September 7, 2011
Reverse the Signs of Aging
Here the Daily Glow helps us with the secrets to looking younger. Enjoy! =) Take it away Doc!!!

 If you haven’t been protecting your skin,
it can start to give away clues about your age. Fine lines and wrinkles
begin to appear, along with brown spots and rough skin patches caused
by sun exposure. Your skin might be producing less collagen, and dead
skin cells don’t flake off imperceptibly anymore. If this sounds like
your skin, it’s time to turn to anti-aging products and treatments to
slow down, reduce, or even reverse the signs of aging and regain younger-looking skin.
Any skin that’s been regularly exposed to the elements can be
expected to show its age and needs special care to maintain its
youthful look, says Sonia Badreshia-Bansal, MD, CEO and medical director
of Elite MD, Inc. Advanced Dermatology, Laser, and Plastic Surgery
Institute in Danville, Calif.
Your Anti-Aging Action Plan

At-home and doctor’s office procedures can have a visible impact on your complexion, giving you back younger-looking skin.

  1. Protect your skin. The first rule of thumb:
    Prevent the damage. “The best thing to do to protect your skin is
    prevention,” Dr. Badreshia-Bansal says. The sun is enemy number one, so
    you need to wear sunscreen
    with a sun protection factor, or SPF, of 30 or higher whenever you’re
    outside. You also should wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. Protect
    your face and neck with wide-brimmed hats, your eyes with sunglasses
    with UV coating. Dryness is enemy number two, making lines seem more
    noticeable, so choose a moisturizer made for your skin type and use it regularly to keep skin supple.
  2. Apply a vitamin A cream. Prescription-strength,
    vitamin A–based topical gels or creams known as retinoids can reduce
    wrinkles and produce younger-looking skin. “It helps to build collagen,
    which can prevent the development of fine lines and wrinkles, and to
    lighten dark spots,” Badreshia-Bansal says. “We also use it to treat acne,
    and it can help prevent precancerous growths.” Prescription retinoids
    include Retin-A and Renova (tretinoin), Differin (adapalene), and Avage
    (tazarotene).
  3. Bleach your brown spots. You can try lightening
    brown spots (also called age spots) with a bleaching cream that contains
    hydroquinone. “Hydroquinone helps inhibit an important enzyme in
    pigment synthesis,” Badreshia-Bansal explains.
  4. Pick up a pentapeptide anti-wrinkle cream. These
    anti-aging creams stimulate the skin’s production of collagen and
    elastin and are found in some drugstore or beauty counter products.
    “You’re helping to build back the support structure that’s been lost
    through aging and sun damage,” Badreshia-Bansal says.
  5. Peel to reveal fresher skin. Dermatologists use
    various methods to remove the top layer of skin and expose new skin.
    These procedures can help tighten the skin and diminish fine lines and
    brown spots. “By exfoliating that top layer, you’re allowing the
    moisturizers and other products we use to penetrate deeper and work
    better,” Badreshia-Bansal says.
    Procedures include:

    • Chemical peel solutions to loosen and slough away the top layer of skin
    • Laser skin resurfacing to vaporize the surface skin
    • Microdermabrasion that sprays tiny particles to strip away topmost skin cells
    • Plasma skin regeneration using a stream of ionized nitrogen gas to heat the skin and cause the top layer of cells to flake away
  6. Consider Botox. Injections of botulinum toxin
    have become tremendously popular as an anti-aging therapy. The
    injections relax the muscles under the skin and can eliminate deep lines
    and wrinkles around the face. Botox treatments also can help prevent
    new wrinkles from appearing.

You have many options available to create younger-looking skin.
Factors including cost and the recovery time associated with procedures
like peels will help you decide on your best course of action.