Types of Rosacea

Erythematotelangiectatic Rosacea
This is probably the most common type of rosacea. It can be recognized by flushing and persistent redness, and may also include visible blood vessels.  When people talk about rosacea, this is what they normally think of.  Beware that the condition of this type of skin disorder can worsen without proper skin care treatments.

Ocular Rosacea
This type of rosacea involves the skin disorder appearing around the eyes.  It causes dry eyes, tearing and burning, swollen eyelids, and persistent styes.  Leaving untreated, it can potentially cause us going blind.

Papulopustular rosacea
This type of skin disorder is also known as acne rosacea due to its similar appearance with acne.  It can be recognized by the constant redness at our face with a number of bumps and pimples.

Phymatous rosacea
Phymatous rosacea affects the area of the face around the nose. It causes the affected skin to thicken.  As the result, it causes rhinopyma, which our nose becomes red and much larger than normal.

Symptoms of Rosacea

The common rosacea symptoms include:

• Frequent blushing or flushing: This is the first sign of this skin disorder.  The facial redness may come and go.

• Persistent redness: This can be similar to having sunburn or a permanent blush.

• Bumps or pimples: The bumps or pimples could be small and solid (papules), or even pus-filled (pustules).

• Visible blood vessels:  Rapid flow of blood vessels causes red lines in the face.

• Eye Irritation: Ocular rosacea has this symptom, where your eyes become bloodshot, watery and itchy, causing swollen eyes.

• Dry appearance:  Dry and rough skin on the face is another sign of rosacea.

• Plaques – The affected area of the skin will raise red patches.

• Stinging or burning sensation

• Swollen face

• Thicken Skin: Thicken skin especially around the nose area, causing the nose look bigger.

Conclusion
Understand causes of rosacea is important as this particular skin disorder can bring huge effect on people’s psychological level.  In addition, rosacea can lead to severe health problems if left untreated.  Besides rosacea, one should know other skin concern as well as getting skin care tips for maintaining healthy skin.

Basically, there are 4 major skin concerns that people look at.  Each type of skin concerns has different causes (although some causes are similar) and thus has different skin care solutions.
1) Signs of aging
2) Pimple and acne
3) Dull and rough texture
4) Skin discoloration

1) Signs of Aging
When you have healthy collagen and elastin structure, they support the skin firmly.  However, when you age, the breakdown of skin structural proteins leads to fine lines, wrinkles, sagging skin and loss of contour.

What you can see at the skin:
# Wrinkles
# Fine lines
# Loss of contour and sagging
# Age spots

Causes:
# Exposure to UV rays and pollution
# Deterioration of cell turnover
# Biological aging factor
# Stress
# Poor lifestyle
# Decrease in structural proteins

In fact, most of the above aging causes are due to the root cause of aging: Free radicals. Read the aging article if you would like to know more about it.

Skin care solutions:
# Increase skin cell turnover
# Perform constant exfoliation
# Provide sufficient moisture and hydration
# Enhance blood circulation using spa tools like Galvanic Spa
# Protection against sun damage
# Use quality skin care treatments such as ageLOC, a range of products that can lock your age

Beauty inside out:
# Cellular inflammation leads to aging.  You can make use of omega-3 fatty acids that can promote anti-inflammation.
# Decline in blood circulation speeds up aging.  Ginkgo extract can help improve blood circulation and thus can add in to your skin care treatments.

2) Pimple and Acne
Under a normal and healthy sebum production, you have clean and clear pores.  Anyway, excessive sebum secretions and clogged pores lead to formation of blackheads, enlarged pores, pimples and acne.

What you can see at the skin:
# Whitehead
# Blackhead
# Pimple
# Acne

The acne causes:
# Clogged pores
# Hormonal changes due to adolescence, menstruation, pregnancy, use oral contraceptive, early menopause, use “muscle-building” steroids etc.
# Excessive exposure to UV rays
# Poor lifestyle
# Genetic issue

Skin care solutions:
# Remove clogging of pores
# Obtain a balance skin PH, preventing bacteria propagation
# Control sebum secretions
# Use skin care treatments that contain Alpha Lipoic Acid, which helps to reduce remnant marks caused by post acne scars.

