Come September, patients living with Rosacea will have a new treatment option.  The FDA just cleared a new topical medication, called brimonidine alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, specifically indicated for those afflicted with rosacea.  The medicine works by constricting the dilated blood vessels that cause the facial redness commonly associated with rosacea and lasts for 12 hours.

Summer is the season for road trips.  You, the open road and… sunscreen?!  Many people don’t realize just how much sun they actually get while in the car.

Sure, tinted windows reduce the amount of sun you get while driving, but are all the windows in your car tinted?  Not likely.   Sneaky UV rays can still damage your skin through rear and front windows.   Doctors are strongly recommending broad spectrum sunscreen while in the car- even when the windows are rolled up, this according to a report published in The Daily Mail (UK) (7/31).  The report further explains that sunglasses while driving can reduce the amount of sun damage to eyes, as well.

Be safe on your road trip this summer- buckle up and lather up before you hit the road!

Photo of trucker who accumulated 28 years of photodamage on left side of face. Photo-Huffington Post.

Basal cell carcinoma is the most common type of skin cancer and is a result of too much sun exposure.  However, many people don’t realize that indoor tanning beds are just as much a risk factor for skin cancer as the sun.

A new study reported in Dermatology Times (dermatologytimes.modernmedicine.com/dermatology-times/news/some-skin-cancer-survivors-addicted-tanning) shows that despite a diagnosis of skin cancer, “one in seven survivors of basal cell carcinoma return to indoor tanning beds.”  This leads researchers to believe that people can form a tanning addiction, “in spite of health consequences.”   The study followed patients one to four years after being diagnosed with skin cancer and found that 15% of patients tanned in the the year after receiving their malignant diagnosis.

"Tanning mom" (photo credit: http://www.cinewsnow.com/news/local/Tanning-mom-calls-critics-fat-jealous-ugly-150201495.html)

In our office, we strongly discourage the use of indoor tanning beds.  When it comes to the sun, we advise our patients to be smart outdoors- wear a broad spectrum sunscreen SPF 45 or higher, reapply often (every 1-2 hours when outdoors), and avoid being outdoors when the sun is strongest (typically between 10am to 4pm).  Living in southern California, yearly skin exams are strongly recommended.

The old addage is “you are what you eat,” so can what you eat affect your acne breakouts?  If you eat a lot of greasy foods, like pizza for example, will you be a pizza face?   While there’s no proof that certain foods cause acne, there is evidence that certain foods can make acne worse.  And the offending foods aren’t the usual suspects: high glycemic foods, drinks that contain a lot of sugar and… MILK!  That’s right, the very SAME milk that’s supposed to do a body good may be associated with making acne worse! Why?  It may possibly be the hormones found in milk.  The majority of our acne patients are comprised of pubescent teenage boys or women in their 20’s and 30’s, both groups strongly influenced by hormonal changes.  Add in drinking or eating large amounts of dairy and that may be a recipe for acne.

So should you avoid milk like the plague? We tell patients not to go crazy and avoid all dairy products, but if you happen to consume large quantities of dairy, tone it down and see if your skin improves!

To read the article in its entirety, check out the Omaha World-Herald(2/28, Glissman)