Congratulations. You survived the holidays for another year, and now you’re back to work. At this point, many of us choose to embark on a new diet and exercise plan. And with Spring only a few months away, why not focus on looking your best?
Are you up for the challenge of hard workouts and strict meal plans? Of course you are, but keep in mind that not every Winter wellness project requires all of your self-control. There are steps you can take toward looking and feeling better that only require patience – and a daily moisturizer.
So, before you get carried away with cardio and carb-counting, take a closer look in the mirror. There’s something else you can improve, and it’s right there in front of you – your skin. Believe it or not, Winter is the best season to improve it with laser skin resurfacing and chemical peels.
Here are several reasons why:
Summer is for Showing Off Your Skin, Winter is for Repairing It
Hopefully, you had a chance to enjoy yourself in the summer months. If so, you’ve probably spent your share of time in the sun. Not to worry, there’s no shame in finishing the summer a few shades darker than when you started. Still, while the sun’s rays can give us some desired color, they also can cause damage to the outer layer of your skin.
As a result, we can enter the winter season ready for rejuvenation. Coincidentally, chemical peels and laser resurfacing treatments can be just what your skin needs. Just like a good wash and wax can remind you of why you bought the car, these treatments can bring out the fresher, younger you.
Just as spring can bring the plants and animals around us back to life, winter can be the ideal time to revive your skin. The challenge is that it’s easy to forget about skincare when the outdoor fun subsides. Think about peels and laser treatments like the maintenance due for your car after a driving vacation. Your skin has served you well. Now it’s time to take care of it.
You Don’t Want to Start These Treatments With a Suntan
Laser treatments and chemical peels can be extremely effective at livening up your skin. When you start them, however, you want your face to be it’s natural, non-tanned color. This is because both treatments can cause a phenomenon called hyperpigmentation, where parts of your skin can heal from the procedure at a darker tone than they originally were.
Not to worry, there are skin agents to alleviate this condition. If your skin is naturally darker, consult your physician before assuming laser treatments and skin peels are not right for you. With so many treatments available, there is likely an option that fits your specific needs.
Given grayer skies and colder temperatures, we usually start the winter with less of a tan. Most of us don’t go to the beach as often throughout the fall and winter, and rarely show off a tan when we do. Why not take advantage of the downtime?
Winter Gives Your Skin Time to Heal
Think of your chemical peel or laser resurfacing treatment like a workout for your skin. Afterward, it needs to rest and recover. Just as you wouldn’t want to set a weightlifting record the day before you run a marathon, you don’t want to expose your skin to intense sun for some time after a peel or laser treatment.
So, what better time to avoid the sun than in the limited daylight of winter? It’s dark when we go to work and getting dark when we get home. And for most of us who live in Southern California, the winter climate is not considered beach weather. Having your skin treatments now helps you take advantage of this downtime.
After your skin resurfacing treatment, your winter Netflix binges can be time well-spent. No guilt is necessary when your body needs you to relax in front of the TV. Think about it. You won’t have time in the summer. After all, you’ll have too many cookouts and other outside activities to enjoy.
Better Sleep Means Better Healing
Most scientists agree that sleep is vital to healing. To this end, winter provides two essential benefits. One is cooler temperatures. Studies repeatedly show that a colder room is more conducive to a good night’s sleep. The second sleep benefit is less daylight. Science has shown that our body’s natural response to darkness is to produce sleep hormones.
In other words, in the winter you’ll fight less against heat and daylight to get the sleep you need. This extra time can be used by your body to heal your facial skin after a treatment. Otherwise, your body must take energy away from the healing process for everything else you do while awake.
When it comes to recovering from skin treatments, getting more sleep is smart, not lazy. You’ll wake up more refreshed and better able to face the rest of your day. You might even find that your mood improves. And what’s the harm in that?
Extra Healing Time Allows for Multiple Treatments
What winter takes away in sun exposure, it gives back in time. Face it. Months will go by before the days are noticeably longer, and the temperature warmer. Just as winter gives you time to get in shape and lose weight, you also have time for more than one skin treatment, if desired.
