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Now we’ve turned a corner.  We’re no longer talking about the invisible effects of smoking inside the body, but the visible effects of smoking on your face. And while some smokers are fine with the idea of black lungs, the suggestion that smoking can prematurely age the face is a line of discussion that they will entertain.

No one wants to look bad, but for smokers, it’s an uphill battle.  According to Amanda Sandford, research manager for Action on Smoking and Health, states that, “for smokers, middle-age starts in their early 30`s as the tell-tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear.  Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-aging face creams if they continue to smoke.”

And to make matters worse, the aging effects of smoking are often more noticeable in women than in men.  It’s not news that smoking affects the skin.  In fact, the phenomenon known as “smoker’s face” was first identified more than 40 years ago – in 1965.

Since that initial study, it has been estimated by researchers that the effects of smoking add between 10 and 20 years to your appearance.  So if you’re 35 and smoking, you could look like you’re 55 – and who wants to rush the hand of time?

Smoking speeds up skin damage in several key ways:

· It causes the formation of “free radicals” in your body.  Free radicals are unstable molecules that can damage your very DNA and cause your     cells to behave erratically.

· It restricts the blood flow through your capillaries, thereby starving your skin of precious nutrients.

· It causes your body to break down the supply of collagen to your skin.  Collagen is an important part of maintaining your skin’ elasticity. And while it does decrease with age, smoking accelerates that process.

· It reduces your supply of vitamin A and prevents your body from efficiently absorbing vitamin C – both key ingredients in protecting your skin from damage.

· Once airborne, it has an overall drying effect on the skin.

· It causes deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth from continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke.

What does a smoker’s skin look like over time?  The beauty effects of long-term exposure to tobacco smoke are:

· A loss of glow and vitality – your skin starts to look dull

· Discoloration – the smoke can actually stain your skin

· Normal wrinkles will be deeper and more pronounced – in fact, according to one study, you’re 3 times as likely to appear wrinkled if you smoke.

· Loss of tone and elasticity in your skin.  Similar to the damage caused by the sun, smoking breaks down the collagen that helps keep your skin taut and resilient.

So if you smoke, you may be setting yourself up for early aging.  Add that to the well-documented health risks and it might be in your best interest to skip that next cigarette.  Your face will thank you.

Rosacea is a chronic (long-term) disease that affects the skin and sometimes the eyes. The disorder is characterized by redness, pimples, and, in advanced stages, thickened skin on the face; other parts of the upper body are only rarely involved.

Who Is At Risk ?

Approximately 14 million people in the United States have rosacea. It most often affects adults between the ages of 30 and 60. Rosacea is more common in women (particularly during menopause) than men. Although this ailment can develop in people of any skin color, it tends to occur most frequently and is most apparent in people with fair skin.

What Does It Look Like?

There are several symptoms and conditions including frequent flushing, vascular rosacea, inflammation, and several other conditions involving the skin, eyes, and nose.

Frequent flushing of the center of the face–which may include the forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin–occurs in the earliest stage of rosacea. The flushing often is accompanied by a burning sensation, particularly when creams or cosmetics are applied to the face. Sometimes the face is swollen slightly.

A condition called vascular rosacea causes persistent flushing and redness. Blood vessels under the skin of the face may dilate (enlarge), showing through the skin as small red lines. This is called telangiectasia (tel-AN-je-ek-tay-ze-ah). The affected skin may be swollen slightly and feel warm.

A condition called inflammatory rosacea causes persistent redness and papules (pink bumps) and pustules (bumps containing pus) on the skin. Eye inflammation and sensitivity as well as telangiectasia also may occur.

In the most advanced stage, the skin becomes a deep shade of red and inflammation of the eye is more apparent. Numerous telangiectases are often present, and nodules in the skin may become painful. A condition called rhinophyma also may develop in some men; it is rare in women. Rhinophyma is characterized by an enlarged, bulbous, and red nose resulting from enlargement of the sebaceous (oil-producing) glands beneath the surface of the skin on the nose. Sufferers may also develop a thickening of the skin on the forehead, chin, cheeks, or other areas.

In addition to skin problems, up to 50 percent of people who have rosacea have eye problems caused by the condition. Typical symptoms include redness, dryness, itching, burning, tearing, and the sensation of having sand in the eye. The eyelids may become inflamed and swollen. Some people say their eyes are sensitive to light and their vision is blurred or otherwise impaired.

What Causes Rosacea?

Doctors do not know the exact cause of rosacea but believe that some people may inherit a tendency to develop the disorder. People who blush frequently may be more likely to develop the problem. Some researchers believe that it is a disorder where blood vessels dilate too easily, resulting in flushing and redness.

Factors that cause rosacea to flare up in one person may have no effect on another person. Although the following factors have not been well-researched, some people claim that one or more of them have aggravated their condition: heat (including hot baths), strenuous exercise, sunlight, wind, very cold temperatures, hot or spicy foods and drinks, alcohol consumption, menopause, emotional stress, and long-term use of topical steroids on the face. Patients affected by pustules may assume they are caused by bacteria, but researchers have not established a link between rosacea and bacteria or other organisms on the skin, in the hair follicles, or elsewhere in the body.

