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Your Skin The cold winter months are the perfect time to prep for summer’s warm glow

Acompeting woman’s body is perfected during the winter. Those are my favorite cold weather words every year. Winter brings holidays, stress and often new resolutions for your personal trainers. While most people slack after they’ve unpacked the sweaters, those who continue to stay focused really shine on the competitive stage.

Cosmetic surgery is well-timed for most competitors with time off over the holidays, as there is plenty of time for a full recovery. However, it is very important to remember that the skin is best treated during these frosty months. Most skin treatments require no tan before or no immediate sun exposure after the application. My recommendation is to bring on your high quality skin care regimens like Obagi, do those chemical peels, and say hello to laser procedures.

Obagi’s skin care regimen has remarkable results by combining both hydroquinone and tretinoin active ingredients with a high quality line of products. Hydroquinone evens skin tone that has been influenced by sun damage and tretinoin treats wrinkles and acne. These ingredients both require limited sun exposure, making the treatment off limits in the summer or with tanning bed use. Sunscreen is included in the daily regimen.

Chemical peels are offered in a wide variety. The goal of a chemical peel is to slough off layers of skin to treat sun damage, wrinkles and acne, or to provide a more youthful overall appearance. They vary in the types of chemicals used, the

concentration of the chemicals, and how deeply the chemicals penetrate the skin.

These treatments are typically done on the face but can also be done on the decollete (chest area).

Laser hair removal, skin rejuvenation and spider vein treatments are the most popular of all winter procedures and have benefits for all competitors of almost every age. One cannot have a tan at the time of a laser procedure, as the pigment in your skin can increase the chance of complications, and limited sun exposure afterward is also often recommended depending on the nature of your procedure.

The benefits of laser hair removal are obvious—no shaving. There is also no downtime and it is particularly beneficial for those who get bumps from shaving. It is important to remember that it does require several treatments to get the full benefit, as it is only effective against the hairs in the growth phase. Monthly hair cycles and the treatments not done during the growth phase of the hair cycle will not be effective. Anywhere from five to 10 treatments can be required depending on your skin type, the type of laser and timing of the treatments.

Laser skin rejuvenation is very effective
for spot treatments or for overall skin qual-
ity. Spot treatments are typically for sun
damage and wrinkles, whereas overall skin
quality focuses on texture and tightening.
There are several of these treatments that
can be done over the lunch hour with no
downtime. As with chemical peels, de-
pending on the depth of the skin layer tar-
geted, very dramatic results can be
achieved with deeply penetrating laser
resurfacing that can either be done in your
plastic surgeon’s office or, if deep enough,
even as an outpatient surgical procedure.

 

Dr. Ronald Bergman is a board-certified plastic surgeon practicing in Des Moines, Iowa, for 28 years. He specializes in breast augmentation, liposuction, and tummy tucks. His patients include many local, national, and international pageant winners. Dr. Bergman is also a highly qualified pageant judge. His web site is bergmancosmeticsurgery.com.