Have you ever looked at a friend’s skin and asked yourself what is she doing to keep her skin looking so young and flawless?
If you ask, she will probably say, “Thank goodness for concealer,” or tout minimal efforts such as “Not much, just a touch of makeup and some moisturizer.” Perhaps she is naturally beautiful, but eventually the aging process will sneak up on her.
The golden secret to aging gracefully is preventative maintenance or treatments regularly performed on healthy skin to preserve a youthful appearance. It is best not to wait until one sees a big change to make a change. Waiting can result in a more aggressive and costly procedure with extended downtime.
Below are My Top Five Pro Tips to Help you Age Gracefully
1.) Daily Skincare Regimen
Daily use of quality products selected for your specific skin type is an absolute necessity. Basics include a moisturizer, broad-spectrum sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor of 30 or higher, antioxidants, peptides or growth factors and a topical Vitamin A. Two of my favorites are: Intellishade, an all-in-one anti-aging tinted moisturizer with sunscreen by Revisions Skincare, and Elta MD sunscreen, a lightweight, elegant formulation with bonus ingredients for added skin protection.
A patient who saw significant improvement in pigmentation and photo-damage following an eight-week customized skincare regimen in Dr. Singletary’s office. Broadband light (BBL) was used to treat the spider angioma on the nose.
2.) Forever Young Broadband Light (BBL)
BBL is one of our most popular treatments. It offers quick, easy and extremely effective results by brightening a red, ruddy complexion, improving the redness caused by rosacea, eliminating broken blood vessels, and clearing brown discoloration and photodamage. This photorejuvination treatment can occur on your lunchtime and has no downtime.
3.) Microneedling
Also known as collagen induction therapy, this cutting-edge technology uses the body’s natural healing to generate revitalized skin. A small surgical pen is gently glided across the skin, creating microscopic channels. This releases growth factors thereby allowing the body to heal naturally and stimulate the production of important structural components.
The body’s own platelet-rich plasma (PRP) can be added to the skin during the procedure to enhance the results and speed the healing process. The boost in collagen and elastin will greatly improve the appearance of fine lines, wrinkles, texture irregularities, sun damage, enlarged pores, stretch marks, and many types of scars.
4.) Laser Resurfacing
A tried and true treatment, laser resurfacing can remove damaged skin cells, improve overall complexion and give the body a needed boost during times of volume loss and skin laxity. Laser resurfacing can stimulate collagen-building cells thereby rebuilding the support structures that once gave skin its smooth look.
A forty-two year old patient of Dr. Singletary’s with extensive photo damage and aging skin. Same patient two months after one laser resurfacing procedure.
5.) Injectables
Neuromodulators, such as Botox/Dysport/Xeomin are purified proteins that relax muscles and offer extremely reliable results. In younger patients, lower doses are used to soften the appearance of fine lines and prevent deep-etched lines from forming without creating a frozen appearance. Fillers diminish volume loss. We use these to revitalize tired eyes, soften deep folds, enhance a youthful contour of the cheeks, redefine the lips, reverse a down-turning of the mouth and not to be forgotten, lift sagging skin. In the hands of a skilled injector, patients soon see that less is more and subtle enhancements can offer big results.
Forty-eight year old patient of Dr. Singletary before and after treatment with Juvederm Ultra XC to redefine the lips and add subtle enhancement.
Your skin is your story, treat it well and shine through every phase of your journey.
Dr. Holly Singletary lives in Austin, Texas and is the mom of two daughters and wife of husband, Michael. She is a Board Certified Dermatologist with Vitalogy Skincare at Southwest Medical Village in Southwest Austin. 512-763-3760. For a full bio, click here.