Taking good care of your skin now will pay dividends.
PHOTO COURTESY NOUN PROJECT/JACOB LUND PHOTOGRAPHY
Taking good care of your skin pays dividends when it comes to your appearance. Yet there’s far more to being proactive than meets the eye. As skin is the body’s largest organ, taking care of it is also vital to maintaining your overall health.
In our sunny climate, the risk of developing skin cancer is compounded. First rule of thumb is to have a yearly skin check performed by an experienced dermatologist. That red, scaly bump you’ve been ignoring just might be a precancerous lesion. Chances are it’s a basal or squamous cell skin cancer — the two most common types — but anything new, changing, or unusual on both sun-exposed and sun-protected areas of the body is worth investigating. It could be melanoma.
Fortunately, the days when melanoma was the equivalent of a death sentence are behind us. Dr. Timothy Jochen of Contour Dermatology, with offices in Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and La Quinta, points to the progress being made with a game-changing form of cancer tissue testing.
“We’re starting to do gene expression profile testing where we can identify people who are most at risk for recurrence of melanoma as well as those who are at more risk for metastases.” Jochen also underlines the advances being made with anti-program death receptor inhibitors, an injectable form of immunotherapy.
Melanoma, like most cancers, is skilled at hiding from the body’s immune system. “What anti-program death receptor inhibitors have been able to do is turn the immune system back on, so your body will actually go and fight the melanoma where it went incognito before,” says Jochen, emphasizing that these are very exciting times for dermatology.
Meanwhile, basal and squamous cell varieties of skin cancer are eminently treatable. Methods run the gamut from medicated creams to Mohs surgery, which offers the highest cure rate for difficult-to-treat and/or invasive cases. More recently, Contour Dermatology and other dermatology practices are finding great success employing multiple low-radiation treatments as an alternative to surgery.
New and improved treatment methods have emerged to treat other common skin conditions that vex people as well. For instance, inflammatory skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis are benefiting from immune modulator treatments. “When topical therapies fail, we can move on to these oral or injectable medications that can actually control these disorders if you have a severe disease process,” Jochen explains.
“The new immune modular treatments available have really changed the face of medical dermatology."
New and improved treatment methods have emerged to treat other common skin conditions that vex people as well. For instance, inflammatory skin disorders such as eczema and psoriasis are benefiting from immune modulator treatments. “When topical therapies fail, we can move on to these oral or injectable medications that can actually control these disorders if you have a severe disease process,” Jochen explains.
Janus kinase inhibitors — a type of immune modulating medication — have enabled people who suffer from eczema, psoriasis, and other types of autoimmune and/or inflammatory disorders to have real hope for sustained remission.
“We can’t cure these conditions entirely yet, but we can control them to the point where they shouldn’t disrupt the quality of people’s lives anymore,” Jochen continues. “The new immune modular treatments available have really changed the face of medical dermatology.” And in the very near future, the aforementioned gene expression profile testing will eventually determine which immune modulators will work best for any given individual.
Of course, being proactive when it comes to skincare can circumvent many problems before they begin. Daily cleansing is a must. The first step is to take into consideration your skin type. Is it oily, dry, or a combination? Are you troubled by acne or rosacea? Surveying the landscape helps determine which gentle cleanser will work best for you.
Preferably, choose a cleanser that contains ceramides. These complex lipids are essentially the glue that holds skin cells together to keep the skin barrier intact and healthy. The goal is to seal in moisture and block harmful elements from penetrating.
It should come as no surprise that the next essential element of any skincare regimen is the steadfast application of sunblock. It’s your best protection against skin cancer and premature aging of the skin.
Finally, if you’re going to add one product to your regimen, Jochen recommends a retinoid. Whether it’s a serum or a cream, retinoids have been scientifically proven to improve the skin. Not only do they stimulate collagen production, but they also allow other products to penetrate more efficiently because retinoids exfoliate the superficial layer of the skin. Most important of all, retinoids normalize production of pigmentation to even out skin tones.
Take good care of your skin, and it will help take care of you.
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