Beauty inside out:
# Skin inflammation may cause the acne condition get worsen.  High intake of omega-3 fatty acids can promote anti-inflammatory state.
# Stress may further aggravate the acne.  Maintaining healthy level of stress hormone like cortisol is a good management of stress.

3) Dull and rough texture
For a healthy skin, the skin is smooth, soft, radiant and moist.  However, when the skin is unable to retain moisture, first line of dehydration will start.  Skin surface will become rough and dry and skin tone is dull and not radiant anymore.

What you can see at the skin:
# Dehydrated dry lines
# Rough texture
# Dullness

Causes:
# Exposure to UV rays and pollution
# Harsh and dry environment
# Deterioration of cell turnover
# Poor lifestyle and skin care routine

Skin care solutions:
# Normalize the skin cell turnover
# Regular exfoliation
# Proper hydration
# Use quality products such as skin care treatments with ageLOC technology.

Beauty inside out:
# Full spectrum of antioxidant protection at the cellular level is important to prevent free radical and oxidative damage and thus help in your skin care.
# Green tea with high content of polyphenols provides potent antioxidant defense against free radical damage.

4) Skin discoloration
There are 3 phases in skin discoloration: Activation, Synthesis and Expression.  Please watch the video clip or read the content in 3 phases of skin discoloration article if you want to know how it happens.  Basically, over exposure of the sun causes darkening of skin tone and accumulation of melanin.  It then leads to age spots, freckles, pigmentation, uneven skin tone and scars.

What you can see at the skin:
# Uneven skin tone
# Hyperpigmentation
# Scars

The causes:
# UV rays
# Hormonal imbalance
# Poor lifestyle
# Environmental aging such as pollution and irritation
# Hormonal change due to pregnancy
# Stress

Skin care solutions:
# Obtain normal skin cell turnover and regular exfoliation
# Provide protection against sun damage
# Inhibit melanin production and control melanin formation
# Use quality products such as skin care treatments with ageLOC technology.

Beauty inside out:
# Stress is one of the activators of pigment production.  Maintaining healthy level of stress hormone like cortisol is a good management of stress and thus help in your skin care.
# A recent study carried out by Stanford University indicated that green tea with 97% polyphenols has shown to be a powerful anti oxidant and can help in preventing photo-damage in the skin.

Always know what are your skin concerns before buy any skin care treatments or products. Besides, drink more water, perform regular exercise and have a well-balanced diet will help in your skin care.

Free Radicals cause Aging
The main cause of aging is free radicals.  Free radicals are molecules or atoms that have single-charged, unpaired electron.  In order to be electrically balanced, these active molecules are always ready to grab an electron from nearby molecules, causing oxidation, just like when iron deteriorates or a sliced apple turns brown in the open air.  Theses are all due to oxidation.  The whole oxidation or aging process eventually results in a cascading chain of damage to our body cells and organs.

The production of free radicals is an inevitable consequence of living in a physical body.  In the process of producing ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate), 4% of the oxygen will turn into free radicals.  Although free radicals will cause damage to our body, they are one of the arsenals of weaponry for white blood cells to protect our body against infection and promote healing process.

Apart from the natural body aging or oxidation process, stress and emotional disturb lead to increase in free radicals production too.  External environmental causes also increase the free radicals in our body, including UV rays, pollution, heavy metal and preservatives.

According to Linus Pauling Institute, one of the forerunners for free radicals research, each of the body cell is exposed to about 10 billion molecules of superoxide each day under a normal metabolism condition.  For clearer picture how substantial the amount is, if you weight is 68kg, that means there are 1,800 grams of molecules superoxide per year in your body.

Free radicals can damage the lipid, protein and nucleic acid in our cells and even kill them, causing aging.  They also attack collagen and elastin, the substances that keep our skin moist, smooth, flexible and elastic. These vital tissues fray and break under the assaults of free radicals, a aging process particularly noticeable in the face, where folds of skin and deep-cut wrinkles are testaments to the long-term effect of free-radical damage.

