Posts Tagged ‘acne scar treatments’
February 3rd, 2010
Top Acne Treatment
The advertising by so many anti aging, wrinkle cream and acne skin care companies is hard not to notice. There are many celebrity endorsed products making all types of claims coming almost on a daily basis. A common skin condition to both acne sufferers and to consumers trying to stop the clock, is acne scars. You would first have to decide if you want a natural acne scar treatment or take the path of a more invasive treatment such as laser removal or dermabrasion.
When you combine adult acne with typical symptoms of aging it can make your skin have a more aged appearance. Using the same products for for this common skin condition will probably not give you the results you were hoping for. However, by finding the right combination of skin care products you will be better equip to treat this skin condition.
Consumers that suffer acne scars must be careful in combining treatments because of the likely chance of irritation and further damage to the tissue. They should look for products that have unique qualities. Besides needing to have high quality grade ingredients, it should also be a natural acne scar treatment, containing only natural ingredients. Commonly, people think that just because a product is all natural it will be less effective. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Top brand, effective wrinkle creams and the top quality effective acne creams contain nothing but natural ingredients, and as odd as it may seem, so does the top acne scarring treatments.
Don’t let your search stop with just finding an all natural acne scar treatment, but also be sure that whatever you choose is both highly effective in treating wrinkles as well as acne scarring treatments. You would think that this would be easy, but to the contrary, consumers find it difficult to find a product that truly works for both.
First you need to assess your skin condition. This is always an important first step, as you take a look at your skin with an honest, clear assessment. What is your primary concern? Is it the wrinkles around your eyes or mouth or are the acne scars your main concern? After identifying the main goal, you will be better able to choose the right treatment.
Take the time to read reviews on the products that you are considering, as this can play a big part in your decision. Choose one with a high reputation for acne scarring treatments and anti aging concerns and offers 100% guarantee or your money back. At least then if the product does not do what it claims, there is no monetary loss. The combination could be just what you have been searching for.
November 1st, 2008
At some point, most women will experience menopause, and all the things that go along with it. Some women will have all the accompanying symptoms, such as hot flashes, night sweats, changes in your skin, hormonal acne, just to name a few, and others will have little or none. Menopause can create new and frustrating issues for your skin. It can even flash you back to your teenage years, remembering problems such as acne.
You can look at the brighter side and know there are also good things that come with menopause. Going through menopause can decrease production of oil, which will eventually help with hormonal acne, and will help to make your pores smaller. Your skin is more consistent and will not go through all the changes it did during pre-menopause. With technology as it is today, there are many good topical products on the market to combat and even prevent wrinkles. And by now you have much more self confidence, you’re a lot wiser and more comfortable with who you are!
When going through menopause and as we age, our skin produces less collagen and elastic fibers. Collagen is important because it’s the supportive protein structure of the skin. Elastic fibers provide the ability for our skin to rebound, or bounce back. When there are less of both, it can cause wrinkles and sagging to accelerate.
There are ways to keep your skin glowing after menopause. Building up the collagen and elastic fibers can keep your skin looking younger.
Using creams that will build collagen in your skin will help it to look younger, thicker, and have a healthy glow. The most common collagen building creams (prescription vitamin A creams) are Retinol, Renova, Retin A, Tazorac, and tretinon. These creams have twenty years of good data and millions of satisfied users.
There are also many good gentle scrubs on the market today that can help remove the outer, dead layer of the skin build collagen to allow the deeper layers to become more active. Be careful in overdoing these scrubs, especially if you have sensitive skin.
You can also build collagen by injectables, such as Sculptra. When injected, it sends a signal to the cells that make collagen to increase the process.
Resurfacing lasers is another way to build collagen in the skin. Some of these are less risky than others, and there is a downtime to these treatments. Usually treatments for a period of months, and then followed by once or twice a year for maintenance, can help your skin have a youthful appearance.
If as a teenager you suffered with acne, I’m sure you were anticipating the day when you finally were older, and your acne would be no more. But menopause can play havoc on your skin. For many women, menopause usually occurs in their fifties. But the process of menopause can start much earlier. Perimenopause causes our hormonal system to begin the changes. Acne is a hormonal disease. It begins in puberty and starts the production of oil glands. Once the oil glands start, they can become clogged, the oil builds up, pores become enlarged, and the bacteria grows. The end results for us are…blemishes. Without the production of oil glands, none of this would take place.
Because perimenopausal acne is different than teenage acne, many of the medications available are made for teenagers and do not have the same effect for women with hormonal acne. The medications are formulated for very oily skin in that age group and can be very drying for the skin of women over forty.
January 15th, 2008
Top Acne Treatment
Happily, acne scars are not truly hopeless. But they do present a difficult challenge to the surgeon’s skills because they are as destructive to the physical structure of the skin as their appearance is to the psyche. So what does cause acne scarring?
The skin is made up of three layers. At the surface is the epidermis. The dermis, which lies just below, consists of a meshwork of protein strands (collagen and elastin) that look very much like the threads that make up woven cloth. The bottom layer is the subcutis, or fatty layer.
Acne scars are caused by inflamed lesions that destroy a portion of the dermis and its collagen, creating a raised, or hypertrophic scar. More commonly, the collagen grows back only partially or not at all, leaving a depressed, or atrophic, scar.
Depending on the severity and extent of the inflammatory destruction, atrophic acne scars range in contour from shallow undulating, depressions and saucer like indentations, to deep pits and jagged edged craters that make the skin look as if it has been jabbed with an ice pick or other sharp instrument. Some, called full thickness scars, extend all the way through the dermis into the fatty subcutis.
Frequently, atrophic scars are bound down, tethered like a balloon held to earth by ropes, to the tissues below them with bands of collagen that run straight into the subcutaneous tissue. These scars tend to become increasingly evident as a person ages and gradually loses subcutaneous fat. The skin sags, but parts of it remain hitched to the underlying tissues by the fibrous bands.
Few acne scars can be completely eliminated by any means, which is why experienced doctors typically speak in terms of revising them or reducing their appearance, rather than erasing or eradicating them. The most common approach is to resurface the skin, by such techniques as laser ablation, chemical peels, or dermabrasion. But most acne scars penetrate far below the level where skin can safely be removed. Only the most minor, superficial scars can actually be expunged. Most can only be reduced in size and depth.
Some doctors say you can expect to get up to 80 percent improvement in acne scars with resurfacing, but others seem to think it’s just in the 50 percent range or less. They feel it’s not likely that you can get 80 percent improvement with resurfacing alone. Especially if the scars are big or if they are full thickness, 50 percent is about the best you can hope for.
For optimum results, depressed acne scars generally require both resurfacing and additional treatment, often by injecting or implanting cosmetic filler material such as collagen beneath the depression to raise it up. That’s when you can possible get 80 percent improvement. When you both resurface and use some sort of filler.
You can get a rough idea of what type of treatment your own scars may need in any given location by using your fingers to stretch the skin there and see how the scars react. Pulling the skin taut will make shallow or soft-sided scars almost or totally disappear; those scars generally can be corrected with resurfacing and fillers. Scars that you can’t stretch out by pulling on the skin generally require surgical excision.
