Lifestyle Choices

Have you ever heard of an “indoor environmentalist”? Most people associate the environment with the “great outdoors” and the “wonders of nature”. On the contrary, our own “environments” are increasingly indoors, and increasingly “unnatural”. Whether at home or at the office, your skin suffers in special ways from the indoor environment with its closed atmosphere and surrounding work materials. How do you recognize actual or potential irritants? How can you protect your skin from daily damage by the indoor surroundings you take for granted? How can you correct or at least improve your indoor environment? (more…)

Baggy Eyelids Removal Pain and Recovery

You can go home the same day, with two small strips of bandage over your stitches to protect them. These can be removed a few days later, when your stitches come out. Your eyelids will ache initially but the pain should not be severe. If it is, call a doctor, as there may be internal bleeding. (more…)

Blepharoplasty is the technical name for correction of baggy eyelids and it is almost as commonly carried out as rhinoplasty (nose correction). The sagging of skin around the upper and lower eyelids is one of the natural signs of ageing and, if pronounced, may be particularly distressing to those who are very conscious of their appearance. It can, however, occur much earlier in life, due to an inherited disposition, but have much the same impact: that is, you feel you look old well before your time. (more…)

Port-wine stains are birthmarks which occur on the face and/or neck and derive their colour from dilated blood vessels either just below the skin or in the deeper layers.

Removal of port-wine stains

The elimination, as far as possible, of the disfiguring marks. However, there is no really successful surgical treatment and some residual disfigurement is likely o remain.

Removal of port-wine stains, for whom is it appropriate?

This procedure can be carried out at any age from childhood. (more…)

Giant brown birthmarks may sometimes cover a large area of the body or the face and neck and cause a great deal of distress. Unfortunately simple excision is rarely the answer as the brown pigment usually extends deep into the skin. A skin graft may be necessary.

Removal of Brown Birthmarks

To remove the unsightly pigmented area with the best cosmetic results possible in each individual circumstance. (more…)

We all have moles, usually about 20 or 30 of them. We are born with a fair number of them, but some new ones develop up until the age of about 30. They start out as brownish-looking freckles and then sink lower into the skin, leaving fibrous scar tissue in their wake, which is what gives them the appearance of a raised brownish lump. By the time we have reached 40, they have sunk lower still and tend to look paler but more bulbous. (more…)

Allergies and irritations are different. An irritation occurs in everyone who comes in contact with an offending substance, though some more sensitive people might react to lower concentrations or fewer contacts. (If concentrated formaldehyde were applied to anybody’s fingers or face, for example, he or she would develop a dry, flaky, red, painful rash. Very sensitive skins could be irritated by a trace of formaldehyde, just touching a newspaper or even being in a room with new curtains.)

An allergy, on the other hand, is a genetic predisposition. The person must already have been exposed to the allergen at least once, and the allergy might show itself on the second, tenth, or ten-thousandth contact! (more…)

Of all smokers who start smoking in adolescence and continue throughout their lives, half will succumb to a fatal tobacco-caused disease before the age of 70, losing, on average, 22 years of their life expectancy!

In the United States, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable, premature death. As more and more women smoke, so their incidence of heart disease and lung cancer has increased — their death rate from lung cancer has increased by a factor of almost seven from 1950 until 1990 (with the death rate from breast cancer showing little change over the same period). Whatever its pleasures, smoking’s consequences are most unpleasant: chronic cough, hoarseness, asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus and bladder (all of which can be fatal), and increased risk of heart attack and stroke! (more…)

Hair Transplant, What needs to be done?

The most commonly and successfully used method for transplanting hair is the punch graft, which can be done under local anaesthetic and takes a couple of hours.

You will receive an injection of anaesthetic in the area of your scalp that the hair is to cover and the area from which the hair is to be taken. The instrument used for the operation is, as might be expected, a small punch. This is used to punch out about 20 to 50 small circular areas of bald skin, in a shape that will provide a relatively natural- looking hair line once hair-bearing skin is implanted in the holes. Then the same amount of hair-bearing skin is punched out, from whatever site has been chosen for their removal (usually the lower back or side of the head where thinner hair growth will be less noticeable). The hair- bearing skin is fitted into the holes that are waiting for them in the bald skin. But there will of course be small areas of bald skin between the holes, where hair still will not grow. (more…)

Most men lose some of their hair and a fair number lose almost all of it, at some stage in their lives. Although balding is considered a common sign of ageing in men, very many suffer significant hair loss before their 30s or may even be almost entirely bald by then. Hair loss is hereditary and, if your father lost his hair young, it is quite likely to happen to you.