In fact, oxidation pressure may also cause diseases, or diseases-related bypass.  That is why antioxidant and anti aging products come in.

Genetic Code determine Aging Speed
We are born with a unique genetic code, a predetermined tendency to certain types of physical and mental functioning, and that genetic inheritance has a great deal to say about how fast the aging process and how long we can live.

A 20-year research from 20 labs with hundreds of scientists from 6 countries reveals that there are 25,000 genes form the human genome.  To minimize or lock the aging process, you cannot go more fundamental than target the genetic factor.

In fact, genes regulate everything that happens in your body and every tissue.  So, even that you try to avoid the aging effects caused by the sun or external factors, you still feel that your skin might be showing more signs of aging than they should.  This is because you cannot avoid the internal source of aging which is capable of generating free radicals in the epidermis around the clock.  Unless you can control your skin’s genetic destiny, the ultimate internal sources of aging, you won’t settle the aging issue.

Some anti aging skin care treatments and products address this issue by augmenting the basic building blocks of DNA within each of our cells, preventing damage and increasing repair of DNA.  In this way, we believe anti aging treatments can help us slower our aging speed, at least to some extent until the launch of ageLOC technology skin care treatments.  It is the latest breakthrough of youth, because ageLOC targets the ultimate internal sources of aging in preserving the young look and reserving the aging appearance.

Conclusion
Both free radical exposure and genes determine our aging speed.  In order to preserve young-looked skin, there are steps we can take to slow down free radical damage besides using targeted anti aging treatments like ageLOC, such as avoiding pollutants, and eating a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables.  You can also read the articles at skin care tips for more information on how to take care of your skin.

]]> http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/skin-aging-causes/feed/ 1 http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/skin-discoloration-what-to-do-with-hyperpigmentation/ http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/skin-discoloration-what-to-do-with-hyperpigmentation/#comments Wed, 12 Aug 2009 06:51:45 +0000 admin http://www.agelocsite.com/?p=105 What is hyperpigmentation? When we talk about hyperpigmentation, it includes freckles, age spots or liver spots, pregnancy mask or melasma and also dark patches.  The main causes of hyperpigmentation are sun damage and hormonal imbalance, which stated in my skin discoloration article.
Hyperpigmentation is a very common skin concern that you can find mostly in women, regardless the races, although you can see dark patches in older men too.  Some hyperpigmentation issues might be cosmetically resolved while some issues require dermatologist’s attention and treatment.

Hyperpigmentation Issues

• Freckles

Freckles are hyperpigmentation issues that usually develop on people with fair skin, due to sun ray damage.  There are two types of freckles: Ephelides and Lentigines.  Ephelides are freckles that gain intensity during summer and fade during winter, while Lentigines develop darker spot and do not fade.  The long term effect of this hyperpigmentation spots is causing skin devastating, especially to the skin texture.

• Age Spots | Liver Spots

Age spots or liver spots are similar to freckles.  The occurrence of this hyperpigmentation mark is normally later in life and can develop on any skin type.  However, its occurrence is not really due to age, but more to sun damage.  You can always refer my skin discoloration article for knowing 3 phases causing hyperpigmentation.

• Pregnancy mask | Melasma | Chloasma

Another form of hyperpigmentation is pregnancy mask which is a result of hormonal changes.  Pregnant women are among those who are normally exposed to this type of hyperpigmentation issue mainly on face and abdomen due to the excessive production of melanin.  Although the pregnancy mask will fade after delivery, traces can still remain.  Besides, women who take oral contraceptives can also be affected with this type of skin disorder.

• Dark Patches

Dark patches are hyperpigmentation mark commonly seen on skin of senior citizens.  The main causes are aging and also sun damage.

