Leading up to this year's Cosmetic Surgery Forum in Las Vegas, I wanted to offer a few pearls of cosmetic wisdom over the next few weeks.
Acne has become a challenge for a growing number of adult patients in my practice. If you are experiencing the same, I hope this article helps both you and your patients.
Take a look at the distribution of acne lesions. Is there is relative sparing of the T-zone in terms of where sebaceous glands are concentrated? And are the lesions distributed along the periphery of the face instead, including or even predominantly on the chin?
In my practice, I find this distribution by far the most common adult acne presentation. Many times the patients, usually female, have a long history of breakouts, and often are very difficult to clear or to get off of p.o. antibiotics if you had prescribed these.
But I don’t consider these patients ‘true’ acne patients. Instead, most have a condition I refer to as ‘acneform reaction to hair products.’ And here is an approach that has helped me in hundreds of such cases.
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Ask the patient to change to a translucent shampoo
A favorite of mine is T Sal. I like to explain to patients that hair products leave a film on our hair after we rinse them out. Given this fact, the film might as well be full of a skin clearing ingredient, like Salicylic Acid. If they have another favorite brand of clear shampoo for their hair, they can switch to that one. Even Pantene, the top selling shampoo brand, now makes see-through shampoos.
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Limit conditioner use
Instead, ask the patient to buy Infusium 23 Leave In Treatment. Instruct them to mix it half and half with conditioner in the palm of their hand, before applying it to the hair, to dilute the amount of creamy conditioner applied.
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Wash less often
Every time we wash our hair, it gets drier, and this causes more and more hair product residue to remain in the hair. The best solution is to wash your hair every third or fourth day. I like to ask people who work out a lot to try dry shampoo as an alternative way to clean their hair after the gym or a long run.
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Wash face with an acne cleanser after rinsing out hair care products
Residue remains on the skin after rinsing out hair care products. Ask patients to cleanse their skin after washing their hair to help remove hair product residue.
Here is one such case:
About Loretta Ciraldo, MD, FAAD
Dr. Ciraldo is a Voluntary Professor of Dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Since 1993, she has been CEO of CosMedical Technologies while maintaining a thriving cosmetic dermatology practice in South Florida. Dr. Ciraldo started her dermatology career in 1975, when she worked in the lab of John Parrish, MD, at Harvard Medical School studying the effects of UVA. She also worked with Dr. Fitzpatrick on the Fitzpatrick skin type system.
Visit us at the CosMedical Technologies booth (#7) at the upcoming Cosmetic Surgery Forum .
