Skin Health & Beauty Basics

Basic Skin Care (Preventive Maintenance, Keeping Your Skin Beautiful)

Protect and preserve youthful, healthy skin, and correct existing problems and imperfections.  Cosmetics contain synthetics, oils, preservatives, chemicals, and allergens.  Surface occlusion with make-up impacts glandular structures (sweat glands, sebaceous glands, hair follicles).  A quality routine minimizes your need for cosmetics.  Your skin will appear beautiful enough that you don’t need much (if any) make-up.  Issues we address include pigmentation, surface contour irregularities, acne, oil, and signs of aging or exposure.   Appearance of your skin surface implies your age and vitality. For every complexion, a simple routine can be adjusted to protect and preserve your appearance.  Regular cleansing, when properly performed with a quality product, opens pores allowing sebum (secretion of sebaceous glands of the skin) to drain, removes debris, and controls microbial growth on the skin.  We promote TDW Skin Care® products for their natural and effective formulations, for their philosophy of consumer education in self-care, for their authenticity, and for their safety and simplicity of use.

Protection from excessive ultraviolet radiation (direct solar exposure) avoids irregular pigmentation (spots and/or patches) on sun exposed areas and minimizes the chance of mutations in deep epidermal (skin surface) cells that become carcinoma (skin cancer).  Protective habits include hat, sunglasses, sufficient sunblock, and avoiding unnecessary exposure by timing outdoor activities during hours when the sun is not high in the sky.  Sun protective clothing, properly tinted windows, and shade also offer refuge.

Anti-aging skin treatment includes protection from the sun and for many, regular use of tretinoin (all-trans-retinoic-acid), the best established of all prescriptions for maintaining youthful skin.  Tretinoin penetrates into cellular machinery, inducing many favorable effects.  Tretinoin up-regulates collagen and elastin, thickens aging epidermis, normalizes pigment distribution, and diminishes fine wrinkling of the skin.  Although surface drying of the skin may result, Dr. Laverson controls this by suspending his tretinoin formulation (The GOLD) in powerful moisturizers and by adding low strength anti-inflammatory agents.  Apply tretinoin to aging and/or pigmented skin areas evenings after cleansing.  Exfoliation improves penetration and increases effectiveness.  Tretinoin is a prescription product, and MUST be accompanied by strong sun protection during the day because it sensitizes skin to solar exposure.

Restoration of Beautiful & Youthful Appearing Skin

No matter how damaged your skin may be, we can improve your situation, often dramatically.  The first step to skin recovery is examination and professional evaluation.  Your consultation includes complexion analysis, skin history including genetics and exposure, and careful inspection by Dr. Steve Laverson.  If your personal or family history includes skin cancer, or you notice a skin lesion that has been growing or changing, consultation and/or follow-up with your primary care physician or dermatologist may be urgent.

Depending on problem(s) you want to improve, we offer safe and effective treatments, and follow your progress for the best results.

Skin improving treatments we perform frequently include:

• Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) Chemical Peels for pigment and fine creases
• Varilite Laser treatment of fine vessels, red spots, tan spots, skin lesions, benign growths, spider veins, and other skin irregularities
• Thermi-RF skin tightening and fat melting for loose skin or bulges
• Carbon dioxide (CO2) resurfacing for facial wrinkles, loose eyelid skin, wrinkles around lips, acne scars, and for restoration of aging damaged skin
• Plastic Surgical removal of lesions or re-arrangement to improve and/or restore appearance.

These treatments are recommended individually or in combination depending on your situation and desired outcome.