Can It Be Cured?

Although there is no cure for rosacea, it can be treated and controlled. A dermatologist (a medical doctor who specializes in diseases of the skin) can control the condition and improve the appearance of the patient’s skin. It may take several weeks or months of treatment before a person notices an improvement.

Some doctors will prescribe a topical antibiotic, such as metronidazole, which is applied directly to the affected skin. For people with more severe cases, doctors often prescribe an oral (taken by mouth) antibiotic, such as Tetracycline, minocycline, erythromycin, and doxycycline. The papules and pustules may respond quickly to treatment, but the redness and flushing are less likely to improve.

Some people become depressed by the changes in the appearance of their skin. Information provided by the National Rosacea Society indicates that people who have this skin disorder often experience low self-esteem, feel embarrassed by their appearance, and claim their social and professional interactions with others are adversely affected. A doctor should be consulted if a person feels unusually sad or has other symptoms of depression, such as loss of appetite or trouble concentrating.

Doctors usually treat any eye problems with oral antibiotics, particularly tetracycline or doxycycline. People who develop infections of the eyelids must practice frequent eyelid hygiene. The doctor may recommend scrubbing the eyelids gently with diluted baby shampoo or an over-the-counter eyelid cleaner and applying warm (but not hot) compresses several times a day. When eyes are severely affected, doctors may prescribe steroid eye drops.

Electrosurgery and laser surgery are treatment options if red lines caused by dilated blood vessels appear in the skin or if rhinophyma develops. For some patients, laser surgery may improve the skin’s appearance with little scarring or damage. For patients with rhinophyma, surgical removal of the excess tissue to reduce the size of the nose usually will improve the patient’s appearance.

Working With Your Doctor …

The role you play in managing your rosacea is important. You can take several steps to keep it under control:

Keeping a written record of when flareups occur may provide clues regarding what is irritating the skin.

Most people should use a sunscreen every day that protects against UVA and UVB rays (ultraviolet rays) and has a sun-protecting factor (SPF) of 15 or higher, but sunscreen is particularly important for people whose skin is irritated by exposure to the sun.

Using a mild moisturizer may be helpful, but avoid applying any irritating products to the face. Some people find that a green-tinted makeup effectively conceals skin redness.

If your eyes are affected, faithfully follow your doctor’s treatment plan and clean your eyelids as instructed.

There’s no better time than the present to indulge your skin with a total body scrub. Winters dry cold air can wreak havoc on your skin’s natural moisture level, causing dry, ashy, itchy, flaky skin. The artificial heat blowing from indoor heating units in homes and cars can be extremely drying to the skin as well. A salt or sugar scrub exfoliates the skin while hydrating and polishing the skin to a healthy glow. A body scrubs also promotes healthy circulation and blood flow in the body.

A mud wrap is also an excellent body treatment to have during winter months. We are less active during the winter so the body does not get a chance to sweat a lot, and of course perspiration releases toxins. With a mud wrap toxins are pulled from the body while the mud exfoliates the skin and remineralizes the body. Rehydration with lotion application is an important step because the mud can be drying.

Don’t neglect your skin this winter! Make an appointment today for your customized body treatment.

Taming dark circles is tricky.

“There are a lot of factors that contribute to quote-unquote dark circles,” said Dr. Diane Berson, an assistant professor of dermatology at the Weill Medical College of Cornell University in Manhattan. “It’s a combination of heredity and genetics.”

Most people think dark circles are a telltale sign of tiredness, or the unsightly evidence of a binge involving one too many margaritas. That is true to a certain extent, as fatigue makes skin dull, and drinking alcohol dehydrates and thins the skin.

But the most likely culprit causing chronic dark circles, dermatologists say, is excess pigmentation in the skin. Dark circles are prevalent on all skin colors and types, but they especially trouble African-Americans, Southeast Asians and Southern Italians. Beach bunnies should note: sun exposure exacerbates dark circles.

Dilated blood vessels that sit close to the thin under-eye skin are another cause, doctors said. And airborne allergens, which cause blood to pool in the vessels under the skin, can worsen their appearance, said Dr. John A. Persing, a professor and the chief of plastic surgery at the Yale University School of Medicine. (Treatment for these sufferers may be as simple as an antihistamine pill.)

Aging, which causes skin to thin, can darken the eye area, as can certain medications such as birth control pills, which can dilate blood vessels.

The problem is that few, if any, of the creams on the market are formulated for people with excess pigmentation or dilated veins.

“Multiple creams are available, however it is unclear how effective they are,” Dr. Persing said.

For people who aren’t sure why they have dark circles, he recommends topical products that contain a plumping agent or alphahydroxy acids, which can thicken the skin, or vitamins C and K, which can inflame skin and add volume.

But considering the glut of products on the market with a variety of active ingredients, Dr. Persing said, “If there are that many of them available, that usually means they’re not terribly successful.”

If you are concerned about dark circles, come in for a Microzone treatment specifically for your eye area.  It will only take 30 minutes and results will be seen immediately.