Get more from Life with Age Management

Show me one person who is not willing to look younger and prettier than they are and I will show you a flying unicorn. To look good is a universal desire. In this blog, I am going to suggest a few tips to make you look younger at an individual level and suggest medical alternatives available for it.

Healthy people look good. So taking care of your health, like diet and exercise are of primary importance. In diet, having adequate amount of vitamin E, C and A will protect your skin. Nutritional supplements like primrose oil,fish oil are very helpful. Adequate sleep, varying from six to eight hours is a must. A healthy, well rested individual has a positive glow on the face and skin.

From diet we move on to surface applications on face. Using a proper soap without a strong detergent is a first step. Using lukewarm water compared to hot water (which denatures skin proteins and makes the skin appear dry) is important. In dry skin using a good moisturizer helps in improving the skin appearance. Mild exfoliant, like 6% glycolic acid creams help in both removing the dead layers of skin and moisturizing the skin at the same time. A good sunscreen lotion with an SPF of 30 will help prevent tan while you are out in sun.

These are some useful tips to follow when applying sunscreen lotion.

1. It should be applied at least 20 minutes before exposing the skin to the sun.

2. Thickness of the cream should be 1mm.

3. If you are exposed to more than 4 hours to the sun or if you are close to water body which reflects uv light, a repeat application is necessary.

4. It is suggested to think that you get only half of protection as on the foil i.e., if mentioned SPF is 30, think it is 15. That way your usage will be more accurate.

Mild pigmentation on the face can be treated with depigmenting agents. Peels and lasers have a role to play here but They have to be used under medical supervision. Chemical peels will help in improving the skin texture, remove pigmentation and tighten skin to a small extent.

Signs of early aging, like deepening of nasal grooves, marionette lines and frown lines (valleys and folds) can be easily corrected by judicious use of soft tissue fillers and neurotoxins like Botox. The valleys are filled by fillers and the hyperactive muscles are neutralized by neurotoxins. In combination, they can easily make someone look a decade younger.

When aging effects are a little more advanced, more aggressive interventions are necessary. Thread lifts, out patient procedures use absorbable threads to lift sagging tissue under the guidance of local anesthetic. They are useful in early and limited laxity of tissues. The effect lasts one to two years.

In more advanced stages of tissue laxity, various forms of surgery is necessary. Nowadays endoscopic brow lift is very useful in lifting the upper face and forehead. For mid face like jowls, deep groove on the side of nose and marionette lines, a mid face lift corrects all these stigma of aging. If neck and face are sagging, a MAC lift of the face is necessary. It is a minimal access facelift which ideally suits our kind of skin and produces minimal scarring. All surgical procedures involve some time to completely settle, but the effect is much more long lasting.

So if one wants to improve their looks,start first with a disciplined life style. As the ravages of age become more apparent various modalities are available to reverse the sequelae. Surgery offers lasting solution, whereas non surgical methods will often have results of shorter duration with less downtime.

Article by Dr. Sudhakar Prasad- Best Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon in Hyderabad.