9 Signs of Sun-Induced Skin Damage

The sun is a major factor in the health of your skin. Even natural daylight causes damage to your skin and you can damage your skin even through the clouds. Taking precautions to prevent sun damage doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the sunshine, but it’s important to recognise that signs of sun induced skin damage can range from freckles and moles to skin cancer.

Here are the signs of sun-induced skin damage:

Sun spots, freckles and brown spots - these are most commonly found on the upper body, appearing on the face, neck, chest, the forearms and the hands. These spots can be unsightly, but can fairly easily be removed with the correct cosmetic treatment. Some home treatments are available, but they are less than reliable.

Uneven skin colour or dark spots – confidence sapping skin colouring might seem like damage that can’t be undone, but these days they can be treated in a safe, non-invasive course of IPL.

Explosion of Freckles – Okay, we’re not talking about a few freckles, but excessive clusters of highly visible embarrassing freckles that cover the skin and make you feel very self-conscious. Laser treatment would be exceptionally useful to fight this as it not only removes the brown spots but also stimulates collagen growth.

Age Spots - these are also known as Liver spots and are generally found on the backs of the hands. A qualified cosmetic physician would offer a number of ways that these can be reduced or removed, usually with IPL or Fractional Lasers.

Rosacea - This can be a very embarrassing condition that is comprised of prominent redness, veins in the face showing and often spots or pimples long after adolescence. An IPL or Laser treatment will greatly reduce the veins and the flushing that is caused by exercise, hot food or heat.

Wrinkles – The sun can easily cause wrinkles or make existing wrinkles worse. There are many ways to approach the reduction of wrinkles, there are many skin creams available from pharmacists, but most are purely superficial and do little to help. A professional cosmetic physician can offer you a range of collagen boosting options from Botox and dermal fillers to resurfacing laser treatment and other suitable treatments such as complementary cosmeceutical skin care programmes .

Broken capillaries - often giving the face a ruddy complexion, associated with alcoholism, very embarrassing, particularly for women. Speak to your cosmetic specialist for ways to treat this problem- usually with ND:YAG Laser or IPL.

Enlarged pore size - many people don’t think about how the sun can widen and enlarge the pores in your skin, giving a quite unsightly appearance to the skin, a little like an orange peel. Your cosmetic physician would almost certainly offer you an excellent range of treatments including laser skin resurfacing to bring a youthful look back to your skin.

Sagging skin - after the sun has damaged your skin, you may find that it causes your lifeless skin to sag. This is common in people as they hit their 30s but is more often found in people of middle age. With a non-surgical, non-invasive cosmetic treatment, you can improve the tautness of the skin and give it a rejuvenated appearance.

Want to know more? Contact Doctor Ravi Jain now!

Dr Jain recommends the following creams to help combat the effects of sun damage:

• Prevage MD
• Priori Even Tones
• Priori Idebenone Moisturising Cream
• Priori Daily Defense SPF30
• Vitage Skin Protector SPF 30

4 ways to get rid of Thread Veins

Thread veins are the tiny veins that you may see appearing on your cheeks, nose or legs. They are totally harmless to you but you may feel that they are unsightly. They are usually red but some larger veins may look blue in colour.

Many things can cause thread veins. They are a natural sign of aging but can be exacerbated by over exposure to sunlight, Rosacea, pregnancy or hormone treatment. Most people will find that they are most prominent in a certain area of their body and look at ways in which they can reduce or remove them completely.

The great thing is that there are a number of ways in which you can look to remove thread veins.

Vitamin K

For a long time now beauticians have been promoting the use of Vitamin K in topical form to treat thread veins and bruised areas. Vitamin K helps to clot blood and applied directly on to the skin can work really effectively. Vitamin K cream is often used after laser surgery as it has been shown to reduce bruising. With thread veins it assists in clotting the blood and shutting down the angry red vein that you can see. If the thread veins have been there a long time or are fairly prominent then this may not be the ideal solution.

Laser Treatment

In Laser Treatment the heat from the laser is absorbed into the vein, which causes it to stick together and seal off the blood. The disadvantages to this treatment are that only small areas can be treated at a time and there is a risk of crusting or even scarring to the skin. On the other hand, the laser is very effective when IPL fails or the vessels are bigger than 1mm across.