Hyperpigmentation Treatments

• Laser

This could be the fastest method with the least effort for hyperpigmentation treatment.  Normally, it requires at least 6 to 8 treatments several weeks apart and you can get your dark spots disappeared after the laser treatment.  However, it can lead to permanent scarring in some cases. Before you use laser on your face, make sure you choose a clinic that does a test patch somewhere discreetly.

• Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy is another option for hyperpigmentation treatment. In this treatment, liquid nitrogen is applied to the spot and freezes it off.  It can be treated with one or two visits and.  Like laser, it has some risks and you need to wisely choose a well trusted clinic for this treatment.

• Skin Care Treatments | Products

Using quality skin care treatments are the other option if you are intent on getting rid of hyperpigmentation marks on your skin.  As you read my skin discoloration article, you will know that there are 3 phases causing hyperpigmentation.  As such, you must use clinical tested skin care products that target on these different 3 phases.

a) Minimize the activation of skin discoloration: Ingredients such as Carnosine, Hexapeptide-2 and Portulaca Oleracea (Purslane) Extract are effective in reducing the appearance of existing dark spots, uneven skin tone and discoloration.  Of course, you need to use sun block with at least SPF15 daily on your face.

b) Inhibits the synthesis of skin discoloration:  Clinical studies show that Brightex and Tetrahydrodiferuloylmethane (THDM) can help preventing the formation of new dark spots and discoloration.

c) Visibly reduces the expression of skin discoloration on skin surface:  Creatinine and Fairtex in Triphasic White System can help maintaining even and bright the skin tone.

In fact, research on 3 phases causing skin discoloration is carried by Dr Bryan B. Fuller over 20 years.  This research has resulted in more than 40 peer review publications and 11 U.S. patents, covering various commercial uses of hyperpigmentation stimulators and inhibitors.  As a biologist and biochemist specializing in molecular endocrinology, Dr. Fuller is currently an associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and an adjunct professor of dermatology at University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

No matter what hyperpigmentation treatments you choose to use, always remember your goals are to minimize the activation of skin discoloration, reduce melanin production and even out pigmentation.  Besides choose a treatment, you need to take consideration of other factors such as lifestyle and eating habit.  And always understand skin care basic and get more natural skin care tips before you jump into any hyperpigmentation treatments.

The underlying Acne Causes

When we look at the skin structure, the oil or sebaceous glands located at dermis are the root acne causes.  Each oil gland is held by a pilosebaceous unit within, and directly links to a hair follicle. The oil glands will produce sebum, an oil type material which travels up to the surface of the skin through an opening on the skin called pore.  Under normal and healthy sebum production, we have clean and clear pores.  Our skin is not prone to bacteria infection and not inflamed.

When we are exposed to dirt and pollutants, our skin pores could become blocked and the sebum produced by the oil glands cannot released onto the skin.  Or, if we have excessive sebum production due to medication, invading micro-organism, chemical irritants or allergens etc, it might cause the clogging of pores too.  As the result, bacteria begin to build up as it uses sebum for nutrition.  Our skin is then inflamed, causing by the body’s attempt to fight against bacteria invasion.  We will feel the skin becoming irritated, heated, swollen, and red.  This is the underlying acne causes.

Contributors of Acne Causes

There are many different factors contribute to the acne causes.  Some factors work alone and some factors work in conjunction with each other to cause acne.

• Hormonal Issue

Hormonal imbalance or change is the number one of acne causes.  Acne causes can be derived from male sex hormone levels which increase during puberty and cause an increase in sebum production.  Besides, hormone levels also change during a woman’s menstrual cycle, pregnancy, menopause and when she takes birth control pills.  These can lead to change in sebum production, and thus change in skin appearance.  When hormones change increases the sebum production, it raises the probability of pore clogging.

• Stress

Although stress does not directly contribute to acne causes, it will aggravate it.  This is because stress leads to increase in androgen levels, which then affect your oil glands to expand, and secrete extra oil or sebum.  This whole chain causes black heads, white heads, and pimples.

• Excessive Exposure to UV Rays

Evidence shows that exposure to sun rays is also one of the acne causes. This can even cause acne a few months after exposure to the sun rays.

