Obagi Skin Health

Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects adults. Common signs of rosacea include facial redness, small red bumps that are sometimes filled with pus, large pores and rough skin texture. Inflammation is attributed to an increase in the size and activity of the sebaceous glands leading to increased sebum production. Sebum, combined with bacteria normally found on the skin, results in skin irritation, inflammation, and reduced tolerance to topical creams.
Triggers that may cause rosacea to flare-up include extreme temperatures, sun exposure, alcohol, spicy food, saunas and stress. Rosacea is cyclic, with symptoms occasionally flaring up for a period of weeks to months and then subsiding. Individuals with rosacea often complain of skin sensitivity and occasionally facial dryness. Those who suffer with rosacea are sensitive to the sun, which may exacerbate already noticeable facial redness and inflammation. Therefore, proper protection from the sun is recommended with application of an appropriate sunscreen prior to going outdoors and reapplication every few hours with prolonged sun exposure.
Rosacea patients should avoid:

• Hot and spicy foods
• Alchohol
• Sunlight, stress, anger or embarrassment
• Strenuous exercise, hot baths, sauna and corticosteroids
• Temperature extremes, cold weather and wind
• Vinegars, hot spices, spicy seasonings, hot sauces, peppers and meat marinades
• Tomatoes, citrus fruits, bananas, red plums, raisins, figs, pasta, cheese, and chocolates

Rosacea Patients should:

• Eat whole grains, seeds, nuts and plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit
• Consume plenty of Cherries, blackberries and blueberries
• Drink 10-12 glasses of water daily between meals

For more information, please go to: http://www.obagiskin.com/rosacea-skin-care.html

Loose skin and wrinkles coupled with acne scars make you look unattractive. Not only does it mar your beauty, this condition would even have an effect on your self-confidence. Assessing the skin type and finding the right treatment suitable for you requires a methodical planning by a specialist. Our skin care includes specialized treatments that are carefully designed to suit you.

Loose skin and wrinkles can be improved with a peel and a laser treatment, as each work differently on unique skin conditions. For the above problems, you would need a medium depth peel. The Blue Peel® is preferred for such treatments. Dr. Obagi invented the Blue Peel® over 12 years ago. The Blue Peel® was developed to make peels more scientific and to allow the physician to control the peel depth, making peels safer for patients. Blue Peels® can be done on all skin types and produce consistent results.

The Blue Peel® is done to tighten lax skin, smooth wrinkles and most scars, treat pigmentation problems, and correct sun damage. It is the best procedure to tighten skin without surgery and if repeated every three to four years, the peel can prevent the need for surgery as you age.

Acne scars respond to treatment with The Fraxel® laser. The laser delivers heat to the tissue and creates microscopic holes in the skin, removing old damaged skin and replacing it with new healthy skin. The depth of the treatment of the holes depend on which Fraxel® is used and the energy level used during the treatment. The density of the laser determines how close the holes are to one another and the number of holes per square inch.

The Erbium Fraxel® creates superficial holes, while the Co2 Fraxel® creates deeper holes and can provide some degree of tightening as well. The Co2 laser is excellent in correcting deep wrinkles and scars. Of course there is a downtime with each laser use and varies with each treatment.

Some tips to maintain a Glowing Face besides the treatments:

* Eat a balanced diet
* Incorporate vegetables, fruits, grains and protein to your diet
* Vitamin C helps to keep skin glowing; eat citrus fruits
* Vitamin E and B compounds aid in providing nutrition to skin
* Restrain from foods and drinks high in sugar and caffeine
* Avoid too much salt and sugar in a day; more salt gives a bloated appearance to your face
* Drink plenty of water
* Avoid burgers, fries and other fatty and oily foods
* Exercise regularly to get that healthy glow
* Bring down the stress levels to a minimum

Obagi Systems and products contain prescription-strength formulations. The systems are only available through physicians, primarily dermatologists, plastic surgeons, medical spas and other skin care and medical specialists.

