Skin Care Options

Transcription:

Melanie Cole (Host):  People may not realize it, but taking care of our skin is such an important part of our overall health.  My guest today is Dr. Vidas Dumasius.  He’s a board-certified plastic surgeon at Memorial Health System.  Dr. Dumasius, thank you so much for joining us.  As I said in our intro, our skin is such an important part of our overall health.  What happens to our skin as we age?

Vidas Dumasius, MD (Guest):  Melanie, thank you for the opportunity to share my experience and share with your listeners the important factor about skin aging.  Skin is the largest organ on our body, and as anything in our body, starts aging from the moment that we are born.  If we look at our young pictures, we had plump cheeks that demonstrate all the necessary collagen and hyaluronic acid that maintains the beautiful skin.  As the time progresses, and we get sun exposure, and all other elements in our life, the skin loses that elasticity and loses that hyaluronic acid and collagen.  So, it’s very important to meet your plastic surgeons who can educate you about the skin and what we’re doing today.

Host:  So, that is what we’re doing today.  So, let’s just start with, you know, UVA and UVB rays, what they do to our skin, and is there any way that we can prevent some of the aging that happens to our skin, whether its wrinkles or age spots?  I’m 55, Doc, I mean, I’m looking at my skin, and I don’t even recognize some of the skin on my hands or my arms.  Is there anything we can do to stop that or slow it down a little? 

Dr. Dumasius:  Oh, absolutely, Melanie.  The first thing that we have to do is to recognize that sunscreen and protective clothing is the most important thing.  We have to start it every day using the sunscreens that are today on the market or even using the clothes that we cover.  If we have already developed some changes, like you mentioned, the sunspots, we can start using some products that can be used very well. I mean, we bring patients to our office, evaluate their skin, and initiate them on the skin care products that would initiate to rejuvenate the skin, restore that collagen and hyaluronic acid that we have lost over time.  So, the most important thing is prevention, but next to that is meeting your plastic surgeon and starting the program.  So, I would invite you to visit us, and we can start and introduce you to some of the products.  

Host:  Oh.  I would love that.  So, tell me about the products you and I were talking a little bit off the air?  Tell us about Obaji Skin Care products and what can they do for us.

Dr. Dumasius:  So, Obaji Skin System is a very well recognized and used system for a long time.  It started over 30 years ago when we recognized and Dr. Obaji, who was the plastic surgeon who recognized that skincare starts with a prevention, and we lose that elasticity, but he designed the system where it introduces the sun-damaging sun ray protection as well as restoring the elasticity to the skin.  So, it’s a physician prescribed system that uses for everyday use starting from the morning to the evening developed into the stepwise described very simple system that helps out the patients very easily to maintain from mornings to night nutrition and protection of the skin.  So, it is a well-recognized, well documented effect where all of the elements of the damage, whether age spots, can be cleared out within the steps within the system followed by strengthening of the collagen in the skin, and not to be missed, that we have products that can restore even in the wrinkles [that] have been developed.  Wrinkled skin before the scars and the scars can be treated differently than it used to be just surgeries.  So, the first thing starts with the reversal of those scars in your skin.  So, there are fillers that like Juvéderm or Restylane that we are in the office that we can provide that.  It starts lifting those old scars—all those wrinkles—and smoothing out the skin.  Furthermore, starting utilizing the Botox—if you think about it, your muscles are damaging your skin too by all of our happy expressions, sad expressions, and those grooves build into our skin.  If we prevent those scars building up, the skin remains youthful, and then you’re using both of those systems where it is stopping the muscles from damaging your skin and building up the collagen.  You maintain your face youthfulness for [a] much longer time and delay the need for surgery.  So, the paradigm of all of the skincare has changed where we are not pushing as much towards the surgery.  We want to improve the skin and to use the surgery as a last resort.  So, it affects [the] long-term relationship that you establish with your plastic surgeons and the skincare providers.

Host:  That was an excellent explanation.  What an interesting topic this is.  So, expand a little bit more for us.  You know, you spoke about Botox and dermal fillers, Juvéderm.  Explain a little bit to the listeners what those are and how fast these kinds of procedures are.  How often we should look to them to really see these great results?

