Have you ever asked yourself: why is it so important to take care of your skin? Or have you ever wondered why a surgeon like me wants to talk about skin care?
The reason is simple: one of the biggest concerns when a patient comes to the office wanting facial plastic surgery is precisely the appearance of the scars during the postoperative period.
This is one of the biggest concerns and one of the most common questions I hear. Well, to heal well you need healthy skin, and having healthy skin is much easier than it seems. In this video, I will teach you, step by step, how to maintain skin that not only looks good but is also healthy. And this will help you achieve good healing.
First Step
I am Dr. Rogério Leal, an ocular plastic surgeon, and in this video I am going to talk about skin care. The first step in skin care is proper cleansing. For this, you need to go to a pharmacy or a store and be careful not to get confused by so many brands and so many different prices. Tell the salesperson your skin type: oily, combination or dry. Do not make the most common mistake, which is using a conventional bar soap, which is very alkaline and ends up drying out the skin too much. And remember: the most expensive products are not always the best.
Second Step
The second step in skin care is a toner. In the 1980s and 1990s, up until 2000, toners were called astringents, and almost all of them were alcohol-based. There are two problems with using alcohol in a toner: the first is that alcohol removes too much of the skin’s oily layer, and removing too much of the skin’s oil ends up causing a rebound effect, with the production of even more oil, so it does not solve the problem. The second point is that alcohol destroys the skin’s natural microbiota; we have healthy bacteria on the skin that should stay there. If the astringent does this, it ends up leading to the growth of harmful bacteria.
The main function of a toner is to maintain the skin’s pH, and that does have a protective function, preventing the growth of fungi and bacteria. In addition, the toner can also remove any excess makeup and sunscreen that the initial cleansing, back in the first step, could not remove.
When you go to a store or pharmacy, look for a modern toner that is not alcohol-based.
Third Step
The third step in our morning skin care is to use an antioxidant, and the best formulation, or one of the best formulations we have, is vitamin C together with vitamin E and ferulic acid. Why? Because together these substances are able to protect us from free radicals.
Some specialists say that we do not actually age, we oxidize, and these things are equivalent.
Besides its antioxidant function, vitamin C is also able to photoprotect the skin and lighten it a little. Vitamin E is the main vitamin responsible for reducing our wrinkles. And ferulic acid, besides being an antioxidant, helps stabilize this whole formulation.
So don’t forget: the third step in our skin care is applying the antioxidant.
Fourth Step
The fourth step in morning skin care is applying a cream specifically for the lower eyelid area. After the third step, which is applying an antioxidant agent to the whole face, we apply a retinol-based cream to this area. Why? Retinol is a derivative of vitamin A, or tretinoin; it was launched in the United States under the brand name “Retin-A” and is sold in Brazil under other names.
In this area, it will produce a subtle exfoliation and will also thicken the dermis; by making the dermis thicker, it will help reduce the wrinkles in this area. This is one of our patients’ biggest complaints.
The thing is, some people are sensitive to retinol, and for these cases we have two options: we can prescribe a cream with growth factors, although this cream is a bit expensive, or, as a second option, a peptide-based cream.
Currently, neither growth factors nor peptides achieve the same result as retinol, but they are good options for patients whose skin is sensitive to retinol.
Fifth Step
The fifth step in our skin care is using sunscreen.
The Brazilian Society of Dermatology recommends a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF above 30, because above 30 it protects against up to 97% of ultraviolet rays.
And what does broad spectrum mean? It means that the sunscreen protects against both UVA rays, where the letter A stands for “aging,” and UVB rays, where the letter B stands for “burning,” as in sunburn.
Another important point about sunscreens is that we surgeons, as well as dermatologists, like to prescribe sunscreen with zinc oxide or titanium oxide, which means it is a physical sunscreen.
A physical sunscreen practically blocks ultraviolet rays. There are also chemical sunscreens on the market, which contain molecules that attenuate ultraviolet rays, so that the energy of the rays reaching our skin is lower.
What happens in practice is that chemical sunscreen is a little easier to spread on the face, which is why many people do not like physical sunscreen.
This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace a consultation. Whether any procedure is indicated depends on an in-person assessment, case by case. CRM SP 90.116 | RQE 11.350.
