FAQ on common cosmetic conditions

ACNE

What are the main causes of acne?

What are the things that often make acne worse?

What are some of the tips which you can follow at home to prevent acne?

What are the acne treatments available at Dr. Kapoors clinic?

PIGMENTATION

What are the types of increased pigmentation?

What is the treatment at The Esthetic Clinic for skin pigmentation problems?

ROSACEA

ATOPIC DERMATITIS

DRY SKIN AND RELATED CONDITIONS

KELOIDS

BENIGN SKIN TUMORS

What is syringoma?

HAIR FALL

ACNE

What is acne?

Acne is a skin disorder of the pilosebaceous unit, which is made up of a sebaceous (oil) gland and a hair.

Acne may manifest as whiteheads to blackheads (comedones), to red bumps, pustules and even large cysts on the skin.

What are the main causes of acne?

  • Abnormal hormone levels (example-polycystic ovarian disease)
  • Heredity
  • Stress

What are the things that often make acne worse?

  • Oil-based makeup, suntan oil, hair gels and sprays
  • Stress
  • In girls: menstruation
  • Squeezing the blemishes
  • Hard scrubbing of the skin
  • Sun exposure
  • Some medications

What are some of the tips which you can follow at home to prevent acne?

  •   Wash your skin daily twice with a foaming face wash.
  •   Have a well balanced diet with ample fruits and vegetables.
  •   Exercise regularly.
  •   Do not squeeze or touch acne.
  •   Never go to bed with your make up on.
  •   Get regular clean ups done.
  •   If all these do not help you in a couple of months do consult your expert                       dermatologist.

What are the acne treatments available at Dr. Kapoors clinic?

A variety of expert skin treatments are available for treating acne as well as post acne complications.

  •   Microdermabrasion (skin polishing).
  •   Chemical Peels with boosters and the latest and safer gel peels.
  •   Cryotherapy
  •   Acne laser – advanced fluorescent technology for reducing and treating pimples
  •   Subscision –  For treatment of post acne scars
  •   Dermaroller –  For treatment of post acne scars
  •   Latest and most advanced fractional laser technology (Co2 Laser and Erbium   Laser) and pigment laser – For     reducing acne scars and post acne pigmentation with excellent results.
  •   Acne scar revision surgery

Before treatment

After treatment

PIGMENTATION

What is Skin Pigmentation?

Pigmentation is the result of abnormal production and accumulation in the layers of the skin, of color pigment which is melanin.

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What are the types of increased pigmentation?

  • Freckles -These are faint brownish spots that appear on areas of sun exposed skin generally on the face.

  • Lentigines (age spots) – These are discrete brownish spots that occur on the sun exposed skin as a result of chronic sun exposure.

  • Melasma – It usually appears as brownish patches over the face, and rarely on hands. It results from the interplay of genetic, hormonal and UV factors, and is more common in Asian women. Worsening is often reported after sun exposure, pregnancy, and the use of oral contraceptives.

Birthmarks

Tattoo

Under eye dark circles

 

Photopigmentation – Due to chronic sun exposure.

Post inflammatory pigmentation – Due to healing of acne, eczema, post trauma scars etc.

Drug induced pigmentation

Allergic / irritant reaction to strong fragrances/ cosmetics.

What is the treatment at The Esthetic Clinic for skin pigmentation problems?

In general,

Use a mild face wash and body wash with skin pH.

Use a broad spectrum sunscreen of spf 30 or more daily twice even if you are indoors.

Follow your dermatologist’s advice to find the cause of your problem and its appropriate solution.

  1. Freckles –

Avoid prolonged sun exposure, use a broad spectrum sunscreen regularly and follow the skin lightening regimen prescribed to you.

  • Microdermabrasion – with ultrasonic penetration of skin lightening agents.
  • Chemical Peels – A wide range of peels like glycolic, TCA, pyruvic, arginine, kojic, mandelic, cosmelan etc. can be used as decided by the doctor.
  • Radiocautery
  • Intense pulse light
  • Pigment laser treatment
  1. Lentigines –

Regular use of broad spectrum sunscreen and sun avoidance, bleaching creams.

