Healthy Face Over Fifty

Aging happens as they say – you wake up one morning, grab that cup of Joe and as you pass that mirror you do a double take, whoa, how did that happen? You take a close look and what you see just doesn’t seem to match. You see tired, drab, textured skin and yes wrinkles. Uuuggghhh – you have become your mother!

Feeling good is a constant chore marked by healthy eating, thinking and living. But how is it that all our effort and the positive, happy person that these things create can be so at odds with the face you see in the mirror? Some of that seen is genetics – God love them – we do become a variety if you will of our parents. But environment and habits also create that aged look, the years in the sun rob our skin of elasticity and so 40 years after the fact the skin hangs lower creating jowls or eyelid folds. The sun and your 15 years of smoking has also created pigmentation irregularities. There is no such thing as a naturally healthy tan, at least not after the fact give or take 10 years. All agree that the sun damage done prior to the age of 18 will haunt you in the future – from a sun spot here, a skin lesion there which ultimately evolves into a skin cancer later, and then of course the dreaded Melanoma which can literally stop you in your tracks.

So we preach safe sun early to our young people and avoidance of body toxins – cigarettes, excess alcohol and long runs of extreme climates. But life happens and so now what? Do we sit back and let be …..be? I would answer no! Take your skin by the wrinkle if you will and start creating that healthy face over fifty.

To Do List:

1. Develop a daily skin routine: Especially for your face marked by 3 major components – sun screen, exfoliation, and moisture.
2. Educate yourself on skin problem detection: Flaky patches of skin, red spots that come and go and any site that has a tendency to bleed or a sore that fails to heal.
3. Arm yourself with a few good skin professionals: A facialist who can provide a good deep cleansing with pore extraction every 4 to 8 months, a dermatologist who will help you recognize skin problems and offer proactive treatment when the problems are established, and a facial plastic surgeon who can help minimize potentially necessary biopsy or removal efforts with well camouflaged incisions or reconstructive work.
4. Educate yourself and others: So they too will have a fabulous face over 50!

(For an appointment to learn more and start your educational process about your skin please call Paul E Kelly, MD, 631-727-8050)