Welcome to Fall!! We are all happy for a respite from the high summer temperatures and a chance to enjoy a beautiful North Carolina fall. Many of us increase our outdoor sports in the fall because it’s just more comfortable to play outdoors now. A few recent numbers to keep in mind:
- 51% of US men used sunscreen in the last 12 months, which of course means that half of you men are NOT wearing it!
- 70% of men did not know the warning signs of skin cancer!
This is very concerning, since men over age 50 are more than twice as likely to die from melanoma than women.
Our tips:
- do your golf, tennis , bicycling, etc before 10:00 AM and after 4:00 PM, when the UV rays are less intense
- find a form of sunscreen, whether a cream, a spray, or a gel, that you like, and WEAR IT! Reapply every 2 hours!
- cover up with clothing with SPF 50 in the fabric (available at REI, LL Bean, Dicks) and wear a wide-brimmed hat. Baseball caps don’t protect those ears!
For those of you who acquired a new “crop” of brown sun spots this summer and would like to get rid of them, the rule is sunscreen, sunscreen, and more sunscreen. Other helpful ways to decrease their appearance are:
–Retin-A or retinol. See Dr. Simon or Kristin for a prescription and discussion of how to use these products.
–Hydroquinone cream, available in the OBAGI line of products. The Obagi Nu-Derm kit is the most well-known method to reduce the appearance of unwanted pigment spots in the skin.
–Other skin brightening agents, available in the Skinceuticals Brightening Kit, like soy, kojic acid, and other herbal skin care products.
–Come in and test out our BBL laser with a series of photofacials, which gets rid of both red and brown spots. People who have a series of BBL treatments every year have been shown in studies to have MINIMAL AGING over an 8 year period! (they aged 6 months over 8 years!)
–come in for a series of chemical peels to help freshen up your skin, removed dead skin layers, treat fine wrinkles, brown spots, and acne.
Have a great fall everyone!!
Dr. Simon, Kristin, and staff at MDC
