skin health

Kermit the Frog used to sing, “It’s not easy being green.”
My, how things have changed since then! Today, companies and products are scrambling to reposition themselves as “green.” It’s certainly trendy, but how much of it is just marketing? Stand at any drug store cosmetics wall and you'll see the color green on fresh new packaging, along with words like Natural, Pure, Organic, Mineral. But what do new color schemes and claims really mean? What's different about so-called “green” or “organic” or “natural” cosmetics?

As the sun wanes and beach vacations end, it’s time to evaluate summertime skin damage. Of course you used sunscreen diligently and faithfully wore your wide-brimmed hat to protect your face, but if you enjoyed a lot of time outdoors this summer, you might see evidence of damage anyway.

My toddler daughter routinely expresses concern over the red birthmark on my left calf. She pats it and says, “Mommy, you have a boo-boo. Let’s put some cream on it.” She wants to “make it better” for me, to make this mark go away.

I thank her for her concern and tell her that it’s OK – it’s just a little mark on my skin called a “birthmark.” She listens as I explain, puzzled, and then looks for her own birthmark, which she doesn’t have – further compounding the mystery. 

All natural, fragrance free, safe for sensitive skin. These are words that we see a lot on beauty products. But what do they really mean? Many assume that using such products is somehow beneficial, but marketing terms may not actually mean what we assume. Here are a few thoughts about common product descriptions and what you need to know about them.

We’ve slathered them with sunscreen all summer and forced them to wear shirts and hats on the beach. Now, as we send them back to school, our kids may be exposed to common skin infections, more likely to break out in groups where they play, roughhouse, and sometimes share personal items.

The vigorous debate about health care reform is grabbing headlines, and I think the energetic conversation is an extremely important one to have. The bloated, inefficient way we deliver what we call health care is costly, and the results we get for the money are not satisfactory. So it is a good thing to shine a focused light of inquiry on ideas to improve the situation. But it could take a long time, and it won’t be easy.

Psoriasis does not discriminate; it has dispensed its misery to those in all walks of life and ethnicities for centuries. Unfortunately, this is one of the rare cases where tolerance will not be tolerated! We are working to rid the world of this “equal opportunity disorder,” but, regrettably, there is not yet a cure for psoriasis. Until that day comes, you can control your psoriasis and dramatically improve your quality of life.

Acne is actually a wide variety of complex disease states, from small bumps to red inflammatory nodules and pustules, all influenced by genetic and hormonal makeup. To help understand it, we start with the fact that the human body is covered with millions of hairs, the vast majority so small they can’t be seen. But you can see the pores where the hairs protrude. And that’s where the trouble begins.

Which state has the highest per capita prevalence of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer? A good guess may be Florida or the sun-drenched states of the Southwest, but it’s actually Oregon. Even in a state with months of overcast skies and drizzle, skin cancer is a pervasive and potentially deadly disease.

I recently treated a patient for perlèche, a sometimes painful and persistent rash that occurs at the corners of the mouth. This often fungal condition is typically caused by an overgrowth of Candida, and my patient asked if it could be aggravated by stress. It was the right question to ask. If you are stressed, not sleeping well, and getting rashes and breakouts, it may well be the case that these symptoms are all related.