CityView Magazine

Isn’t it strange that we seem to pay the least attention to the largest organ in our body, our skin? Most of us start paying  attention to our skin when we stop getting carded in bars or see that first wrinkle.  We don’t realize how important our skin really is.  It’s our number one protection against the environment and gets 
exposed to toxins on a daily basis. Our skin is also a marker for how well we’ve taken care of ourselves. We don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how well our skin has protected us, but we certainly spend a lot of time thinking about how many wrinkles we have.

Multiple ads tell us that the way to a youthful complexion is using the right moisturizer, but it really requires more that that. Healthy skin is dependent on many things, but two of the most important are sun exposure and nutrition.

The sun, as many experts and professionals now agree, is responsible for most skin damage. The sun, aside from bombarding us with more ultra-violet rays than we need, is a free radical machine. Free 
radicals are oxygen ions that are just waiting to ravage our good looks by stealing electrons from the perfectly healthy molecules in our skin. And when sunlight hits our skin, the free radicals begin to do their thing. And it’s not just the sun, there is a hoard of other ways to “turn on” free radicals. Air and water pollution, toxins in food and the environment, even the off gases that synthetic clothing and furniture emit, turn on free radicals. The abbreviated story about free radicals is that they damage the collagen molecules that keep our skin soft and resilient. Collagen molecules are responsible for firm, young looking skin. Damaged collagen molecules create defects in the skin that we refer to as wrinkles, uneven skin 
tones and loss of elasticity.

So here we are, in beautiful Tennessee, faced with gorgeous weather and a sun that’s guaranteed to get those free radicals busy. What can we do to protect our skin and improve its overall health at the same time? First, use a sunscreen with a SPF (sun protection factor) of at least 15. SPF’s are based on medium toned skin so the fairer the complexion, the higher the SPF needs to be for decent protection. 
George Smith, administrator for the Skin Wellness Center, says “sunscreen is his number one recommendation.” Use at least a teaspoon for your face and don’t forget to put it on all the other parts of your body that might get sun such as your neck, hands and feet, and reapply frequently. Sun exposure is responsible for about ninety-percent of skin cancers and, according to the American Cancer Society, more than one million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.  If sun exposure is a problem for you, Julie Travis, licensed esthetician at The Breazeale Clinic, says there are treatments to help reverse pre-cancerous cells. One of the products that she recommends is Nia24, a group of skincare products approved by the American Cancer Society that actually acts as therapy for skin damage. Nia24’s active ingredient is NAD (the active form of Niacin), which essentially kick-starts the energy metabolism to start 
renewing the skin and healing itself. So much for sun-kissed. Although a tan might make you think you ook healthy, there is skin damage lurking under those golden tones.

Nutrition can play another part in limiting the environmental damage to skin from the inside out. Free radical damage can be reduced by antioxidants which kind of “turn off” the molecular aging 
processes that free radicals “turn on.” Plus nutrition provides skin-nourishing nutrients that help your skin keep its moisture and tone. Supplements can give you some of the vitamins you need, but it is always wise to get as much nutrition as possible from actual food.  Getting nutrients from food versus supplements has many benefits. The  most obvious is that eating well helps prevent weight gain, diabetes, heart disease and other disorders caused or affected by nutrition.  Dr. Randall Willis at The Life Spring believes that “The secret to skin  care is the same secret to good health. Healthy skin requires a commitment to a healthy lifestyle.”

And don’t forget water. “No one can overestimate the importance of drinking water,” says the owner of Anesis Day Spa, Pamela Bull. Staying hydrated is the easiest boost you can give your skin. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. And speaking of little, what about a little self indulgence? Anesis offers their Classic Facial designed to not only relax, but also increase circulation to the face, stimulating the body to do its job.  If, however, you’ve already had your day in the sun, it’s never 
too late to get professional help for your skin. The emphasis on skin health and beauty has created a need for skin care centers that focus mainly on skin care and procedures that turn back the clock and correct skin problems. These businesses offer procedures that correct severe acne scars, erase fine lines, downsize enlarged pores, and remove facial spider veins. There are even non-surgical facelifts! Some of these procedures have a medicinal value while others are purely cosmetic although the argument can be made that feeling good about oneself is medicine in itself.  Almost everyone has heard of Botox. It’s an injectable filler that is used to fill in and plump out areas of the face. Botox Cosmetics is a purified protein produced by a type of bacteria, Clostridium botulinum bacterium. This bacterium reduces the activity of the muscles that cause frown lines to form between the brows over time. Botox is administered with a few 
small injections and takes about ten minutes. It is one of the most popular ages erasers used. Juvéderm™ is another popular filler. It is gel made out of hyaluronic acid, a substance that occurs naturally in the skin, which helps to add volume and hydration. Juvéderm is injected under the skin to restore volume and fill in facial wrinkles and folds, such as smile lines. Like Botox, its effects are immediate. Kelly Fletcher, public relations for MediSpa (Knoxville Dermatology) of Knoxville says that, Botox and Juvederm are the two 
most popular injectables. MediSpa should know, they sold more of  these injections than any other dermatological practice in Tennessee last year. The effects of Botox and Juvéderm can last anywhere from one month to a year, depending on the client and they are both procedures that can be repeated as often as needed. Although Botox and Juvéderm lead the way as far as fillers go, there are several other types of injectables. Collagen injections are used to minimize lines and scars and are made of a fibrous protein substance that is typically made of human and cow-derived collagen. The collagen is injected where the face needs smoothing or filling in. Fat implants involve taking fat from one area of the body such as the belly or thighs, cleaning it of blood and other fluids and depositing it in the areas of the face that need filling in. There are other injectable treatments as well, all of which need to be repeated over 
time for lasting results.