  • Radiocautery
  • Cryotherapy
  • Intense pulse light
  • Pigment laser treatment
  1. Melasma –

It is best controlled with the regular use of broad spectrum sunscreens, sun avoidance and lightening creams. For stubborn cases –

  • Chemical peeling
  • Cosmelan peel
  • Obagi peel (available only at very few centres across the world)
  • Pigment laser therapy may offer additional benefits but the results are variable.
  1. Under eye dark circles –
  • Correction of cause if possible
  • Under eye skin lightening creams and masks
  • Iron supplements and antioxidants
  • Under eye peels
  • Ultrasound technology like Acugel
  •  Mesotherapy
  •  Fractional laser
  • Skin tightening by radiofrequency
  1. Birth marks –
  • Pigment laser
  1. Tattoo –
  • Sandabrasion
  • Surgical removal
  • Tattoo removal laser

ROSACEA

What is it?

Rosacea is a chronic disorder that affects men and women anytime in their teens, upto fifties. It is characterized by redness of central area of face which may be accompanied by pimples and red bumps.

What is the cause?

It is a complex condition, the exact cause of which is unknown. They have highly sensitive skins specially the blood vessels. This sensitivity causes them to dilate and increase the blood flow to the skin. This increased blood flow may in turn lead to broken capillaries and a pimple crops up.

What can trigger it?

  • Sun
  • Excessively cold weather
  • Hot weather
  • Hot drinks
  • Emotional stress
  • Alcohol         ‘
  • Spicy food
  • Hot bath
  • Certain skin care products
  • Exercise

These are some of the triggering factors. You will have to find out which ones cause the flushing in you.

What to do to prevent and treat rosacea?

  •  Cleanse in the morning and evening with a non irritating liquid cleanser
  •  Everyday apply a oil free sunblock with spf>30 even if you are indoors
  •  To stabilize the condition doctors may prescribe oral or topical antibiotics.
  •  Avoid powders or foundation with mica or light reflecting particles in them.
  •  Recently vitamin A derivatives have been found to be useful
  • Laser or microdermabrasion may help.
  • Get a regular eye check up, as the condition may affect the eye also.

What are the treatments available at Dr. Kapoor’s clinic for rosacea?

  • Latest Medical therapy
  • Advanced Microdermabrasion
  • Laser reduction of the redness associated with rosacea.
  • Radiofrequency reduction of thickened nose skin (rhinophyma) associated with rosacea.
  • Laser resurfacingof thickened facial skin associated with rosacea.

ATOPIC DERMATITIS

What is it?

The adjective ‘atopic’ designates a group of allergic or associated diseases that often occur in several members of the same family. It is an inherited condition. The manifestations include:

  • Hay fever
  • Asthma
  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Urticaria

It affects about 3-5% of the population

How does it present?

The disease occurs at all ages but mainly from infancy to young adulthood. The lesions are excruciatingly itchy.

Infancy: It is called infantile eczema in infancy. It is characterized by itching, oozing and crusting dermatitis that tends to be localized commonly to the face and scalp, though less commonly to other sites.

Adults: It characteristically involves creases of the skin such as the bend of the elbow, backs of the knees, the wrist, earlobes, eyelids, and often the neck and face. The lesions tend to be dry, brownish gray, scaly and thickened. The thickened skin shows accentuated skin markings and there is intense, almost unbearable itching.

What can aggravate it?

  • Stomach infections which may not often be obvious.
  • Viral infections like herpes
  • Other internal infections
  • Dry climate

What are the treatments available?

  • Medical therapy
  • Ultraviolet therapy
  • Immunomodulators
  • Management and prevention of dry dkin, mentioned in the next section

DRY SKIN AND RELATED CONDITIONS

Dry skin is a common condition that can affect anyone, regardless of age, gender, or skin type. Dry skin results from depletion of natural oils produced by the skin and subsequent loss of water from the outer layers of skin. When dry, your skin is more prone to environmental assaults, such as chemical irritants and infections. It can also result in significant itching. If you have been diagnosed with dry skin, it is important to follow the following instructions, developed to restore your skin’s natural barrier function.

Take brief lukewarm baths or showers. Avoid hot water. Remember, if there is mist on your bath mirror, the water is too hot.

Use soaps and body washes sparingly. By using too much soap, you are washing off your skin’s protective oils. Use soap and body wash only in areas that need it, such as armpits, groin, and feet. The rest of the body is adequately cleansed with water alone. Consider switching to milder fragrance free soaps such as Dove for sensitive skin, purpose, basis or kiss my face pure olive oil soaps.

