Thursday , March 28 2024

Don’t Forget About Your Skin When Making New Years Resolutions

By Patricia Spitzer, PA-C in collaboration with Dr. Thi Tran
Village Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery, LLC
Don’t Forget About Your Skin When Making New Years ResolutionsIt’s that time of year for New Year’s resolutions. I hear everything from weight loss to getting out of debt to traveling more but what about the skin? What about making a resolution to take better care of your skin? According to research, it only takes approximately 24 days to make something new a habit.
New Years Resolutions Goals in Regards to Skin:
1.    Sunscreen
2.    Moisturizer
3.    Keeping up with regular skin exams
4.    Drink plenty of water
USE THAT SUNSCREEN:
One of the easiest ways to maintain healthy skin is to consistently use a broad spectrum sunscreen to block those pesky UV rays. Why does this matter? Burns from sun exposure leads to DNA damage resulting in potentially deadly skin cancers. From a cosmetic standpoint, excessive sun exposure leads to pigmentation changes to the skin that came be unsightly to some as well as degradation of the collagen and elastin. When the collagen and elastin begins to breakdown we lose our youthful appearance.
Moisturize:
Moisturizing is important to maintain the healthiness of the skin. Dry, itchy skin which is more prevalent in the winter months can cause a lot of problems cosmetically and clinically for patients. Skin that is dry is more fragile and can break open leading to sores and potential for pigmentation and scarring changes.
Go Get Regular Skin Exams:
If you don’t decide to follow any other recommendations please follow this one and keep up with regular skin exams. The typical recommendation for skin exams is yearly unless there is a personal history of precancerous or cancerous lesions. Keeping regular skin exams allows for the early detection and treatment of what could be potentially life threatening skin cancers. Also, don’t forget do to self checks at home. One of the questions I get the most is what do I look for? Well, as a rule of thumb the ABCDE’s of melanoma are a good place to start.
Asymmetry:
We want lesions to be symmetrical throughout, meaning that all areas look the same.
Borders:
It’s important to have a crisp, distinct border without jutting out of the edges or irregularity in the shape of the lesion.
Color:
This is one of the most important factors. Any darkening factors in a mole or freckle should alert you there is a potential problem. Also, if a lesion does not match the others around it, especially in terms of color we call this the “ugly duckling syndrome” and we want to make sure to test this lesion.
Diameter:
The rule of thumb is typically any lesion greater than 6 mm, the equivalent of a pencil eraser but this is not always true so if a lesion is small and irregular please bring it to your provider’s attention.
Evolution:
Anything that is changing on the skin whether that be in color, size, shape or symptoms we want to know.
Please keep in mind the a lesion that appears to be a possible pimple or smooth, pink growth that is not healing or bleeding is a reason to come in and get this checked as it could be a possible Basal Cell Carcinoma. Any area of thick, scaly pink skin, even resembling a solitary eczematous patch should be checked for the possibility of a Squamous Cell Carcinoma. Tiny, pinpoint scaly papules to the forearms, scalp, face could be what we refer to as actinic keratosis, or precancerous lesions, that need a liquid nitrogen spray to be treated.
Drink More Water:
There’s a strong correlation with healthy skin and water intake. The skin remains supple and more youthful. It also helps with overall hydration of the skin. This one could help with several other New Year’s resolutions too!
Don’t forget about your precious skin when making those New Years resolutions this holiday season!
Village Dermatogy
1950 Laurel Manor Drive
Building 220—Suite #224, The Villages, FL 32162
352-751-6565 | www.villagederm.com

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