Winter isn’t the time for slacking off when it comes to skin care. This is precisely when you do the serious work to tackle wrinkles, melasma, acne scarring and dullness.
In our previous story, we discussed why winter is the best time to treat many of our deep-seated skin issues with professional medical skin treatments. Let’s focus on these treatments in detail.
The best treatments for deep wrinkles in winter
We have to love Botulinum toxin (Botox and Dysport) for its ability to improve lines and relax a frown. But what if we already have deep wrinkles on our forehead, around our mouth and on our cheeks? We need more permanent solutions to restore the deeper repair processes in the skin.
This means a course of in-depth resurfacing treatments performed by a skin professional. These remove the top layers of old skin to reveal healthier skin underneath, while, in the deeper layers, they stimulate collagen induction, triggering the skin to produce new, healthy collagen.
Resurfacing treatment options
There are various options available that provide skin resurfacing results – lasers (Fraxel Dual for example) and lights, as well as skin needling, for instance.
A consultation with your aesthetic doctor or medical skin professional will determine what your skin concern is, and the best treatment solution. This may involve using a combination of these methods, because they give effective results, tackling the problem from different angles.
Need to know:
- Treatments that reach the deeper layers of the skin may only be recommended and prescribed by a medical doctor, as it very much depends on the severity of the condition.
- An intensive peel or laser treatment is not necessarily the answer for everyone due to your skin type, the severity of the problem and your personal profile. Just because it yielded great results for someone else, it may not necessarily mean that it is the correct treatment for you.
- You should only consider entrusting your skin to trained and experienced doctors and therapists for this type of treatment, as your skin could be damaged permanently if they are performed by the wrong practitioners. Please do your homework.
Skin resurfacing lasers, chemical peels and needling, used in combination, can have a marked improvement on the following deep-seated skin conditions:
Melasma aka hormonal pigmentation
Melasma is one of the most difficult types of pigmentation to treat as it has multiple internal and external triggers.
Need to know:
- Your pigmentation may have various causes. Professional guidance is recommended to identify the kind of pigmentation you have and then a very specific treatment plan will be prescribed.
- Unfortunately, treating melasma usually requires lifelong treatment and maintenance, and the chances of it reoccurring are high if you don’t manage this correctly. That is why winter is the ideal time, as the lower level of sunlight reduces the risk of UV-light stimulation.
First step: you need to manage the internal triggers of hormonal pigmentation with healthy gut restoration, hormone balancing and a reduction in inflammation, before in-clinic treatments will work.
The medical team will then prescribe topical skin-care treatments to suppress excess pigmentation formation. These very specific treatments slowly and systematically target the pigmented areas.
Judicious prescription of chemical peels or laser may be used to break up clumps of pigmentation in the skin.
Acne dark marks and scarring
Have you noticed that where you had acne lesions in the past, the area is prone to brown or darker spots? This is called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and it occurs because the skin in that area has been injured or inflamed through squeezing, picking or because of the inflammatory nature of the acne lesions. Fortunately, a variety of resurfacing treatments can help to lessen or remove these marks.
Acne scarring may be another permanent reminder left behind by severe acne, remaining long after the acne has cleared. These scars can occur deep within the skin, but they can also arise via superficial inflamed lesions.
With the correct resurfacing treatment plan, the damage caused in the deeper layers can at the very least be reduced, scars can be made less visible and the skin texture will be refined.
Dull complexion
Even if you don’t have serious skin issues, the winter months can cause a dull complexion and an uneven and rough skin tone.
A more superficial skin peel will exfoliate the skin’s surface, removing the dead cells that leave the skin looking lifeless, flaky and dull. Regular exfoliation is important, and resurfacing skin treatments help to speed up cell turnover that removes dead skin cells.
At-home treatments
For best results, back up your professional treatments with a medical skin-care home routine, prescribed by your therapist.
For example, Neostrata Enlighten Illuminating Serum corrects uneven skin tone.
And sun protection is vitally important to protect all this hard work.
To find out more about Skin Renewal and which treatments may be most suitable to address your deep-seated skin conditions, visit www.skinrenewal.co.za. It’s one of the many ways we can help you enjoy living in your beautiful skin for longer.
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