Your skin is one of the first things other people may notice about you. That is especially true if you have noticeable skin conditions, such as acne scars, sun damage or wrinkles. You can treat many of those skin conditions to help you keep your skin looking healthy and look your best to the rest of the world, as well as feel better about your own self-image. Some skin treatments are at-home techniques. Others are clinical. It may even take a combination of both. That is why you need to explore all of the options. Here are some of the top skincare procedures and techniques to think about.
Start with Proper Sun Protection for Your Skin
Protecting your skin from the sun can help you prevent future damage. It can also help to prevent any existing skin damage you may have from getting worse. Proper sun protection requires knowledge of how sunscreen works and what products contain sunscreen. For example, certain sunscreens offer higher SPF ratings than others, which means they offer higher degrees of protection. If you have fair skin, a higher SPF rating is always best. You must also reapply your sunscreen regularly, as directed. You also need to be aware that the sun can damage your skin even when it is cloudy out. Therefore, it is better to err on the side of caution and wear sunscreen all the time.
If you have trouble remembering to apply sunscreen regularly, the skincare industry has a solution for you. Simply buy a product you use daily that contains sunscreen, such as a moisturizer. When sunscreen is incorporated into your daily skincare products, you eliminate the need to remember to apply it separately.
Use Lasers to Reverse Certain Skin Damage
When it is time to seek clinical treatment, such as for moderate wrinkles, lasers can be a good place to start. There is an entire world of skincare laser equipment to explore. Each laser device is designed to treat certain conditions and certain skin types. For example, YAG lasers may help you if your skin is dark. Most other lasers are more adept at treating light-coloured skin.
Laser devices also vary in their general designs and use. A non-ablative laser can restore your skin health over time. It does so by making minute changes at the cellular level to help collagen work more efficiently. Collagen is a substance your body makes that helps your skin cells retain their shape and hold close to each other. Collagen produced in your body is reduced as you get older. By helping the remaining collagen work more efficiently and coaxing your body to make more, your skin is given a much-needed boost.
An ablative laser can also impact collagen production. However, it is often used to get more immediate results. For example, a laser used to perform a laser peel is ablative. Ablative simply means it affects the outermost skin layer. A laser peel revitalizes the surface of your skin by getting rid of foreign substances on its surface, including skin cells that are dead.
Try Intense Pulsed Light or LED Treatment for a Milder Alternative
While effective, laser procedures can also be quite strong, and they do have some potential side effects. If the skin conditions you want to treat are milder, you may prefer to minimize those side effects. If so, a milder treatment like LED or intense pulsed light (IPL) therapy may be a better choice. Light therapies perform similar functions to laser procedures, but they do so on a milder scale. For that reason, you may need more of them before your skin quality visibly improves.