Over the past several years, I noticed that 6 out of 10 female patients complained about sensitive skin, regardless of age, as compared to no complaints from male patients. An analysis of these patients revealed the most common cause was improper use of skin care products, particularly overusage of moisturizers at an early age.

Overuse of moisturizers alters the skin's barrier function, making skin weak and intolerant to environmental factors. When patients seek treatment for medical conditions, such as acne, pigmentation, and photodamage, which require use of creams that cause redness, dryness, and exfoliation, these patients have difficulty tolerating treatment.

Most women follow a skin care philosophy of cleaning and moisturizing that is outdated, wrong, and can be damaging to the skin. This approach has given rise to a large population of women who delay medical advise and necessary treatment. For this reason, I felt it was necessary to change this outdated approach to skin care and introduce a new concept that can benefit skin and keep it at its best and in the strongest condition.
ZO Skin Health? emphasizes early prevention and strengthening the skin as its primary objective. The line of ZO Skin Health? products is designed to work synergistically with the Obagi medical systems (Nu-Derm, Crx, Clenziderm) by making skin repair and treatment friendlier.

ZO Skin Health products maybe purchased online at www.obagiskin.com

Are you shopping around for a procedure that can help your skin and improve your appearance? Appearance is critical to most and many physicians promote certain types of procedures that are inadequate or ineffective to treat a variety of skin problems. There is no one procedure that effectively treats all conditions. Procedure selection should be based upon matching of skin type and skin problem with proper procedures to solve problems safely, without changing the skin color or texture.

In certain cases, two or more unique procedures are needed to achieve the best results. Procedure selection is a complex topic and there is no easy way to educate patients. Patients must therefore do their homework and obtain more than one opinion to explore what options are available to them.

In order to attain a basic understanding of the different skin procedures available and whether they would be beneficial to treat a specific skin problem or concern, we must first discuss the relationship between skin layers, depth, and procedures.

Obagi Skin Health Institute Call 310.275.3030 or Visit ObagiSkin.com.

There are a multitude of conditions that result in discoloration to the skin; ranging from simple to complex in their treatment. Some skin discoloration is easily treated with use of creams alone, while other pigmentation problems may require peels, lasers, or may be considered a permanent condition with no treatment available.

SUNSPOTS (also referred to as liver spots)
Sunspots only appear on sun exposed skin, such as the face, back of hands, arms, chest, and neck. These lesions are generally flat, have sharp borders, and range in size and shape. Sunspots may enlarge slowly. Sunspots are different from flat pigmented moles, as sunspots often appear after age 40. Treatment of sunspots is simple. Use of certain medicated creams is the first step in treatment, followed by laser treatment or peels if necessary.

FRECKLES
Freckles are flat, light to dark brown in color and generally appear on the face or other sun exposed area. Freckles are more common in fair skin (those who do not tan) and individuals with light colored hair. Freckles usually appear in childhood. Treatment for freckles consists of bleachers and tretinoin. Exfoliative peels can be done if necessary. There is always the possibility that freckles may return. Sun protection can help in preventing the appearance of freckles.

MOLES
Keratosis are benign lesions that may be flat or raised and look like warts. Seborrheic keratosis usually appear after age 50 and could be light or dark in color and vary in size from a few millimeters to one centimeter. Keratosis generally appear on the chest, back, hands, arms, or face. It is not uncommon for the surface of the keratosis to dry up and appear crusted. In certain ethnic groups, (Asian, African American) keratosis are seen predominately on the face, but could involve the neck and look like small black or brown warts. Keratosis can easily be removed without residual scarring by either shaving them or removing them with a hyfrecator (hot needle type device). Sometimes a stimulation peel is performed in conjunction with their removal.

A healthy, young and fresh looking skin is every woman and man's dream. If only each one of us continue to have the flawless skin we were born with, we would not have to struggle with beauty products. But, unfortunately many factors take away the skin you were blessed with. Some factors are aging, pollution, ad health, improper diet and use of improper skin damaging products.

