Anti-Aging Skincare

Anti-aging skincare programs help fight the effects of facial aging and restore a more youthful appearance. On this page you will find information on what will work best with your skin and help reverse the aging process.

For more information, visit the Consumer Guide to Anti-Aging Skincare.

Skincare

Exposure to environmental factors can aggravate facial aging and harm the skin's appearance. Lifestyle choices also damage the skin, such as improper diet and not enough exercise. Genetic causes include changing hormone levels that age your skin. As skin cell replacement slows with age, more and more dead cells build up on the surface layers.

Here is a list of steps to help you combat these aging effects:

Cleanse: Twice a day, and more if sweating or after rigorous activity.
Exfoliate: Since the natural exfoliation process slows, exfoliation can be enhanced with an exfoliation product.
Tone: Toners, known as degreasers, prepare skin for additional products such as moisturizers and make up.
Moisturize with Cleansing: Moisturizers hydrate and protect skin from harsh environmental factors such as free radical damage.
Sunscreen SPF 15 or more: Sunscreen can help prevent hyperpigmentation (skin discoloration) and sun damage. Apply every hour of sweating or outdoor activity, otherwise twice a day.
Remove Make Up: As we sleep, pores enlarge and sweating often occurs. This traps un-removed make up and results in break outs.
Night Cream: The heaviness of night creams can vary. They provide necessary hydration and seal in moisture.
Eye Cream: There are no oil glands under the eyes. A heavy moisturizer is required.
Antioxidant Therapy: Eat a well-balanced diet (with antioxidant-rich foods) and perhaps a topical antioxidant cream.
Daily Supplements: Use supplements that are rich in antioxidants and essential fatty acids (seek your physician's recommendations).
Diet and Exercise: Drink eight or nine 8-ounce glasses of water every day, eat a proper diet, and exercise three times a week.

Anti-aging skincare requires vigilant monitoring and periodic treatment modifications to react to ever-changing conditions, in order to keep your skin balanced. The best treatment is determined by your skin condition, age, sex, and overall health.

Skin Disorders

While the cause of many skin disorders is not known, some conditions can be traced to genetics, allergic reactions, stress, or autoimmune disease. Some of the most common disorders include:

Rosacea: Your face typically has a flushed, reddened appearance. This is often accompanied by visibly enlarged blood vessels and recurring pimples. If rosacea progresses, the nose may thicken causing another condition called rhinophyma.
Seborrheic Dermatitis: This disorder produces flaking skin on the face or other areas of the body. It may appear as dandruff on adults or the cradle cap on babies. Seborrheic dermatitis may also cause a greasy appearance on the affected skin.
Psoriasis: There are five different types – plague, guttate, pustular, inverse, and erythrodermic. Each may produce intense inflammation, redness, and scaling of the skin. The most common occurrences are in the knees, elbows, stomach, feet, hands, and face. Psoriasis can cause infection, fluid loss, and poor circulation.
Eczema: This skin disorder also consists of several types – atopic eczema, allergic contact dermatitis and irritant contact dermatitis eczema, where signs may include intolerable itching, redness, and inflammation, infantile seborrhoeic eczema, which is more commonly known as cradle cap, and symptoms may appear as matted dandruff on the scalp and outlying areas, adult seborrhoeic eczema, which is identified as dandruff, and this condition is often accompanied by some redness and flaking, varicose eczema, which includes freckled, red, and inflamed skin on the legs and ankles, and discoid eczema, where circular areas of redness can become scratchy and ooze fluid.
Vitiligo: This appears as white patchy areas of the skin. It is caused by pigmentation breakdown in different areas of the body. This condition can also affect hair, causing it to turn white.

Adult Acne

Although the precise reason for acne in adults remains unknown, current research is finding that acne is caused when bacteria multiply excessively within the hair follicle, an oil-releasing blockage develops, and enlarged oil glands yield the overproduction of oil. However, adult acne is most often caused by genetic and hormonal changes. Contributing factors can include side effects from certain medications, cosmetic products with high oil contents, excessive sweating, stress, pregnancy, and menopause.

The appropriate treatment for adult acne varies depending on the individual and the doctor. Some of the products currently on the market include ingredients such as benzoyl peroxide, salicylic acid, retin-a, cleocin-t, accutane, sulfur, erthythromyicin, doxycyline and tetracycline. But there's more than medicine to treating adult acne. A multifaceted approach of treatments, behaviors, and diet is often most effective.

Exfoliants

Stripping away tired old skin by using an exfoliant can be a rejuvenating experience for your face. Exfoliants smooth your skin, jump-start the production of new collagen, and may help improve the appearance of fine lines and mild acne.

Exfoliation is a process that sloughs dead skin cells from the top layer of skin, allowing new rejuvenated skin to surface. As an infant, natural exfoliation occurs every few days. As an adult, this process slows down substantially. Exfoliation treatment helps make up for the lessening natural process, to preserve and enhance the tone and texture of your skin.

After an exfoliation treatment, new skin develops. Your new skin absorbs moisture more easily. Maintaining moisture helps slow the wrinkle process and produces a more glowing appearance. Facial cloths, Loofah sponges, exfoliation brushes, and body scrubs stimulate the rejuvenation process.

Moisturizers

Hydration is essential to a moisturized face. Proper hydration requires the right diet, water intake, and a daily skincare program. Hydration can be limited by the decline of bodily functions as we age. Manufactured moisturizers can hold moisture in; however, they do not add moisture to the skin.

Different skin types need different moisturizers. Moisturizers for healthy skin are different than moisturizers for a person with a skin disorder. Moisturizers that are high in water content typically offer less protection than those with a higher oil base. The most popular oil-based moisturizers may contain glycerin, mineral oil, petrolatum and dimethicone.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants help protect your body from damage caused by unstable molecules, also known as free radicals. Free radicals are highly reactive molecules that target and ultimately damage your tissues, protein bonds, and cells. The escalation of free radicals can inhibit the rebuilding process of cells, which can interfere with muscular growth, weaken your immune system, and create a greater risk of injury.

You can use various creams and serums is to diffuse free radicals and strengthen the fibroblasts, which are bridges that support skin. In addition to creams and serums, diet plays a role in controlling antioxidant levels.

The following vitamins and foods are rich in antioxidants:

Vitamin E: Whole grains, wheat germ, some cereals, apricots, nuts, seeds, vegetables, and fish oils.
Vitamin C: Citrus fruits and juices, cantaloupe, strawberries, kiwi, cabbage, spinach, broccoli, and green peppers.

In addition to vitamin C and vitamin E, antioxidants can be found in magnesium, copper, and zinc.

Stretch Marks

Stretch marks, clinically known as Striae, are scars left after the dermal and epidermal skin layers lose elasticity due to extreme stretching. Treatments for stretch marks include:

Some people are more genetically susceptible to stretch marks than others, and stretch marks often fade over time. Those that don't fade can usually be treated with topical creams and lotions. Exercise is a good way to help prevent stretch marks as well.

Facial Exercise

Facial exercises are typically used to stimulate blood flow and circulation, to better prepare skin for a facial treatment, relieve tension, or assist in treating medical conditions. Facial exercise is often performed by moving the pads of the fingers in an upward, outward motion over different areas of the face. Practitioners may massage areas or slightly pinch around the brow where facial tension is concentrated.