|
Steroids
Steroids are
chemicals naturally produced by the body and have anti-inflammatory
actions. They are also produced synthetically in preparations to be taken
by mouth, by injection and onto the skin in creams. The creams are mainly
used in the treatment of eczema. Creams are available in very weak forms
such as 1% hydrocortisone, or in much stronger formulations. It is
important to take medical advice about how strong your steroid creams are
and in what quantities you should be applying them onto the skin. Strong
steroids (either internally or onto the skin surface can have side effects
after prolonged use).
Back to Top
Care of Dry Skin
Certain types of skin disorder are related to loss of natural oils from
the skin. Washing the skin with soap and water further reduces the skin's
natural content of oils and these oils need replacing. The following
instructions should help:
- Oily Baths The addition of pure corn oil (e.g. Mazola), bought from
a normal shop, is always helpful. 1 - 2 egg cups full of Mazola should
be added to your normal 9 inches of bath water. You should remain in
the bath water for at least ten minutes on two occasions per week.
Other oily bath additives are also available. The addition of oil to
the bath water will make the bath surface slippery so be extra
careful. The bath can easily be cleaned afterwards with any household
surface cleanser.
- Soap should only be used for the armpits, groins, hands and feet. To
any dry skin areas on the arms, body and legs, you should always use a
soap substitute cream such as Aqueous cream BP, oily cream BP,
emulsifying ointment, or E45. These soap substitutes can also be
applied to the skin as frequently as you like during the day to
moisturise any dry skin.
- If you are also using creams for your eczema, these should be
applied in the normal way, twice a day, to inflamed skin and these
applications should be fitted around instructions 1 and 2.
Back to Top
INTENSE PULSED LIGHT (IPL) AND LASER THERAPIES
Very intense light aimed onto the skin is capable of destroying various
skin tissues. The medical benefits of this treatment are dependent upon
the light being able to kill off the problem tissues without destroying
valuable nearby tissues and hopefully without leaving too much of a scar
or other mark.
As an example - if you have a blood vessel exaggeration of a severe
type (referred to as a port-wine stain or PWS) the aim of treatment is to
SELECTIVELY remove the unwanted blood vessels WITHOUT at the same time
destroying other nearby skin tissues.
Similarly, if you want to remove unwanted hair, the aim is to destroy
the hair follicles in the skin without disturbing the appearance of the
skin overlying the hair follicles.
There is a section in the current News
Page discussing some aspects of laser therapy for wrinkles,
resurfacing, etc.
We are very shortly going to introduce a picture gallery of conditions
at this site for you to get some idea of what conditions can be treated by
these types of therapies - please revisit soon!!
Here are photos of a male who wanted his beard area treated - the photos
show the result after 21 days at 2 test treatment sites each roughly
corresponding to the rectangles shown. The hair in the treatment areas is
very much diminished and the few remaining hairs in the sites are very
small and shrunken - they will probably disappear after a second
treatment. Due to the cyclical nature of hair growth - hair removal
treatments need to be spread over a period of months to catch dormant
hairs (in the telogen phase of the cycle) as they start to regrow.
COSMETIC SURGERY PROCEDURES
There are many different types of procedure which fall under this
heading. I feel that it is really the subject of another full website
which we are constructing soon. I am also going to list for you some good
contacts on the Links
page but I need to investigate the sites first so that you receive
sensible information. Please let me know if you want us to visit your own
site and list it or if you have knowledge of helpful sites please let us
know.
Back to Top
Skin Surgery
Skin surgery is usually performed for the removal of skin tumors. Many
skin tumors are entirely benign (non-cancerous) but some are malignant
(cancerous). The commonest cancerous skin tumor removed is the Basal
Cell Carcinoma. Most skin surgery is performed under local anesthetic
(an injection into the skin under the tumor to turn the area numb).
Therefore most patients can eat and drink in the normal way and are fit to
return home immediately after surgery. Taking drugs which thin the blood
and therefore promote easy bleeding can complicate surgery - these drugs
include warfarin (coumarin) and aspirin. You need to discuss your drug
medications with your doctor before attending for surgery.
Sometime stitches are put into the skin but on other occasions the skin
is left to heal naturally - it depends on what type of skin surgery you
are having. Either way, it is usually advised to keep the treatment area
completely dry for 3 - 5 days after surgery and protected with a dressing.
SKIN SURGERY
 Skin Surgery can involve a stitching or a non-stitching
type of approach. Most Skin Cancer surgery requires stitches - the
resulting scar is located along the lines of natural skin creases, eg eye
wrinkles, giving the best cosmetic outcome.
| 
