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However, all that information aside, pores can become the sewers of you skin. Because your facial skin produces approximately 40 to 50 ounces of sebum a year, a large portion of that can pool in your pores and form plugs that last up to 10 years. This build-up can stretch the openings and make them appear larger. Deep pore cleansings and professional extractions can clean out the sebum and allow the openings to return to their normal size. Now, let's explore what can be defined as normal pore size for you. Most of the factors that determine pore size are somewhat out of your control. They include genetics, climate and season, hormonal fluctuations, age, and sunlight. 1. The circumference of your clean, unclogged pores is determined by heredity, so if your Mother or Father have large pores, chances are that you will too. 2. Sebum becomes more fluid in hot, humid weather, so you may notice that your pores seem to expand during summer months and contract during the fall and winter. 3. Pores may appear larger when oil production is stepped up by hormonal changes or puberty or pregnancy. 4. As you skin loses elasticity with age, the openings of your pores relax and begin to appear larger. 5. UV Rays are known pore dilators, so be careful to protect your skin from the sun. What is the best pore treatment for your completion? The following may help: Blackheads and enlarges pores respond well to Salicylic Acid Cleansers, Pore Strips (not to be used in place of a cleanser), and deep pore cleansing clay and mud masks. Professional extractions can also help dislodge deeply embedded material. Avoid exfoliating scrubs with harsh granules and shells. Whiteheads require Benzoyl Peroxide Creams, as well as topical and oral antibiotics in order to kill bacteria and reduce inflammation and further breakouts. Avoid pore strips, professional extractions, or squeezing, for they can rupture the pore channel and spread oils underneath the skin. Cystic Acne usually responds well to topical and oral antibiotics, but in a stubborn case, may require a powerful drug called Accutane, which eliminates oil production, and consequently, eliminates Acne. Please seek your Doctor's advice to see if you are a candidate for these aforementioned drugs.
CONSERVATIVE SKIN REMODELING, PART III This is the last in a three part series regarding the "no down time" or "scalpel-less" face lift, a series or combination of conservative in-office procedures which will result in dramatic improvement of rhytid (wrinkles), solar elastosis (sun induced wrinkles and lack of skin collagen), hyperpigmentation, and aging atrophic skin conditions. The first article in the series detailed GreatSkin's® approach to the "pharmacologically active" skin care programs. By using certain ingredients in combination (tretinoin, l-ascorbic acid, hydroquinone, glycolic and lactic acid, retinols, Kinerase, kojic acid and epidermal growth factor), one can prepare the skin through exfoliation, antioxidation, moisturization, growth stimulation and depigmentation to achieve miraculous change in color, tone, thickness, collagenation, and circulation. The use of a "pharmacologically active" skin care program prepares one for the other components of the "scalpel-less" face-lift. The second article in the series detailed the benefits of non-ablative laser re-collagenation, or the stimulation of growth of a new collagen layer, and hence smoothing out the wrinkles, with a revolutionary new laser, the Aramis 1540, as mentioned recently in the Journal of Dermatologic Surgery. This thermally quenched "cold laser," through a series of five office based no pain, no redness, no downtime treatments, will stimulate the dermis to produce a nice, thick layer of collagen, the substance which smoothes away the wrinkles. This article will address the other adjunctive office techniques, which will "put the icing on the cake." The combination of office based, no down time, weekly microdermabrasion treatments using sodium bicarbonate crystalline epidermal resurfacing results in gradual superficial erosion of the epidermis to a single cell layer. With heavier resurfacing, one may achieve resurfacing into the upper dermis. This procedure causes the dermis to thicken, increases vascularity, color, tone, and texture and removes fine lines and pigmentation as well as Acne scars. Used in combination with the Aramis 1540, the results are short of miraculous. The "pharmacologically active" skin prep (customized home skin care program), the microdermabrasion prep and the laser procedure is the optimal, conservative way to get a full face resurfacing without going through the surgery. We always recommend that the laser procedure be utilized in concert with microdermabrasion for maximal results. Next, Botox® injections can be performed to minimize dynamic wrinkles. These areas include the "frown line" between the eyes, the forehead furrows, the "crow's feet," and occasionally around the mouth for fine lip lines and "mouth droop." Botox® is purified Clostridium botulinum toxin, a potent neurotoxin which transiently (up to six months) prevents some of the muscles of facial expression from contracting and creasing the skin. The result of Botox ® injections is a smooth flat forehead, loss of that deep furrow between the eyes from concentration or worry, loss of crow's feet, in short a calm, smooth appearance. It is the quickest, most effective, no down time, office based procedure for dramatic wrinkle reduction of the face. Although Botox® has been used for years to treat strabismus (deviated eyes due to increase in muscular pull from several ocular muscles), the use for cosmetic purposes now far exceeds this former indication. Botox® must be repeated at 3-6 month intervals continuously for best result. Combining Botox®, with a good skin care program and microdermabrasion and laser can result in unbelievable improvement in skin tone, color, texture, wrinkles and thickness. For the deeper more refractory areas of the face (which in the past have required lifting) such as the naso-labial fold (marionette lines), and deeper perioral (around-the-mouth) expression lines, one can receive and inject able tissue filler. This filler is known as collagen. It can be derived from human sources (with little or no risk of rejection) or bovine or porcine sources (with slight risk of rejection (1:10,000), requiring skin testing prior to implantation). Through a series of careful painless facial injections into the deeper lines, one can markedly diminish these deeper lines. Collagen injections should also be redone at 3-6 month intervals for best results. Many fine products are available for the physician to choose from today. Lastly, one constant aspect of the aging face is loss of volume of the lips. Lip enhancement can also be achieved with frequent (every 3-6 month) injections of collagen. A more permanent enhancement, which is totally natural and beautiful, can be achieved with the use of implantable strips of human collagen through a minor 20-minute office based surgical procedure. There are many incredible new advances being made every day regarding no down time skin renovation. GreatSkin® will continue to bring to the patient, the most clinically proven and safe, acceptable techniques to restore one's skin to the physiology of youth. Most importantly, do not forget the value of a balanced and optimized internal hormonal milieu, the importance of water and hydration, sleep, exercise and abstinence from toxic oxidants like tobacco and excessive use of ethanol.
Are you planning on having facial surgery? We have put together two excellent kits for our Pre and Postop clients. Read about both of these programs -- plus the protocols that Dr. Van Wormer uses to prevent scarring, bleeding and swelling when he does laser resurfacing.
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