Dr. Dumasius:  Botox also has been used for a very long time, and effects of the Botox are used to limit the activity of the muscles that would develop those wrinkles and what you can describe it as the scars.  Botox is injected every three to four months.  Some people last, If they maintain it on a regular basis, every six months, and it is used from the natural occurring toxin which is the portion extracted, which is completely safe.  So, essentially, it is—it’s only a small portion of the toxin that naturally occurs, so it is made safe.  

So, for fillers, it’s called hyaluronic acid.  We recognize that as the children that I described earlier, we have the fullness and shininess of the skin.  There’s lots of hyaluronic acid, which is [the] natural occurring filler of our skin.  The scientists have discovered that we can extract that and use that into the products.  So, that’s how it works immediately.  So, some of the wrinkles that are deeper and cannot be corrected with the Botox can be corrected with immediately filling up, restoring that youthful appearance with the hyaluronic acid, which is Juvéderm or Restylane.    

Host:  Wow.  That’s so interesting.  Now before we talk about skin cancer and the like and even some surgical options, tell us what you would like us to know about keeping our face clean, you know.  We all want to know, and especially women as we do our routines at night and in the morning, should we be washing our face with soap?  Should we be not washing our face every day?  Give us some of your best advice on what we should be doing as we look to other things that we might need to do as an adjuvant to whatever we’ve done all our lives. 

Dr. Dumasius:  The most important thing for your face skin is prevention, prevention, prevention from the sun damage.  Use of any kind of particular soaps does not necessarily change because all of our skins are very different.  So, one solution would not work for [the] other person, you know, so we customize that when we meet with the patients.  So, it’s very important to come to the—your providers and have that evaluation because then we can assess your individual needs.  There are dry skin.  There is oily skin.  All of that determines how we recommend what patients need to do.  That’s why I was talking about the Obaji System, which takes all of those things into account.  They are designed to be for dry skin or oily skin and initiates that to take care of it.  So, we individualize.  It’s not one treatment that fits all.  We make it [a] very much individualized treatment plan.

Host:  That is great advice.  So, now to avoid skin cancer, and you mentioned using sunscreen to avoid skin cancer, but If we do get skin cancer and one is found, what is the next step?  What are the procedures…look like?

Dr. Dumasius:  So, when the skin cancers are discovered, and the plastic and reconstructive surgeons are very good providers who can address these issues.  The steps are that first, we establish the diagnosis by taking the samples.  Once that is established, the surgery is the treatment of choice because with a surgery, we can remove all of that cancer, and who is better than not the plastic surgeons, especially If it is in a sensitive area, as the face, the hand or anywhere in the body who can—the plastic surgeons—can hide the scars the best way or respect the natural tension lines.  So, that is who you should be evaluated by and given the options of.  So, the first thing is diagnosis establishment with the biopsies and the second one is removal of the cancer.  Surgery removes all of the cancer because we work with our pathologist in the operating room where they confirm that all of the cancer is removed, and always after the procedures, the prevention remains there because the sun damage is the cumulative effect.  You can think of it as radiation that constantly attacks us and builds up in our skin.  Skin can only protect as long as it can protect and then skin cancer is the sign that protective mechanisms have been violated.  That’s why it is important afterwards to surveil your skin on a regular basis.  The follow ups continue on equal intervals, three to six months, to make sure that we detect those lesions early and can treat them early.  Skin cancers are well-treated If they [are] detected early.

Host:  Wow.  Thank you so much, doctor, for coming on, giving us such great advice.  Wrap up.  What would you like us to take from this segment about taking care of our skin and the options that are out there for us, non-surgical and cream and skincare routines?  What would you like to tell us?

Dr. Dumasius:  I would want everybody to know that Marietta Memorial Health System, we have a great program of the skincare, surgical and non-surgical options.  Even if the cancer is developed, we have a program how to take care of this and return you back to the life as quickly as possible, but before even that happens, I would invite everybody to come and visit us and have [an] evaluation so that you would be confident of your good care that you probably already are doing and reinforce that how you can improve that.

Host:  It’s great information, and thank you again, so much, and that wraps up this episode of Memorial Health Radio with Memorial Health System.  Head on over to our website at mhsystem.org for more information and to get connected with one of our providers.  If you found this podcast as informative and interesting as I did, please share—share on your social media.  Share with others that you know because we all need to take care of our skin, and you got some really great advice today from the experts at Memorial Health System and be sure not to miss all the other interesting podcasts in our library.  Until next time, I’m Melanie Cole.