• Poor Habit and Lifestyle

Poor habit and lifestyle is one of the acne causes.  For example, use your fingers to pick or squeeze pimples is one of the simpler acne causes that are more from habit.  Picking could let the bacteria spreading beneath the surface of the skin and worsen the skin condition.

• Environmental Factors

These include climate and your working environment.  For example, humidity can cause moisture in follicle cells to swell up. On the other side, dry air can create thick sebum inside follicle cells. Both extremes ultimately contribute to acne causes.  And, if your working environments include manufacturing or construction facilities where you may come in contact with chemicals or polluting agents that cling to the skin, it increase the chance of clogging of pores too.

• Makeup Products and Skin Care Treatments

Some skin care products can cause irritation or make you break out.  These include any products that clog oil ducts. Always look for good quality cosmetic products and skin care treatments.

• Diet

Diet which is high in refined carbohydrates and sugars can actually worsen acne condition because they cause skin inflammation.

• Genetics

If your parents or one of them has acne problem, there is a chance you will inherit their complexion.  For example, cystic acne generally comes from heredity.

Besides acne problem and understand acne causes, skin discoloration and signs of aging are also the common skin concerns for most of the people.  You can always improve skin discoloration and prevent aging with the breakthrough technology of ageLOC skin care treatments besides maintaining a good lifestyle and having proper well-balanced diet.

]]> http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/understanding-acne-causes/feed/ 1 http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/how-to-prevent-skin-discoloration/ http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/how-to-prevent-skin-discoloration/#comments Sat, 08 Aug 2009 02:39:29 +0000 admin http://www.agelocsite.com/?p=79 Although skin discoloration is always a bothersome issue to many of us especially women, you can prevent skin discoloration through below 5 simple and natural skin care tips.

1) Provide Protection against Sun Damage
The sun’s rays can lead to skin damage and skin discoloration. Besides, it can also cause premature aging such as wrinkles, sagging skins and age spots.  There are basically 2 types of sun’s rays: ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB).

UVA rays are long-wave solar rays and are the main cause for aging.  As UVA penetrates the skin more deeply, it will damage skin strength and elasticity, and its degradation leads to sagging, wrinkles that accompany aging.  UVB rays or tanning rays are short-wave solar rays, and are more potent than UVA in producing sunburn.  That is why these rays are considered the main cause of skin cancers besides skin discoloration.

Some important tips about sunscreen that might help you to prevent skin discoloration:

• SPF (Sun Protection Factor): It is effective in preventing sunburn caused by UVB.  It is measured by its numerical value.  Normally, it takes approximately 20 minutes to make you getting sunburn under the sun.  So, you just multiply the SPF value to 20 minutes to get your UV protection time.  For example, SPF 15 is sufficient for about 5 hours of UV protection. (15 x 20 minutes equals to 300 minutes or 5 hours)

• PA (Protection UVA):  It is effective in preventing skin darkening caused by UVA.  Measured by its “+” symbol. “+” indicates lower protection compared to “+++”, which indicates a higher protection.

• Physical sunblock:  Titanium and dioxide and zinc oxide are effective in absorbing both UVA and UVB.

• Chemical:  Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC) and Octyl Salicylate are effective in absorbing UVB, while Oxybenzone and Parsol 1789 are effective in absorbing UVA.

2) Inhibit Melanin Production and Control Melanin Formation
There are 3 phases causing skin discoloration:  Activation, Synthesis and Expression phase. You can inhibit melanin production at activation phase, and control melanin formation at synthesis phase by using quality skin care treatments or products.  Using quality skin care products is not only improving the appearance of your skin by eliminating skin discoloration, but improving the texture as well.  For discoloration on the face that is difficult to get rid of trying an effective and safe skin care treatments such as Tri-phasic White System which can solves the problems caused by all 3 phases of skin discoloration.

