Aging Gracefully
Anti-aging is the most misunderstood and misleading concept in the present market.
The most important food for thought is that aging starts at 25.
Yessss…..our collagen breaks down starts at 25, ……..if at all we need to start our anti-aging / preventive measures it has to be at 25.
Moreover, aging has multiple issues starting from lifestyle, changing the environment, the type of food we eat, stress, work pattern and not to forget all the topical applications that we do include creams, parlor activities home remedies all add up to the ongoing damage and hasten the process of aging.
WHAT TO DO:
Home Care: first and foremost is regular use of sunscreen and Vit C in the form of effervescent tablets are the key.
The night we can follow a repair regimen, which helps tackle skin damage on a regular basis. The choice of cream depends on one’sage, < 25 yrs we can do a hyaluronic acid with or without glycolic acid creams. Above 25 yrs one can choose on various retinoid formulations available depending on their skin type and lifestyle.
Antiaging Treatment / Skin Enhancement treatment
KNOW BETTER BEFORE YOU CHOOSE……
Anti-aging treatments / Skin Enhancement treatments are of various types and depend on one’s aging pattern and the pace of aging.
It’s not practical to compare between two people even though they are of the same age.
The first step is to meet your doctor and let them give you a basic look up into your skin.
Signs of aging can be varied ….. dull skin, fine lines, pigmentation, wrinkles, increased facial expression lines, drooping of eyebrows, hollow eyes, sad smile, ill-defined jawline, double chin etc…
If onesaging process is slow, or one is in the late twenties, one can start with oral supplements like anti-oxidants, Vit C, Vit A, Polypodium Leucotomosetc…. which act like oral sunscreens and prevent aging because of sun exposure and environmental changes. They also help combat toxins produced by stress. One can shift there skin care options from just care to repair mode to doing peels on regular basis, as in once in 6-8 weeks. Strength and type of peels depend on the type of skin and its damage quotient.
Pigmentation is also one major and persistent issue of aging which needs immediate and persistent care. One has to realize that it’s most resistant to treatment and treating it early is the key. Pigmentation can be spotty like freckles, age spots, keratosis, DPN’s, melasma or just overall dull and darker shade.
Once an assessment is made about one issue, proper home care would be suggested and treatment options ranging from peels to lasers. It has to be done on regular basis as suggested by your doctor.
When one starts seeing open pores, expression lines, when moisturizers and drinking plenty of water doesn’t help keep the skin moisturized, dull looking easy tanning skin, dark and hollow eyes etc are the next level of aging where collagen is breaking down very fast.
This is when one has to start collagen supplements and take daily nutrients. This would help slow the collagen degradation process and daily nutritional supplements would help repair the skin from everyday damage. If you are in this stage, irrespective of your age do start corrective treatments. These could be a combination of deeper peels, non-ablative lasers, radio frequency treatments, vampire facials or PRP treatments which all work towards remodeling of collagen and making the skin become healthy and vibrant. Never hesitate to do remodeling procedures. When done under medical supervision they are safer than creams and oral medication.
The third phase is when we develop increased lines and hollows around eyes, sunken cheeks, double chin, the sharpness of the jaw is lost. The best way to access is profiling pictures.We start looking dull and sad in our pictures and face would start looking more bigger and rounder in front profile. This happens because of loss or migration of facial fat.The first area to show these changes are eyes, they develop hollowness and eyebrows shift downwards. Second is cheeks which present as increased nasolabial fold or smile line.
This is where our fillers(Juvederm, Restylane) come into the picture. Fillers are synthetically prepared hyaluronic molecules which act by holding the lost water in one’s skin. They come with least or zero side effects under good medical care.
To conclude one can be at any stage of aging irrespective of the age and can also have combination issues. The key to anti-aging treatments is prevention and on time corrective procedures. The more we delay the more difficult and longer it would take for our body to respond to treatment.