop asthma. Research from the Washington University School of Medicine might shed light on why these diseases go together.

The research, published in the journal PLoS, found that in mice, eczema-damaged skin produced a substance called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). TSLP is a signal to the body that the skin has been damaged. When TSLP circulates through the blood, it elicits a powerful immune response. As such, TSLP is your skin’s way of warning you that its protective barrier has been breached and that backup defenses are needed to keep you protected.

Similar to your skin, your lungs are in direct contact with your environment as well, although we don’t often think of it that way. Like skin, lungs are exposed to the air with all its potential pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. It is not hard to see how an inflammatory disease that affects the skin might also affect the lungs. This is exactly what researchers found — when TSLP from the damaged skin traveled in the bloodstream to the mice’s lungs, it triggered inflammation in the lungs (similar to an asthma attack in humans). The researchers believe that TSLP is the link between eczema and asthma.

Ideally, if a drug was developed that blocked the production of TSLP, this might be a way to prevent people with eczema from developing asthma later in life. It also suggests that minimizing damage to the skin can help limit production of TSLP and improve both eczema and asthma.

Photo: Penreyes (flickr)