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:

1. 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 and may cause more harm than good.

2. 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 with a safe non-invasive course of IPL.

3. 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. IPL laser treatment would be exceptionally useful to fight this as it not only removes the brown spots but also stimulates collagen growth.

4. 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 fraction lasers .

5. 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/laser treatment will greatly reduce the veins and the flushing that is caused by exercise, hot food or heat.

6. 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 complementary cosmeceutical skin care programmes.

7. 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 .

8. 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.

9. 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 fix the signs of sun induced skin damage?

Call Riverbanks Clinic on 01582 762877 or make an enquiry.

Prevage MD Anti Aging Treatment - save £50 at Riverbanks!

PREVAGE MD anti-aging treatment, an innovative cosmetic by Allergan, represents the next generation of topical antioxidants and contains 1% idebenone - a revolutionary, potent, and effective antioxidant.

Clinical tests with PREVAGE prove a significant decrease in the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and improvement in the look of firmness, tone, texture & radiance.
In addition, 81% of consumers tested (107 over an 8 week period), including those with moderate to severe sun-damaged skin, saw a significant improvement in their skin's appearance.

A leading online Chemist and Beauty store has one version of this fantastic product on the shelves for £145 - but here at Riverbanks you can pick up the double strength version for just £95!

Make a difference to your skin - buy Prevage MD anti aging treatment now!

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.

5 Steps to Sensational Summer Skin

No doubt you know the mantra 'cleanse, tone, moisturise', but really looking after your skin can take a little extra care.

If you still have a youthful skin it doesn't mean this is not for you - if you look after your skin now, you'll keep that sensational smooth look for much longer and take years off your chronological age as the years go by.

Summer is when the sunshine makes you feel good, but the damage it can do is generally invisible in the short term - it's only when nasty brown marks appear later that you wish you'd been a little less carefree about how you treated your skin!

Yes, we can almost achieve miracles at Riverbanks, but our advice is to take action NOW so you don't need those more extreme treatments later on.

Here's our step-by-step guide to sensational skin:

1. CLEANSE - we recommend Priori Idebenone Cleanser and this is ideal in the summer as it helps correct sun damage.
   
   
2. CORRECT: Iron out existing imperfections with Even Tones or Smooth Lines. They even out your skin tone and smoothe away lines
   
   
3. Give your skin a boost to enhance hydration and brighten your skin - Vitage Vitamin C Serum does this perfectly.
   
   
4. HYDRATE - to combat the drying effects of the sun and give you that smooth, plump, youthful glow. Priori Barrier Repair Complex and Priori Idebenone Moisturisers are the best on the market, as they hydrate the skin cells from inside the cells rather than simply leaving a sheen on the surface, as most over the counter products do.
   
   
5. PROTECT - We can't recommend this strongly enough. Anyone who knows us will be familiar with our insistence that an SPF of at least 30 is essential. SPF; SPF; SPF!!! Use the Daily Defense SPF 30, Radical Defense or Vitage SPF 30.
   

If you don't think you need to do all this ask us to scan your skin with the VISIA Complexion Analysis Camera before you go on holiday and you'll see what damage sun can do to your skin!

Advanced Priori could help Eczema suffers

Having seen this news item this morning, I must admit Eczema used to be one of my most common diagnoses when I was a GP. I believe the cause was primarily excessive washing and use of deteregents and soaps, coupled with very hard water in the area. People very rarely realised that the water and soap actually dried the skin out and caused irritable skin.

Prevention really is better than cure. So hydrating the skin effectively is essential. Over the counter moisturisers will in effect create a barrier and reduce how much water is evaporated from the skin, but they are not very effective at actually increasing the amount of water in the skin itself. This is where cosmeceutical creams which contain products such as glyocolic or lactic acid work well, as these chemicals actually increase the amount of water deep at the cell levels in the skin.

I have seen several patients with dry, scaly skin and they have tried even the strongest of steroid creams and emoillents from the GP without success. After just a couple of weeks with Advanced Priori Hand & Body Lotion, the skin has healed itself, obviating the need for steroids. This is because the Priori products contain high percentages of Lactic Acid which doesn’t irritate the skin but does add moisture.

Remember, it is always advisable to see a skin specialist before embarking on any treatments, even lotions such as Advanced Priori.