Q: Your team offers both medical and cosmetic dermatology. Can you explain the difference?
A: Medical dermatology includes the evaluation and assessment of your hair, skin and nails for comprehensive management of diseases and disorders of the skin. This includes, but isn’t limited to skin cancer, “rashes” and external manifestations of internal diseases that may affect your skin.
Cosmetic dermatology incorporates not only improving skin appearance, but helping to maintain a more youthful aesthetic globally for our patients. At Renew, we combine all of our expertise to focus on the entire health of the skin.
Q: How often should someone see their medical dermatologist?
A: We recommend yearly medical visits for most patients, which often includes a full body skin exam. If you have a history of skin cancer or any skin issues that may need continuing management, your visits may be more frequent to address these specific concerns.
Q: Do you conduct a medical analysis before completing cosmetic services?
A: A thorough medical history is taken for all patients, and that is vital to providing the best cosmetic care. Most of our cosmetic patients quickly become medical patients as well.
Q: Tell me about your skin care philosophy?
A: Our skin care philosophy is focused on making sure the appropriate categories of skin care for each individual patient are all included in your regimen versus specific products.
In order of importance, this includes sunscreen, retinol, antioxidants and growth factors. How many of those categories are needed is based on your age and history of sun exposure. Specialty products such as eye creams, neck creams and line-specific treatments can then be incorporated.
Q: For someone who has never had cosmetic treatment, what are the best aesthetic treatments to start with?
A: Beginning a quality skin care regimen, founded on sun protection, should be the first step. Then, it depends on the individual patient. Most patients begin with a neuromodulator, such as Botox or Dysport, while others may choose to begin with resurfacing procedures such as microneedling or lasers.
Q: What are some common areas of concern for your cosmetic patients?
A: Fine lines and wrinkles, skin unevenness and discoloration, and volume deficits with skin laxity are common areas of concern for cosmetic patients.
Q: How do you treat those areas?
A: This is where that global assessment comes into play, because each patient is different. We will typically first address the area of concern that most bothers the patient, but we also develop a comprehensive plan that may incorporate skin care, lasers, resurfacing treatments, fillers, neuromodulators or other modalities. All of this is chosen and catered to the specific needs of the individual.
Q: Men have been getting into the cosmetic side of skin care a lot more in recent years, but they usually have no idea where to start. What are some common aesthetic issues for men and how do you treat them?
A: We are seeing many more men requesting Botox to relax lines on the forehead and between the brows. In addition, improvement to the jawline and chin is particularly popular with men.
Q: A popular beauty trend right now is “Skin-imalism” or focusing on skin care and minimizing the amount of makeup you wear each day. What treatments do you offer that can boost the brightness, clarity and texture of your patients' skin, giving them the confidence to pursue a minimalist approach to makeup?
A: Much of makeup application is to hide uneven skin tone and texture. Procedures that remove pigment and soften surface irregularities, such as chemical peels, lasers and microneedling, help to even out the skin surface and tone and thus decrease the need for makeup.
One of our favorite all-around skin tone correcting procedures is BBL (Broad Band Light). This heat-based procedure helps treat both reds and browns, thus evening out the color that is reflected from your skin.
Additionally, skin care can be key, and combination products that include a sunscreen with a mild tint can help even skin tone and decrease the need for the extra step of makeup.
Q: Are there any trends you would advise your clients to steer clear of?
A: Unfortunately, non-medical, non-professional “influencers” on social media are full of beauty advice and are too numerous to count. As the old adage goes, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.” We just encourage patients to ask their board-certified dermatologist prior to starting any new skin care routine.
Q: People start anti-aging treatments a lot earlier than they have in the past with many teenagers already purchasing anti-aging products. What is your No. 1 bit of advice regarding aging skin for people in each age group?
A: Teens should begin using a daily moisturizer with sunscreen, aiming for one that is oil free to help prevent breakouts. A nightly regimen of washing your face should be incorporated, as well.
During your 20s, continue a daily sunscreen regimen, and consider adding in a retinol to help keep the dermis thick and prevent easily wrinkling of the skin.
When you reach your 30s, it’s a good idea to add an antioxidant, such as a Vitamin C, to reverse damage from UV rays and pollution. Consider adding in a specialty product such as an eye cream.
People in their 40s and older should continue the basics of sunscreen, retinol and antioxidants daily and add in growth factors to really boost your skin's ability to repair damage and reverse signs of aging. Additional specialty products such as a neck cream can be added, as well.
At Renew Dermatology, we have chosen the best individual products from high quality medical grade lines to help take the guesswork out of choosing great skin care.
