How To Treat Your Acne Scars At Home

To be clear, this is not an article on how to torture your skin with house hold products...if you've read my previous blogs you may know I'm not exactly the biggest fan of baking soda masks, lemon juice peels or apple cider vinegar in place of toner.

Instead this blog is about how to get the most out of your home care routine (with the correct products that were made for human skin) to lighten scars from acne.

To start off, there are actually two different kinds of scars that acne can leave behind.
The first is called Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation (PIH for short) and these are the scars that appear pink, red, purple or brown in colour and are flat, not indented in the skin.

The other kind are scars that are pitted and indented in the skin, and these can come in different shapes and have different names such as "box car" or "ice pick" scars.

These types of scars cannot be fixed with home care, so this blog is addressing the PIH scarring only.
I'll quickly say that to treat indented scarring you need to look into things like laser resurfacing, needling,  injectables and skin care as these scars are the most difficult to treat. It is do-able however so those with indented scars should no be deterred by this article.

Do your research and look into someone who has experience treating different types of scars on different types of skin (...hi!!) and go in for a consultation to get all the details.

Now as for those PIH scars...I have to say this is a very common concern as these scars can stick around for a very long time, can be embarrassing and a pain to try and cover with make up on a daily basis.
As someone who has been there and done that, I know how frustrating it is to constantly be reminded of those breakouts from the past and wondering when the spots will finally fade away.

Good news is the spots do tend to improve in most people over time, bad news is that it can take years and ain`t nobody got time for that, am I right?

First thing you have to do is ditch all the skin care I'd bet you're currently using that is slowing your progress down and likely damaging your skin. Make the switch to high quality effective products and once you start to see a difference, you'll be so happy you did!

Astringents

Sometime these products hide behind the word "toner" when they're actually full of alcohol and medicated ingredients such as peroxides, tea tree oil and salicylic acid.

While I don't have anything against those last two ingredients on their own, when formulated into an astringent with a bunch of alcohol it really does suck the skin dry of all moisture and hydration.
You know that tight, squeaky clean feeling it gives you?
Ya, that's not a good thing!

When you strip the skin of all its natural oils and moisture you're removing the protective barrier on the surface which leaves the skin open and vulnerable to environmental damage. It also stimulates the oil glands to work extra hard and produce more oil to replace what was lost. Excess oil can also contribute to more breakouts, and therefor more scars.

Replace your astringent with a real, proper toner. A true toner should balance pH and instead of taking away, it should give back to your skin.
Environs Moisturizing Toner was my first true love and what ultimately got me hooked on the rest of Environs incredible products.
The toner has vitamins, botanicals and lactic acid which all work together to even skin tone, lightly exfoliate, balance pH and add hydration. The product should be used morning and night after cleansing.


Scrubs

I don't care what brand it is or how much you paid for it, all scrubs are evil.
They increase inflammation, strip the skin, spread bacteria and will actually slow down how quickly your skin renews itself, which means it's slowing down how quickly those scars can start to fade away.

Use the rest of your scrub up on your feet, knees and elbows and switch to an exfoliant that will do much more for you. Environs Revival Masque, or Teoxane's Perfect Skin Refiner are both wonderful options.

Environs Revival Masque has lactic, malic and asiatic acid to dissolve dull, dead skin cells, kill bacteria, stimulate a faster renewal rate of the skin and prevent future breakouts at the same time.
I like to think of the Masque as a mini at-home chemical peel. Used 1-2 times a week and left on for 25 to 45 minutes at a time, it really helps to fade pigment, even skin tone and gives a beautiful dewy glow!

Teoxanes Perfect Skin Refiner has hyaluronic acid and glycolic acid to deeply hydrate the skin while the acid goes to work. This is a great option for anyone with severely dry skin, or those who want a product where you can put it on and forget about it as it's used as a night time lotion 2-3 times a week. Men usually love this product!


Skin Bleachers

I know it's easy to become frustrated and want a quick easy fix no matter the product or cost, but please don't go the skin bleaching route!
Hydroquinone or "HQ" has been banned in several countries around the world as it is considered a potential carcinogen, or cancer causing.

The chemical works by poisoning the pigment producing cells in the skin, called melanocytes.
Long term use of the chemical risks melanocyte death, and once a melanocyte has been destroyed there is no coming back.
This means you can be left with permanent white patches in the skin where there is no pigment at all. If however, you stop using the product before you get to that point the melanocytes often rebound after usage has stopped and produce way more pigment than ever before.
So, the problem comes right back and can even be worse than it was before!