If the idea of needles is too much, there are other procedures that involve removing the dead, outer layers of skin. Microdermabrasion is one of these. Both microdermabrasion and dermabrasion remove the 
surface layer of skin through high speed sanding. This removes the dead skin and lets the new, fresh skin show. Dermabrasion is used to remove acne scars and minor skin defects and rejuvenate facial skin. 
Microdermabrasion removes slightly less skin than dermabrasion and is for more superficial skin defects. George Smith cites this procedure as very popular and says, “the clients get a fresh look without any 
side effects such as reddened skin.” (Dermabrasion can cause the face to have a slight sunburned look for a day.)

There are other ways to remove the surface layers of skin as well. Chemical peels (also referred to as chemabrasion or dermapeeling) are used to treat wrinkles and pigment changes caused by sun exposure. A chemical peel can uses alpha-hydroxy acid or another acid to peel off the skin. The strength of the peel depends on the concentration of the acid used. Peels can be a one time process or a multi-time 
process, depending on the results desired. Peels can also have short-term side effects such as reddened skin and heightened sun sensitivity. Most skin care centers offer chemical peels of some sort. Sohna Skin Care in Lenoir City has its own specialized peel called the Sohna Peel. The Sohna peel is a five to six day process that employs an exclusive European chemical peel and technique that can remove stretch marks, acne scars, wrinkles and even out pigmentation.  Beyond chemical peels come the laser treatments, which involve using a laser to do a variety of skin corrections from spot treatments to whole facial treatments. The short of it is that lasers use focused high intensity light that’s fast enough to limit heat damage, but strong enough to vaporize tissue. There are many types of laser treatments. For example, the Skin Wellness center offers several types of laser treatments, like the CO2 laser treatment. This process uses a pulsed CO2 laser to get rid of fine, shallow wrinkles caused by aging or sun. Dr. Tom Gallaher’s office has the new laser Fraxel Repair treatment, which is a resurfacing treatment like dermabrasion but deeper. This newer treatment is recommended for those over the age of forty who have deeper wrinkles in their skin and less elasticity. The treatment aggressively targets the skin in columns, which allows the treated skin to heal faster. “As with any cosmetic fix, eventually your body will catch up,” says Dr. Gallaher, “but this treatment, in general lasts up to 10 years!” Sohna offers a Polyfacial, which is a combination of laser treatments and chemical peels. It takes about four or five treatments to get optimal results, but the client does not have to come back for six months. Another laser treatment that the Skin Wellness Center offers is laser titaning. Mr. Smith likens this to getting a non-invasive face lift. During laser titaning, a laser is used to penetrate the skin to the collagen level. The laser stimulates new collagen growth and tightens the old collagen. “The treatment takes one to three visits, and the customers are always happy with the results.”
 Facelifts used to involve surgically tightening skin, but now a similar effect can be achieved in a myriad of ways, such as the Sohna Skin Care’s 30 minute facelift. This treatment uses a “special machine that breaks down collagen and builds it back up to create firmer skin.” Dr. Naveed Kahn, one of the partnering physicians in Sohna, also says, “the client looks good immediately and only needs to come back every three months.” The 30 minute facelift can even get rid of a double chin. MediSpa has what is known as a liquid facelift which uses a combination of injectables to create a younger, less wrinkled appearance. The process can last anywhere from four months to two or three years, depending on the filler used.

Almost all skin care businesses place an emphasis on preventive skin care and maintenance. Thus most skin care centers carry skin care product lines for people who are interested in caring for their skin, 
whether or not they are having any work done. Dr. Gallaher encourages everyone to use products containing Retin-A, hydroquinone (an agent that works with the Retin A to help skin texture and that can correct some discoloring from the sun or scarring) and an exfoliant, which is usually a weak acid that takes off the layers of dead epidermis. Dr. Kahn has the philosophy that people don’t just come for a peel and 
go home. We teach them how to administer long term care for their skin from the inside out. Some of the lines also carry supplements to nourish the body. And most of these lines include a sunscreen with a 
high SPF.

A few of words: eat well, use skin healthy products and, by all means, wear sunscreen. And remember, if Mother Nature has done a little work on you, a skin care center can do a little work on Mother Nature.

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