For example, maybe you decide that although you like your look after one treatment, you’d love it after a second. Because there are multiple options for both peels and laser treatments, you may decide to start small. In the winter you can add on additional treatments without worrying about sun exposure.
If you decide to get started sooner rather than later, you can time your healing so that your skin looks it’s best just as you leave for Spring Break or June vacation with the family. Just think, everyone else will come out of the winter just beginning to think about skin improvements, and you’ll already be looking fresh and rejuvenated.
Treat Your Winter Eczema
Isn’t it ironic that with colder and sometimes wetter weather, our skin tends to get dryer? It’s no secret that conventional heating systems can rob our homes and workplaces of moisture. Often this can result in eczema or dry skin.
Chemical peels and laser treatments intentionally cause our faces to shed a layer of skin. The new skin revealed underneath is fresher and better moisturized. Think of this more youthful layer of skin as a gift with your outer layer as the wrapping.
With all the talk of spring and summer planning, it’s easy to forget that laser and chemical treatments can make you look better now. You no longer have to rely on lotion alone to have your face looking it’s freshest in the winter. Who knows? That might come in handy for the occasional winter get-together.
Get Your (Skin) Remodeling Projects Done
No, not the projects around the house. The ones within your skin. Two proteins are essential to your skin’s youthful appearance: collagen and elastin. Collagen provides a framework for your skin. Exposure to UV light breaks this structure down. When chemical peels and laser treatments remove damaged layers of skin, stronger skin forms in its place, a process is called collagen remodeling.
Elastin, on the other hand, provides our skin with its ability to stretch. Think of a child’s skin. It has both fullness and the ability to snap back into place after being pinched or pulled. As with collagen, the sun depletes your skin’s elastin. Exposing newer layers of skin restores it. Therefore, for both proteins, it’s best to do your healing during the darker months of winter.
Because the indoor air is dried by our heaters, winter can be the hardest season on our skin. But, with the rejuvenating effects of collagen and elastin, the exact opposite can be true. Chemical peels and laser treatments are like the projects around the house that get ignored due to a busy summer schedule. Now you can take care of them while you have the time.
Break Up the Winter Boredom
After the thrill of the holidays, it’s easy to settle into a long winter of boredom. Again, the time we spend outside of work is often in darkness. And this goes on for months. Scientists now acknowledge that this time of year can have a genuinely negative effect on our mood.
Skin treatments are a way to pamper yourself during a time when you might need it the most. They provide both a reason to stop and pause for self-care and to look forward to your new spring skin. And, as long as you’re staying inside to heal, why not do some online shopping?
Seeing your face in the mirror, enlivened after you’ve recovered from skin treatment, can be just the boost in spirits you needed in the middle of winter. While workouts and diets are great, laser treatments and chemical peels offer improvement that’s more quickly noticeable without the need for willpower.
Free Up Your Summer
Patients can receive laser and chemical treatments in the summer without a problem, but there are benefits to scheduling them in the winter. Often we plan vacations for when the kids get out of school or when the weather is warmer. A summer free from skin recovery also gives us the flexibility to leave on short notice to a variety of excursions.
If you do your skin treatments in the winter, your healing time can be in a part of the year when you may not have any major events planned. By the time vacation season comes around, you can take off to anywhere you’d like without the worry of sun exposure.
This way, you can avoid situations in the summer where you might have to pass on fun outings just to avoid the sun. Want to take advantage of a last-minute travel deal? No worries. Your skin healing won’t get in your way.
Time to Get Scheduled
We often forget just how powerful our body’s healing process can be. Exercise and diet both work by forcing the body to recover from a controlled amount of stress. Laser skin treatments and chemical peels are no different.
Despite being the largest organ in the human body, our skin is often the most ignored. Because we see it so often, it’s easy to forget its there. At the same time, our skin is the part of our body that others notice the most. This winter, don’t miss out on an opportunity to improve it.
Instead of a season to survive, this winter can be your skin’s season to revive – with laser treatments and chemical peels. But you need to act now because the season only lasts a few months. To learn more about laser and chemical skin treatments, contact Dr. Sajjadian’s Newport Beach office today to schedule your free consultation.