Sclerotherapy

This treatment is fairly common and very effective. The thread vein is injected with a solution that will cause it to collapse or stick together, sealing it off and preventing blood from flowing into it, therefore reducing the colour. It can take a number of visits and a good few months to see results using this treatment. This is often used for larger unsightly thread veins or ones that haven’t responded well to other treatments.

Intense Pulsed Light (IPL)

IPL treatments are highly effective – even in short courses. They effectively remove the damage of overly exposed skin and eradicate thread veins and scarring. The award winning Harmony IPL Laser treatment that we use is considered to be the best and most advanced treatment available for reducing thread veins, imperfections and skin damage.

With IPL a hand held until emits pulses of high intensity light that destroys any thread veins and prevents blood from flowing through.

It is relatively painless, much safer then laser treatment and gains very quick results.

If you are unhappy about the thread veins on any part of your body then we would advise you to come and speak to us. We would highly recommend the Harmony IPL treatment because of its low risk and excellent successes. If you would like to learn more about IPL or how it can help you then please get in touch.

Find out how to get rid of thread veins!

Thread veins. Spider veins. Broken veins. Capillary veins.

No matter what you call them, if you have them then they're noticeable, and the chances are you want to get rid of them.

They most commonly appear on the cheeks, nose and legs, and they're unsightly and make you feel self conscious.

Nasal threadveins are one of the commonest complaints we see at Riverbanks Clinic in both men and women. They are often hereditary, can be caused by poor diet and environmental factors as well. However, treatment is quite simple and often instant.

We're thrilled with the latest results of our IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment for thread veins, with finer veins needing just one treatment to be removed. More stubborn veins may need more treatments, but it really is an ideal way to get your self confidence back and face the world.

To find out more about thread veins and IPL, visit our website. Why not book in for your free consultation by filling in our booking form now!

Skin complaints and how to treat them - #4: Sun Damaged Skin

Having covered Acne, Age Spots and Rosacea in previous blogs, now we turn to Sun Damaged Skin.

Remember, we're always available to talk about any skin complaints you may have, and to let you know whether we can help with them, on 01582 762 877.

#4 - Sun Damaged Skin

The harmful effects of over exposure to the sun present themselves as skin cancer, uneven pigmentation and Rosacea, amongst other health problems.

Treatment: The first step is to spend less time in the sun or use a high factor skin protection cream. The two main treatments are Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and SmartXide Laser Skin Resurfacing. Prevention is often better than cure, and using a powerful antioxidant agent such as idebenone has been shown to be very helpful.

Tomorrow we talk about Blood Blisters.

Skin complaints and how to treat them - #3: Rosacea

#3 in our mini series of blogs on common skin complaints that can be treated at Riverbanks Clinic.

Dr Ravi Jain, our Medical Director, specialises in cosmetic dermatology and the treatment of skin complaints such as Rosacea.

#3 - Rosacea

Rosacea is a chronic skin condition that affects the cheeks, nose and forehead areas of the face. It results in the skin having a flushed, blotchy red appearance and produces red, pus-filled bumps in the skin. If this condition is not treated, it becomes worse with time. Rosacea is often mistakenly confused for eczema. Although the condition is currently incurable, there are treatments that can reduce the appearance of the Rosacea.

Treatment: The appearance of Rosacea can be greatly reduced using a combination of professional skin products; light therapy and IPL laser treatment as well as anti-inflammatory and antibiotic medication, both topical and as a tablet.

If you would like to talk to someone about reducing the appearance of Rosacea, why not contact us now and we'll be happy to talk you through the process, as well as making an appointment for a no obligation consultation.

Skin complaints and how to treat them - #2: Age spots

Number 2 in a series of blogs about skin complaints and how to treat them, by Dr Ravi Jain, an expert in cosmetic dermatolody, and Medical Director at Riverbanks Clinic, based in Harpenden, Herts.

#2 - Age spots

These are often known as Liver Spots or Sun Spots. They are actually signs of damage from UV exposure. These age spots are often found on the hands, face, shoulders, arms and head. The spots appear in middle age as the skin, which has been weakened by sun exposure fails to regenerate with the same capacity. At this point, the age spots begin to show.

Treatment: Using treatments such as Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) and SmartXide DOT Laser Therapy, the appearance of age spots can be reduced, and in some cases entirely removed.

If you would like to talk to someone about removing Age Spots, please contact us at Riverbanks Clinic for a no obligation consultation.

Tomorrow - Rosacea