WHEN I turned 50, I noticed my skin started becoming more prone to sunburn (although that could be due more to the thinning of the ozone layer), and I got pimples on my face more often. I appreciated the deepening laugh lines along the sides of my mouth, which I thought showed my zest and joy about life. But then I started looking more like a bloodhound as my round cheeks started sliding to form jowls.
So I went back to my old friend and dermatologist Dr. Reena Corona at La Nouvelle Image to find out what I could do to perk up my complexion and keep the acne at bay. Was my overnutritious diet causing all these breakouts, weird growths on my cheeks and forehead and the sagging skin?
Compared to the skin of woman in her 20s, still plump and supple because of a good supply of collagen and elastin fibers, the skin of a woman in her 50s “appears more dry, making fine lines and deep wrinkles more obvious,” Doc Reena explained. “It is rough to touch, has less volume and definitely has less elasticity, unwanted pigmentation [like melasma or sunspots], benign skin growths [like warts or sebaceous hyperplasia] and small broken blood vessels [telangiectasia] are visible. The skin easily bruises. And areas of laxity manifest as sagging skin, especially in the jowl area. Sensory perception, barrier function and wound healing are on the decline compared to younger skin.”
When I pointed out to her my propensity to get pimples of late, she noted that acne has actually been on the rise in women in their 30s to 50s. “Acne is caused by many factors other than one’s fluctuating hormones; contributing to their formation include the lack of a good daily skin-care regimen, excessive sebum production, bacteria, use of cosmetic products [including toothpaste, shampoo or hair conditioners, not just makeup], environmental exposure, medications and supplements, lack of sleep, stress, poor diet and an unhealthy lifestyle.”
She also said older women get acne because they “overdry their skin, stripping it of natural oils with harsh soaps or chemicals, or as an effect of dumping too much oily and pore-plugging moisturizers.”
So let’s get one thing straight: If you have oily skin to begin with, you don’t need to put moisturizers every night. On the other hand, she notes that women should ease off on using “harsh astringents or harmful scrubs” to keep the face’s essential oils intact.
Doc Reena also stressed, “prevention is better than cure.” She cautions us on daily exposure to sunlight, and urges us to protect ourselves from the harmful rays by using sunblock daily. The sunblock, she said, should not go lower than SPF 35, and if possible, use one with SPF 70 to SPF 100, especially when outdoors and doing physical activities like swimming in the beach, mountain climbing, surfing and the like. “The ozone layer is depleted and harmful rays of sunlight can filter through, even on cloudy days. This has raised concern not only over skin aging, unwanted pigmentation and sunburn, but has increased the risk for developing skin cancers. Ultraviolet rays from the sun are most harmful between 9 am to 4 pm.”
She has, in fact, reminded me to reapply sunblock every two hours to ensure my skin is adequately protected from the harsh UV rays. We should also use sunblock indoors as, she said, science has proven that even artificial lighting and the rays emanating from our computers affect the quality of our skin.
Doc Reena added that if our skin has somehow been “damaged” either by the sun’s mighty rays, or due to other factors, it’s best to seek treatment from a board-certified dermatologist. Most of her patients see her once a month or every two months, she said, or whenever they feel they need some treatments for their problem areas. (I’ve been seeing her weekly lately because I had a wart problem on my face—must be from all that beso-besoing we do at socials—and because of acne that’s developed only on my forehead. Weird.)
But it’s a must that only medical professionals treat our face, though we might want to go to a salon by default for facials. (Which I have done, I confess.) “Spas or salons offer beauty services that might feel right or relaxing for a person with normal, nonproblematic skin. Spa treatments definitely do have a place in one’s general wellness as a source of relaxation from stress. However, for someone with a medical or, worse, pathologic skin condition, only a board-certified medical specialist in dermatology should be sought.”
She revealed: “I remember treating a patient whose Cutaneous Lupus Erythematosus, a photosensitive skin disease, was only made worse by repeatedly undergoing Intense Pulsed Light treatments being done by a non board-certified skin therapist of some sort. I have seen many cases of patients who have had warts removal done by nondermatologists in mall setups resulting in significant scarring. In my years of private practice, I have also helped patients with skin cancers whose little bumps on the face were not previously biopsied nor diagnosed by board-certified specialists.”
In other words, go to the real skin-care experts.
Next week, Doc Reena prescribes the correct skin regimen for women over 50.