Dermatologist Responds To Skin Care Questions & Myths

Sun spots, dark spots, fine lines, wrinkles.

If you wanna stay snatched, you need to be doing

something about your sun protective measures.

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Hello, I'm Dr. Angelo Landriscina

and I'm a board certified dermatologist.

Looking for medical information online

could be unreliable or anxiety provoking.

So today I'm gonna be answering some of the questions

that might be getting under your skin.

Can retinol be used on the body?

The answer is absolutely.

They could be used for some of the same concerns

that you would use retinol on the face for.

Some of the signs that go along with photoaging,

think discoloration, maybe rough, bumpy skin.

In addition to that, there are prescription retinoids

that are specifically indicated for use on the body.

Usually those will be used for acne.

The difference between a face retinol

and a body retinol product

is generally the concentration of retinol used.

It's likely to be lower in a body retinol product

just because you're covering a larger surface area.

Also, the vehicle in which the retinol

is dispersed is likely to be different.

Our body skin tends to be quite thick

and robust compared to facial skin,

so it's going to need a different type of vehicle

to have the best result.

Can eating dairy products make you break out?

The answer is kind of a big maybe.

I think a lot of the interest in this topic

has come from some of that standard,

classic advice that a lot of us got as teenagers.

Oh, if you eat better, if you drink more water,

if you do this or that, your skin will clear up.

And I would like to say that in most cases,

those people were wrong.

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A lot of this comes from an idea specifically about acne

in general, that it is a personal failing

that needs to be blamed on the person suffering with it,

when really it's a chronic inflammatory skin condition.

It's a medical condition,

and it should be taken seriously,

not only because it could cause physical scars,

but also because we know that people with acne

suffer higher rates of mental health disorders

and even things like suicidal thoughts.

There has been quite a bit of interest about the correlation

between diet and acne within the dermatology community too.

And there have been a lot of studies about it.

There have been correlations between eating high amounts

of dairy products, eating certain dairy products,

and more severe acne.

However, there's been a lot of variation

and a lot of gaps in the data.

So a lot of these studies can only be generalized

to certain age groups

or certain parts of the world, certain diets.

Breaking it down in a nutshell,

I do think that for some people,

certain dairy products could cause a worsening of acne.

However, I think it's a very unlikely

that for most people, that dairy products

or other features of their diet could be giving them acne.

I always say it's never too late to start,

you know, start being consistent

and really paying attention to what your skin needs.

For most people, your skin's not gonna need that much.

A basic skincare routine should consist of a cleanser,

a moisturizer and a sunscreen.

Each of those is gonna play an important role

in keeping the skin healthy.

The cleanser, that's going to prep your skin,

remove any debris from the day, remove makeup

if you're a makeup wearer, really just set you up

with a clean canvas, the moisturizer

to really aid your skin's barrier.

One of the primary functions of our skin

is to keep what's inside in and to keep what's outside out.

And one of those substances

that it's trying to keep in is water.

So using a good moisturizer is going to help

keep your skin hydrated, healthy, glowing.

And then perhaps most importantly, sunscreen.

UV exposure is the primary

modifiable risk factor when it comes to skin cancer

for most people, using sun protective methods,

that includes sunscreen, protective clothing, seeking shade,

all of those things is gonna be really important

for keeping your skin healthy.

In addition to that, you know, I am in the business

of appealing to people's vanity too.

So it will keep you looking younger for longer.

It's gonna prevent or help to treat

some of those sun spots, dark spots,

fine lines, wrinkles.

It's also implicated in like a loss of firmness in the skin.

So you know, if you wanna stay snatched,

you need to be doing something

about your sun protective measures.

When it comes to the basics between age groups,

say thirties, forties, fifties, sixties, beyond,

there's not really gonna be much

of a difference in the product profile

that you're gonna need in your basic skincare routine.

However, there might be slight tweaks.

For instance, as we get older,

we do have differences in how dry our skin is.

Skin tends to get drier as we age.

So you may want to go for a thicker moisturizer

or a gentler cleanser than you would when you were younger.

Once you have the basics of a skincare routine down,

you could definitely look at adding more products

based on what your specific concerns are.

I'm a big proponent of what I call intentional skincare.

So I always tell people, including my patients,

don't just buy a new flashy product

because it looks nice, or your friend told you it was great,

or the marketing got you.

Really look at your skin, take an inventory

and see what about it you want to address.

Whether it be something like dark spots, acne,

fine lines, you're gonna wanna look for the product

that will address your specific concerns.

Oh, I love this question.

Is there a difference between a sunscreen

and a moisturizer with SPF?

Not really, to me, most of it is marketing.

A lot of the ingredient profile in the sunscreens

that are out on the market

and moisturizers are really similar.

The only thing that I would caution people about

is the fact that that SPF rating

is based on using a certain amount of the product.

So if you're using a pea size of that moisturizer

with SPF, that's not enough.

You're not going to be getting the SPF listed on the label.

I know for most people it's gonna be hard

to have an exact science for knowing how much

of each product to apply.

So what I tell people

for facial sunscreen is you could follow

what we call the three finger rule, doing a line

of sunscreen down each of your three fingers,

and that's how much you should apply

for the face, neck and ears.

If you wanna keep it simple, just use more than you think.

It's really a lot more than people would think,

and I really feel like most

of the population is under applying sunscreen.

Do collagen supplements actually work?

You may see a whole slew of collagen pills, powders,

shakes, et cetera out there on the market.

And a lot of experts would say

that these aren't gonna do anything just based on logic.

Collagen is a protein,

which means it is a long strand

of different compounds.

When we take protein into our gut, it gets digested

by the acid in our stomach and by enzymes.

So you would think that ingesting collagen

wouldn't do anything,

but there is some data out there showing

that it actually may make a difference for skin.

First there are animal studies that do show

that collagen induced orally

does make it to the skin as collagen.

We're not really sure if that happens in humans,

but it does give us a little bit of hope.

In addition to that, there have been some studies

showing improvements in things like skin hydration

for people who are on collagen supplements,

is it a gold standard treatment for anything?

No, I definitely think we need more data

before we could be really prescriptive

with collagen supplements,

but at the same time, it doesn't seem like it'll hurt.

So when should you start Botox

if it's something that you wanna pursue?

I think it's hard to put an exact age on when to start.

What Botox is is a neuromodulator,

and what that means is that it cuts off

some of the crosstalk between nerve and muscle

and causes a temporary paresis in facial muscles.

The reason you want to do that is to prevent

or treat expression lines.

Those are lines that come up on the face

from repetitive facial movements.

Things like raising our eyebrows,

grimacing, smiling with our eyes.

For most people, I think it's okay

to start Botox when you are starting

to see those lines come up.

You know, if you are in your twenties

and you have those lines already,

you could be a good candidate

if it's something that you want. If you are in your sixties

and you don't have those lines,

it may not be something that you need.

There's been a lot

of interest recently in preventative Botox,

so using smaller doses in people

who don't have lines yet

in order to prevent them from coming up.

When it comes to whether or not

that's a valid approach,

biologic, it would make sense that it would work.

However, we have a no scientific data

showing that preventative Botox actually does anything.

I hope this has been helpful.

However, keep in mind everybody's different, so make sure

to check with your own doctor who knows you

before making any changes.

You can find me on all social media @Dermangelo.

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