Correcting and Stimulating

Correcting and stimulating is a biggie in the steps of basic skin care.

Most everyone that walks in my office wants to correct something and slow down aging. There are many options available for correcting skin and stimulating skin cells. The only problem is it takes time.  If you are compliant with a regime and patient, you can see results.
I like to start with products.
For selecting skin care products, some of the same exfoliants I talked about in my last blog, also correct and stimulate skin cells.  Number 1 on my list is Retin A or Tretinoin. Retin A is tough to beat. It's a prescription cream that actually penetrates and reaches the dermal layer of skin. The dermis is basically the second layer of your skin where collagen and elastin fibers intertwine. With aging, we lose collagen and elastin.  Retin A stimulates skin cells to turn over old and create new, thus stimulating collagen. Retin A repairs sun damage, can fade freckles, helps with fine lines and remember, it exfoliates too. Every one should try to use it, but if you can't seem to tolerate it, retinols are a milder form, but still beneficial.  

Other topicals that stimulate and correct are growth factors and acids.

Besides the well known alpha hydroxy acid, which is made from sugar cane, different plants and botanicals are used to correct pigmentation and sun damage.  Kojic acid, emblica fruit extract, and lickerish root help block Tyrosinase.  Tyrosinase is what allows melanin to form which then shows up as sun spots and melasma. Botanical ingredients are being used more and more often due to the Hydroquinone issues. 
Treatments are often recommended in conjunction with products to give a better more complete result. Treatments that help stimulate and correct include Botox, fillers, various choices of chemical peels, IPL (FotoFacial), and lasers, such as Dual Fraxel.

Hope this is helpful,

Liz