A healthy alternative that is even more effective is something like Environs C-Boost Lotion. 
Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and helps to lighten and brighten the skin naturally by simply blocking the signals to the melanocytes, so they never get the message to make more pigment!
Besides that it stimulates healthy collagen production, protects against sun damage, evens skin tone and hydrates all at the same time.
The product can be used twice a day for years and it will only make the skin more healthy and resilient.


For any questions or to book a consultation with me you can contact me through my Instagram page which is @Lauras_Lasers or call/text 403 991 1663

Why Tanning Beds Are Actually Robbing You Of Your Vitamin D

Many indoor tanning companies advertise their beds to be beneficial for providing vitamin D. This is a marketing angle that these companies have come up with in an attempt to offset the bad reputation that indoor tanning has gathered in the more recent years in regards to skin cancer and other health and cosmetic problems.

 

Surprisingly, this tactic has worked quite well in attracting people who are interested in this new, and so called “healthy” way to get their vitamin D. While we obviously need healthy levels of vitamin D, this is definitely not the ideal way to get it and we will tell you why!

 

As most of us know there are 3 main rays that are dispersed from the sun. UVA, UVB and UVC rays.

UVA rays are the rays that cause tanning, skin cancer and are responsible for breaking down collagen and elastin fibers deep in the skin which is why they’re also responsible for causing the majority of premature aging.

 

UVB rays are the rays that damage the skin more superficially (on the surface), cause burns and enable the skin to make vitamin D.

Thankfully UVC rays are filtered out by the earth’s atmosphere, so we don’t have to worry too much about those ones!

 

A tanning bed will contain up to about 90% UVA rays, since these are the rays that cause tanning, and only 10% UVB rays. Clearly the concentration of UVB is very low, however this isn’t the main problem when talking about why a tanning bed would actually diminish our levels of vitamin D.

The real problem is a sneaky one and probably something you’ve never heard about before.

 

UVA rays denature and destroy vitamin D. Yup, that’s right! You see normally, in cases of long term sun exposure outside the balance of UVB allowing us to create the vitamin, along with UVA denaturing it would keep us from essentially over dosing on vitamin D. But, since tanning beds are about 12x the concentration and are mostly UVA rays, this throws any natural balance way off whack. This means that any vitamin D we’re creating from the low levels of UVB rays in a tanning bed, is being destroyed just as fast by the UVA rays.

 

In addition, any vitamin D we walked in with is also being destroyed straight from the skin as well as the blood stream since UVA rays penetrate deep down into the dermis which is home to many nutrient rich blood vessels. It’s because of this that we’re actually leaving the tanning salon with less vitamin D than when we entered it!

 

So, now that we’ve thoroughly discredited tanning beds in offering us any health benefits…what is the best way to get vitamin D?

Some health care professionals will actually recommend getting natural sunlight outside and collecting your vitamin D that way. That however, leads us to a problem…actually several problems, but let’s take it one at a time shall we?

 

How much sun does one need to get their daily dose of vitamin D? This can vary greatly from person to person and is solely dictated by skin color. Someone who has fair skin and light hair needs a lot less sun exposure than someone who has brown or black skin with dark hair to get their vitamin D.

This process can also be effected by factors like certain prescriptions. For example, something like cholesterol lowering medications can inhibit your skin from making vitamin D since the vitamin is ultimately created from a precursor of cholesterol!

 

The less cholesterol available, the less vitamin D can be created.

Another factor is the time you would have to spend in the sun on a day to day basis is going to vary greatly with weather/seasonal changes. One day it could be 10 minutes on a beautiful sunny day, the next it could be 25+ minutes on a cloudy one. The amount of exposure needed also varies widely depending on where you live and how close you are to the equator.

 

So, that being said, as a general rule when exposing yourself to the sun without any protection such as long sleeves, an umbrella or sunscreen for example. The time it takes for your skin to turn light pink is the recommended time someone should stay in the sun in order to create enough vitamin D.

However, another general rule for sun exposure is when the skin starts to turn red, there has already been free radical damage to the area.

 

This may not sound so bad to most people but keep in mind, it’s actually free radical damage that leads to development of something like skin cancer. There’s a fine line between some pink tones developing and redness developing in the skin. Most people won’t be paying enough attention to even notice that there’s any difference at all and would therefor end up causing unwanted damage.

People also often assume the skin is not only creating, but is absorbing the vitamin D instantly, or at least in a relatively short amount of time, right? Guess again!