Fit body insides manifest in healthy skin from outside. An appropriate nutritious diet helps in invigorating the skin from within. Water plays an important role in keeping your skin alive. A good quantity of water everyday helps in retaining the moisture of your skin and keeping skin disorders away. Fruits and vegetables in your daily diet release a lot of water into your system. Lime and hot water every morning detoxifies your body, purifies your blood and leaves your skin looking healthy.

With all the above in place, our skin still loses its ability to renew itself and most cells become inactive by age 30. Skin gets dull, dry, weaker, thinner and sensitive as we age. The very intention of skin care should be to reverse cellular damage caused by aging. Skin should be strengthened by improving its ability to improves its cellular functions and renew cells by activating them.

Obagi skin care has a complete and wholesome skin care regimen that helps rejuvenate your skin and bring back its lost sheen and shine along with the texture. ZO Skin Health skin care is a line of products designed by Doctor Obagi to reverse cellular damage, activate and awaken your skin cells, and nutrients to nourish the cells. This line of products has the highest concentration of retinol, a chief source of vitamin that aids in anti aging.

In ZO Skin Care line of products, Offect Exfoliating Cleanser has Vitamin E Encapsulated Beads and Advanced Lipopeptide that help in exfoliating dead cells and help boost in collagen production. This cleanser gently removes impurities and repairs surface damage. You can get the best results of this product if you use it after washing your face thoroughly with cool or tepid water twice a day. This cleanser is particularly useful for normal, oily or rough skin.

Exfoliating is only the first step in restoring care to your skin. In ZO Skin Care line of products, there are more exfoliates to suit your particular skin type, stimulating serums, hydrating gels etc.

Celebrity dermatologist Dr. Zein Obagi helps us make sense of our skin, tackling all the issues lying between us and complexion perfection. This week, Dr. Obagi gives a rundown on rosacea.

There are few sensations more publicly uncomfortable than blushing, the telltale sign of embarrassment. Now imagine if you experienced this pesky flush of color every day. For the estimated 16 million Americans who suffer from rosacea, daily redness is a reality.

The chronic skin condition, categorized as inflammation of the cheeks, nose, chin, forehead or eyelids, may appear as redness, prominent spiderlike blood vessels, swelling or skin eruptions similar to acne. Rosacea can strike at any time, but is most likely to surface around age 30.

While there's no cure for rosacea, the good news is you can manage and even eliminate redness and irritation with the right combination of prevention, treatment and protection.

Prevention: For those prone to rosacea, a few simple lifestyle changes can yield noticeable results. Alcohol, caffeine and spicy foods are all charged with aggravating rosacea, as well as steam and extreme temperatures on both ends of the thermometer. Start by eliminating one aggressor at a time so you can clearly pinpoint how each change affects your skin. Luckily, everyone has different triggers so chances are you won't need to abstain from the entire list.

Treatment: Since there isn't a cure for rosacea, I always remind my patients that, while I can successfully treat symptoms (ruddiness, broken blood vessels and bumps), I can't eliminate the condition all together. Improving the overall quality of skin, however, is a great way to reduce the problems associated with rosacea. The best treatment for rosacea is a program of skin care creams that will strengthen skin, unclog the pores and enable skin to renew itself. That's why I recommend a skin-strengthening product such as ZO Skin Health's Radical Night Repair. It increases cell turnover, which forces the damaged surface cells to slough off, allowing the new healthy cells to emerge.

Protection: Some studies suggest that those with rosacea are at particularly high risk for sun damage. To ensure your sun-sensitive skin is sufficiently protected from UVA and UVB rays, choose an oil-free noncomedogenic sunscreen rated SPF 30 or higher and slather it on every morning regardless of the season or temperature.

Article Source: http://www.stylelist.com/2011/02/16/rosacea/

About Author:
Dr. Obagi is a leading authority in cosmetic dermatology and created Skin Health Restoration, and Skin Conditioning, the standards by which skin conditions can be successfully treated regardless of skin color or age.