Fine Lines/Wrinkles
One of the most noticed, and complained about, skin conditions today is the presence of fine lines and wrinkles. Wrinkles are a natural part of the aging process as the elastic bonds in your skin begin to break down, hindering your skin's ability to retain moisture. Simultaneously, the fat underneath our skin layers begins to deplete, eventually causing folds and creases in the skin, or wrinkles. There have been many advances made in just the last several years to minimize the look of wrinkles, from injections to dermal fillers to microdermabrasion. There are also effective means of preventing wrinkles from occurring in the first place, but the most important ways are simply to protect your skin by avoiding sun exposure and smoking.
Back to Top
Sun Damage
While many people think of a bronzed complexion as "healthier" than a lighter complexion, there is actually no one single factor more responsible for cosmetic and medical skin conditions than sun exposure. Repeated overexposure to the sun without proper protection such as sunscreen can lead to a wide variety of conditions, including uneven pigmentation, lentigines (age spots), solar elastosis (which causes sagging skin and vertical wrinkles), melasma, poikiloderma (reddish-brown pigmentation on the neck or cheeks), solar keratoses, and of course, skin cancer.
Back to Top
Age Spots
Solar lentigines can go by many names, such as "age spots", "brown spots", "liver spots" and "sun spots". Regardless of what you may call them, these spots have one cause: exposure to the sun. Especially for people with light skin, the cells in our skin that causes pigmentation to protect us from the sun, called melanocytes, can be damaged by overexposure to the sun, causing a deposit of the pigment melanin to form, resulting in a solar lentigo. They often form in areas most prone to sun exposure, such as the face, neck, arms, hands, and upper back and chest. Treatments for these spots include a variety of lasers, and are usually very effective in minimizing or eliminating the appearance of solar lentigines.
Back to Top
Stretch Marks
Stretch marks, also known as striae, are typically caused when growth or weight gain causes skin to stretch beyond its normal limit of elasticity. The rapid skin expansion results in an off-hue stria, usually a blue or red color. Though stretch marks are usually associated with obesity, they can occur during any period of rapid growth or skin expansion, such as rapid muscle growth, a "growth spurt" during puberty, or pregnancy. Though stretch marks do not pose a health risk, and do not indicate any inability for the skin to heal or stretch, they are a common cosmetic worry, and treatments for stretch marks do exist, including laser treatments and dermabrasion.
Back to Top
Spider Veins
When you see red or blue marks resembling spider webs or tree branches on a body part (commonly the legs and face), these are typically spider veins. Spider veins are similar to varicose veins, but smaller and closer to the surface of the skin, while varicose veins are larger and deeper. Veins act as a way to get blood from body parts back to the heart, and come with one-way flaps to prevent blood from flowing backwards. If these flaps deteriorate or malfunction, blood can flow back into the veins and pool there, causing the visual effect of spider veins. This condition is usually associated with age and obesity, but can also be affected by hormone changes, smoking, heredity and sun overexposure. Several treatments for spider veins exist, including laser-based solutions and sclerotherapy, where a saline solution is injected into the vein in order to close it.
Back to Top