Do not use a sponge, washcloth or loofah for cleansing in order to avoid further irritation to the skin

Dry the skin by patting it with a soft towel. Avoid rubbing.

Apply a moisturiser immediately after towel drying, while the skin is still damp. This locks in moisture, helping to restore your skin’s natural function. Avoid the use of fragranced moisturizers, as they may further irritate your skin. White petroleum jelly is very effective but maybe too greasy for everyday use. If so, consider products like Eucerin, Aveeno or Lubriderm.

Dry ambient conditions may worsen your dry skin. In the winter consider using humidifiers throughout your house.

If you have been prescribed additional medicines for your condition, make sure to follow directions for their use. Make sure to follow up as scheduled, so that the condition of the skin can be properly monitored until the skin’s natural appearance and function are restored.

KELOIDS

What are keloids?

Keloids are raised overgrowths of scar tissue that occur at the site of a skin injury. They occur where trauma, surgery, blisters, vaccination, acne or body piercing have injured the skin. Less commonly, keloids may form in places where the skin has not had a visible injury. Keloids differ from normal mature scars in composition and size. Some people are prone to keloids formation and may develop them in several places.

What causes keloids?

No one knows why keloids form. Although most persons never form keloids, others develop them after minor injuries or even after insect bites or after acne bumps resolve.

Keloids may form on any part of the body, although ears, upper chest, back, and shoulders are especially prone to keloids formation. Persons with darker skin form keloids more easily than those with lighter skin, although anyone can form a keloid. Keloids never turn into skin cancer.

What is the treatment available at Dr. Kapoor’s clinic?

Keloids can be difficult to treat. Keloids are scar tissue, and it is important to realise that you can never change a scar back to normal skin.

The goal in treating keloids is to:

Diminish any pain, diminish any itching, and flatten the lesion so that it is more like the surrounding normal skin.

The doctor has to decide your treatment.

  • Commonest is giving an injection called intralesional corticosteroid. Corticosteroids are hormones secreted by the adrenal cortex or synthetic analogues of these hormones. They are anti inflammatory, anti itch and antisuppressive medications. They are given directly into the keloids. Depending on the size of your keloids, you may require multiple injections, per session, as well as repeated treatment sessions, at monthly intervals.You may experience discomfort, itching, and pain during, and even after injection is given.If you are still experiencing pain when you are at home, you may use a cold compress – by using an ice pack and leaving it on for a while, or you can take mild painkiller such as paracetamol.
  • Intralesional botulinum toxin may be used with intralesional steroids
  • Lasers may be used (Fractional carbon dioxide laser) in conjunction to intralesional steroids, to flatten the lesion and improve the texture
  • Surgical excision followed by silicon sheeting may be advised, rarely, though the chances of recurrence after excision are very high.
  • Cryotherapy may be advised followed by intralesional steroids in some cases.

BENIGN SKIN TUMORS

What are benign skin tumours?

Benign skin tumours are growths caused by abnormal proliferation or collection of cells in the skin. These tumours are benign and they do not turn cancerous. Some common benign skin growths are moles, skin tags, and seborrheic keratoses.

What are Moles?

Most moles occur in childhood, adolescence and early adulthood. They are due to abnormal collection of pigment producing cells known as melanocytes in the skin. Most moles are dark, and pigmented but some moles may be lightly pigmented or even flesh coloured. Moles are small (<5 mm) flat and pigmented when they appear, but the clinical appearance changes with the life cycle of the mole. With advancing age, they become raised dome shaped, and often appear lighter. These changes do not signify cancerous changes and except for cosmetic reasons, do not require removal. Occasionally, changed moles may be a cause for concern if they develop irregular borders, bleeding or a sudden increase in size and you should then consult a dermatologist.

What is the treatment for moles?

Moles are often removed on cosmetic grounds. The choice of treatment is surgical excision, radiofrequency excision, laser excision. The mole may be sent for histological examination for confirmation of diagnosis or to rule out atypical mole or cancer. After excision, there will be stitches in place which will be removed after 7-14 days depending on the site of the mole. The mole will be replaced by a thin line scar.

Before

After surgical excision

What are Skin tags?