 

New research shows that the process of the vitamin D reaching and being absorbed into the blood stream can take up to 48 hours! Until then, it’s vulnerable near the surface of the skin and can even be washed off with soap in the shower!

 

So it’s for ALL of these reasons that getting your vitamin D outside is simply not a safe, reliable or a realistic option!!

Our opinion and that of many skin health professionals is that the safest and most effective way to get your vitamin D is through supplementation. A high quality, high absorbency type of nutritional supplement not only keeps you safely out of the sun, but allows you to dispense exactly how much vitamin D you need for your specific needs. Depending on body weight and many other factors, this can range anywhere between 1,000 to 5,000+ UI’s.

 

Checking in with your doctor is always a good idea to make sure you’re getting the amount you need. Hopefully with this new information, you’ll be able to make the best choice for yourself!!

Menopause and The Skin

Most people associate this condition with hot flashes, loss of menstruation and mood swings, but all of these symptoms are caused by hormone changes and hormones have a direct impact on the skin. The adrenal glands and ovaries of post-menopausal women secrete increased androgens (male hormones) and in the absence of estrogens (female hormones), this has a major impact on changing the physiology of the skin in new and different ways.

 

Dryness: During the reproductive years female hormones stimulate a more fluid, smooth sebaceous gland (oil gland) secretion; this oil along with other substances being secreted and excreted by the skin protects, moistens, cleans and maintains the pH balance of the skin. During menopause as female hormone levels decrease so do oil levels and this causes the skin to become dry, dull, delicate and more susceptible to damage and premature aging.

 

Elasticity: Protein synthesis, like that of collagen and elastin are partially controlled by estrogens. During menopause, the lowered estrogen levels result in less production and repair of collagen and elastin in the dermis of the skin. This lack of repair is particularly pronounced if the skin is exposed or has a history of long term exposure to ultra violet rays. UV rays actually break down these important proteins, and if we lose our repair mechanism then we lose our skin's resiliency. This results in elastosis.

 

Volume: Estrogens stimulate fat deposits in the female body; as estrogen levels drop during menopause, fat deposits tend to become redistributed and often concentrated over the abdomen and/or on the thighs and buttocks. The result is a loss of supportive fat tissue below the skin in areas like the face, neck, hands and arms; this causes sagging and wrinkling due to loss of volume.

 

Renewal: The growth and maintenance of blood capillaries in the dermis are partially under the control of estrogens as well. Thus, blood flow through the dermal capillaries is reduced during menopause and less nutrients and oxygen are available to the Stratum Germinativum (the bottom layer) of the epidermis. This contributes to the thinning of the epidermis and a slower cell turnover rate or cell renewal factor (“CRF” for short.) CRF is the rate of cell mitosis and migration from the lowest layer of the Epidermis to the top layer, where it is eventually shed off. This process slows down dramatically with age and factors like diet, smoking, drinking and sun exposure all have a huge influence.

 

CRF by age

Babies: 14 days

Teenagers: 21 – 28 days

Adults: 28 – 42 days

50 and up: 42 – 84 days 

 

Pigment: The maintenance of Melanocytes (cells that manufacture the pigment Melanin) is under the control of estrogens. Melanin protects us from the sun by being released from the melanocytes after long periods of sun exposure, ultimately darkening the skin. The darker the skin, the longer it takes to absorb heat, light and energy. This is our body’s defense mechanism to try and slow the absorption of damaging UV rays. As menopause progresses, the number of melanocytes in the skin is reduced (they degenerate). With less melanocytes, we produce less of the protective melanin and skin appears lighter. Therefore, menopausal skin is more prone to sun damage, making it even more important to protect the skin with a proper sunblock.

 

So what can you do to help prevent and correct these problems? The most important thing anyone can do for their skin is have proper home care. You can go to all the fancy salons all you want but at the end of the day if you’re using harsh, incorrect and low quality products at home every day, you’ll be fighting (and most likely losing) an up-hill battle. Any skin, but especially mature, delicate and/or post-menopausal skin needs high quality, high concentrated and active ingredients.

 

-Vitamin A to correct sun damage and protect against future damage.

-Vitamin B3 for uneven skin tone, and increasing hydration.

-Vitamin B12 for healthy cell function.

-Vitamin C to address dullness, pigmentation and fight free radicals.

-Vitamin E for all of the above vitamin synergy and free radical protection.

 

The skin is the largest organ of the body but the last to receive any nutrients from the foods we eat. These vitamins are just the basics of what our skin needs every day.