Despite much female approbation of big screen personalities, whose most immediately obvious feature is their lack of head hair, the first signs of hair loss are usually greeted with dismay by men. Some resign themselves to the inevitable but others resort to artistry with their remaining hair, growing it longer where possible and brushing it sideways to cover prominent gaps (a technique that doesn’t stand up to strong winds or vigorous exercise). Still others are prepared to go to great lengths in an effort to restore their hair. (more…)

Just as upper arms reveal ageing or significant weight loss by sagging, so too do the inner thighs and buttocks. Although the scarring that results from the trimming of excess fat and skin is as extensive as in arm reduction surgery, its positioning in buttock reduction makes it less of a problem. Both the body and normal clothing help conceal it. This is not however the case for thigh reduction although only mini-skirts and swimsuits may be awkward to wear. (more…)

Environment

Finally, anything that you apply to your skin may cause so-called acne cosmetics or pomade acne. If your skin feels irritated by any particular cleanser, makeup, sunscreen, moisturizer, or even shampoo, and especially by hair treatments, it reacts by forming an extra shell of protection. How does it do this? Simply by adhering more dead cells onto the surface! It is therefore not the cosmetic per se that causes acne, but rather the body’s protective reaction that clogs the pores. (more…)

Anything that increases the sticking of cells to the skin or the secretion of sebum can cause acne. The three main influences are hormones, diet (and medications), and the products you use on your skin.

Hormones

These are those magical chemicals that are secreted by your endocrine glands to regulate your metabolism, your sexuality, your growth, your cycles, your mood and your reaction to stress. The hormones that affect your skin come primarily from your sexual organs and from your adrenal glands, the latter of which become more active when you feel either excitement or anxiety. When the adrenals are stimulated they produce more hormones. (more…)

Acne can very often be effectively treated by special cleansers and topically applied formulations. There are four main non-prescription acne medications which alone or in combination with prescription medications are the mainstay for acne treatment. All of these are also available in stronger prescription form.

Salicylic acid .is one of the most effective topical medications. This is a beta-hydroxy acid that is a peeling agent, because it is “keratolytic” and loosens dead surface cells that stick within pores, thereby curing clogged pores at the very onset. Sulfur and resorcinol are not only keratolytic, but also anti-bacterial. They are often mixed as flesh-tinted lotions to cover blemishes (Longevite Concealer). (more…)

The word eczema is derived from a Greek word meaning “to boil out”, a description of the family of itchy skin conditions which begin with redness and swelling, often followed by blisters and oozing, then scaling, and finally thick, leathery, frequently painfully cracked skin. Several categories of eczema exist, the most common of which are atopic dermatitis, hand dermatitis, and nummular dermatitis. (more…)

Fresh vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, good quality fats and oils, and plenty of pure water are the basics for good skin health. These foods promote the healthy functioning of the internal organs, which is reflected in the condition of the skin. High- fiber foods move wastes quickly through the large intestine, plenty of water flushes toxins out of the body through the kidneys, and an abundance of fresh, leafy green vegetables keeps the liver working efficiently to detoxify the bloodstream. Glowing, smooth, and blemish-free skin is an indication that all is well internally. (more…)

Almost everything can cause an allergy in someone, somewhere! The medical literature is full of reports of strange skin allergies: clarinet players with lip blisters from an allergy to the bamboo reed; drivers with allergic reactions to steering wheels; chefs with allergies to pineapple juice, corn and other moist foods. (more…)

Step 3: Powder

A complete dusting of translucent powder (avoid the eyes) is now necessary to `set’ the foundation so that it will last all day. Never apply powder blusher directly on to a cream foundation because it will not blend in softly; your skin will ‘grab’ it and look blotchy and harsh.

• Choose a translucent powder that is ‘colourless’ or neutral in shade, so that it blends with your skintone.
• Apply powder all over the face with a large, fluffy brush, dusting across the forehead and down over the cheeks, nose and across the mouth, chin and jawline.

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When relaxing at home, at weekends or on holiday, it’s great to give the skin and yourself a break from wearing make-up. But otherwise, all women look and feel better with a little colour, ‘their’ colours, to enhance their skintone, eyes and hair. (more…)

Regardless of income, background or lifestyle, modern women have no excuse for being badly groomed. We can all transform our appearance simply by bothering to attend to details — and a little regular care and attention doesn’t take as much time as you might think. Here are some guidelines.

Hair

Clean, conditioned and well-cut. Individual needs obviously vary but, at minimum, have your hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks. (more…)