Skin tags are harmless skin coloured or brown coloured growths which commonly occur on the neck, underarms, groins, and eyelids. They vary in size from less than 1 mm to as large as 10 mm. They are usually asymptomatic and often occur as multiple lesions.

What is the treatment for skin tags?

Skin tags can be easily removed, if so desired, by snip excision and electrocautery, laser excision or radiofrequency excision. This is done under topical anesthesia such as EMLA cream. After the surgery, there will be superficial wounds which heal in 4-7 days. There may be post inflammatory darkening after the wounds heal, but this will usually fade with time, over the next few weeks.

What are Seborrheic keratoses?

These lesions are superficial skin overgrowths which appear in increasing numbers with age. In early lesions, they are brown and slightly raised; however, they may become fairly large and pigmented nodules. They are commonly located on the face and can also be seen on the trunk, groin, and sun exposed areas. Seborrheic keratoses are benign lesions and do not transform into skin cancer.

What is the treatment?

Cosmetic removal of seborrheic keratoses can be performed in various ways depending on the clinical type. Early seborrheic keratoses can be treated with liquid nitrogen. When multiple, they are best treated with electrocautery.

What is syringoma?

Syringomas are benign skin tumours due to abnormal proliferation of sweat ducts in the skin. They are skin coloured papules, often located just below or around the eyes. A family history may be present.

What is the treatment?

Syringomas may be treated with laser or electrocautery. The treatment will flatten the lesion but there is a risk of scarring and recurrence of the lesions following treatment.

HAIR FALL

Hair also known as our ‘Crowning glory’ has been placed with a great deal of social and cultural importance. Unfortunately, any condition, disease or improper hair care, results in excessive hair loss which becomes the main cause of worry for any one of us.

What is the normal hair cycle?

Our scalp is covered with thousands of strands of hair. Each single strand of hair has 3 stages in its entire cycle. The first stage is called Anagen phase and is the main growth phase. The next phase is the resting phase and is called Catagen. The last stage is the shedding off or the hair fall phase called as the Telogen phase.

Normal hair growth is about 90% at a time on a person’s scalp this growth phase lasts for 2-6 year As a hair sheds a new one is replaced from the same follicle. Each hair grows about half an inch per month. And with age the growth rate slows down.

What are the reasons for hair fall and what are the myths surrounding them?

  •  Improper hair care/cosmetic use; Any chemical treatment to the hair, if done incorrectly, without professional help or 2-3 chemical treatments done simultaneously, can cause the hair strand to become weak. Frequent use of these chemical treatments without a proper time gap may lead to the breakage of the hair shaft.
  • Heredity thinning or balding: This is a common cause of hair loss.Mostly, men experience the process of balding or thinning of the hair, but of late it is seen occurring in women as well.while most cases are hereditary, early treatment with the help of your dermatologist can delay the process and even enhance your crowning glory cosmetically.
  • Childbirth: Normally, when women deliver, many hair enter the resting phase of the hair cycle.within 2-3 months of delivery, hair enters the fall phase wherein one experiences hair fall during combing, or washing the hair.
  • Infections and infestations: During infections such as high fever, severe flu, kidney or urinary tract infections, the hair enters the resting phase.After which there is excessive hair fall, but this shedding usually corrects itself./many infections due to errartic

About Dr. Rinky Kapoor

Dr. Rinky Kapoor- Best Dermatologists in Mumbai, India

Dr. Rinky Kapoor, Co-founder of The Esthetic Clinics, is one of the best dermatologists in the world & currently practices in Mumbai, India. Dr. Rinky Kapoor is a Consultant Cosmetic Dermatologist, Cosmetologist & Trichologist at S L Raheja Fortis Hospital, Mumbai, India. Dr. Kapoor is trained at the National Skin Centre, Singapore & at Stanford University, USA. A celebrity skin doctor, Dr. Rinky Kapoor has won many honors such as “Best Dermatologist in Mumbai”, “Most Valuable & Admired Cosmetic Dermatologist in India” & “Best Dermatologist in India”, etc for her expert dermatology care, affordable & reliable skin care, hair care & nail care Read more

Expertise In

• Skin diseases
• Sexually transmitted diseases
• Hair disorders
• Nail disorders
• Cosmetic skin treatments
• Skin surgeries
• Laser skin treatments

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