3) Obtain Normal Skin Cell Turnover and Exfoliation
This is one of the essential steps in improving skin texture and preventing dull skin and skin discoloration.  Exfoliation sloughs off dead skin cells that can cause it to look rough and dull, discourage break outs, and keep your skin smooth and glowing looked.  So, please make exfoliation an important part of your daily regimen together with good skin care treatments.

4) Consume some Supplements: Green tea
Study carried out by Stanford University shown that green tea with 97% of polyphenols is a powerful anti oxidant that can help prevent photo-damage in the skin, and thus is good in preventing skin discoloration.

5) Live a Healthy lifestyle
Besides using quality skin care treatments, maintain healthy level of stress hormone, eating right and exercising encourage good, healthy looking skin.  Stress is one of the activators of pigment production, causing skin discoloration.  So, it is important to maintain a healthy level of stress hormone like cortisol, as it is a good management of stress.

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables provides the body the vitamins and minerals it needs to stay looking and feeling its best.  It is also advised that you increase your food intake that contains folic acid such as green leaves, liver, whole wheat, oats and barley.  These ensure that your skin remains healthy and that you also get a good dose of Vitamin B.

In addition, avoid smoking (and smoking area) and drinking which can make your complexion dull and lifeless.  Getting enough sleep and exercise are also important to maintain a fresh, healthy looking complexion skin, and decrease the chances of skin discoloration.

Having a glowing healthy skin is always a dream of everyone.  Besides the tips on how to prevent skin discoloration, understand skin care basic will help you to choose a good skin care treatments wisely and correctly, and thus help you to maintain a healthy looked skin.

]]> http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/how-to-prevent-skin-discoloration/feed/ 0 http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/3-phases-in-skin-discoloration/ http://www.agelocsite.com/skin-concern/3-phases-in-skin-discoloration/#comments Tue, 04 Aug 2009 06:02:31 +0000 admin http://www.agelocsite.com/?p=60 Skin discoloration is one of the major skin concern to most of the people.  In order to have a radiant glow healthy skin, we need to understand skin care basic, the causes and 3-phase process of skin discoloration.

Causes of Skin Discoloration

• Sun damage:  Exposure of skin to sunlight is one of the main causes of developing skin discoloration.  These pigments will fade when sun exposure is reduced at minimum stage.

• Stress:  Stress is one of the activators of the skin pigments production.  So, it is important to maintain a healthy level of stress hormone like cortisol besides applying a good range of skin care treatments.

• Hormone Imbalance:  It is one of the causes that lead to skin discoloration since estrogen over-stimulates pigment-producing cells, causing them to generate excess color when exposed to sunlight.  Besides, hormonal change due to pregnancy will also cause skin discoloration.

• Other causes:  Irritation, poor lifestyle, genetic factor and environmental aging.

How does skin discoloration happen?
In fact, skin discoloration is a result of dark pigmentation on skin surface due to 3-phase process:  Activation, Synthesis and Expression phase.

1) Activation Phase
When skin is exposed to skin stressors such as UV, stress or irritants, this will trigger the activation of the melanin cells (melanocyte).  When this happens, signal molecules become active and will bind to their receptors, and thus cause cells to initiate melanin synthesis.

2) Synthesis Phase
Once the melanin cells (melanocyte) are activated, chemical reaction will start at the lowest part of the epidermis within the melanin cells.  The enzyme named tyrosinase becomes active and will convert amino acid tyrosine to a molecule called Dopa, which will be converted into Dopaquinone afterwards.  Through a series of reactions, Dopaquinone is converted into either dark melanin, associated with dark skin, or light melanin, predominant at fair skin.  This will cause the skin discoloration looked at expression phase.

3) Expression Phase
At this stage, melanin or skin pigments are transferred to the skin cells nearby and through normal cell turnover, these pigments migrates upwards to the skin surface and become visible through the expression of the skin discoloration.

Please have a look on below video clip on the 3-phase process of skin discoloration.

In fact, melanin is photo-protective pigment that functions in the skin to absorb UV light, helping to prevent against the damaging effects of UV exposure.  Anyhow, skin discoloration can be an annoying problem as all of us would like to have a silky smooth and healthy skin.

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