Skin and Hair Archive

Moisturizer isn't the only solution for more supple skin.

One of the first places we start to notice the years gone by is our skin. Aging skin dries, thins, and loses some of its resilience. The skin care regimen you used in your 20s or 30s won't yield the same results today.

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Q. Does the acne drug, isotretinoin (Accutane), cause depression and suicide, or are psychiatric risks from the Accutane side effects exaggerated?

A humidifier, moisturizer, and lukewarm water can help.

Struggling with itchy skin this winter? It's likely the result of dry winter air that sucks the moisture out of your skin. Fight back with these quick fixes from dermatologist Dr. Kenneth Arndt, a Harvard Medical School professor.

Moisturize

Using a good moisturizer puts a barrier between your skin and dry air. "Look for a heavier ointment with an oil base and ingredients that block the evaporation of water, such as mineral oil and lanolin," says Dr. Arndt.

You can't turn back the clock, but you can minimize the appearance of wrinkles and other signs of aging with these noninvasive techniques.

These twisted, ropy veins are more than unsightly. They can cause real discomfort if you don't treat them.

Veins are the transportation system that carries blood back from our body to our heart. Most of that blood is returned via the deep veins (located in the muscles), and a smaller amount is delivered via the superficial system (which lies close to the skin's surface). Varicose and spider veins are superficial veins. "Because they're not surrounded by muscle like the deep vein system, they're more prone to damage," explains Dr. Susan O'Horo, an instructor in interventional radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Q. Instead of tanning outside in the sun, I've been using a sunless tanner. Are sunless tanners safe?

A. Using a sunless tanner is much safer than tanning by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light—either outdoors or from tanning booths—which can increase skin cancer risk. Nevertheless, some scientists have voiced concern that the compound dihydroxyacetone (DHA)—an agent in sunless tanners that darkens skin by reacting with proteins on the skin's surface—may itself damage skin and make it more vulnerable to sun-induced damage. Despite these concerns, the FDA has approved sunless tanners for external use, but you need to avoid your eyes, nose, and mouth when using these products. This is more of a challenge if you go to a spray self-tanning booth or use a spray preparation yourself than if you use a topical cream or gel.

Understanding the new rules for sunscreen labels.

Confused by new labels popping up on sunscreen bottles? This year, changes to sunscreen labels are finally showing up on store shelves, as ordered by the FDA.

One big change: terminology. Sunblock must now be called sunscreen, and the terms "sweat proof" and "waterproof" aren't allowed. The FDA says those labels weren't accurate, so a sunscreen can only be called "water resistant" for either 40 or 80 minutes, and only if it passes an FDA test.

These simple steps can save you from itchy, oozing rashes.

You probably learned about the risks of poison ivy a long time ago, but as you spend more time in the garden this spring, you should know that many plants can cause rash. So it's important to learn which are the common offenders and how to take precautions against them. "For some people, one exposure to a plant is all it takes to become allergic to it," says dermatologist Dr. Kenneth Arndt, a Harvard Medical School professor.

The condition increases type 2 diabetes risk.

People with psoriasis suffer from chronic patches of irritated, flaky skin. A new study finds that psoriasis may also put people at risk for another chronic disease: type 2 diabetes. A recent study in Archives of Dermatology found a strong correlation between the two. "Both diseases are driven by inflammation," says Dr. Jeffrey Sobell, a dermatologist at Harvard-affiliated New England Baptist Hospital who's considered an international authority on psoriasis. "The same cells that trigger the inflammation of psoriasis are also associated with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes."

But psoriasis isn't just linked to diabetes. Because it's a systemwide inflammatory disease, Dr. Sobell says there's a correlation to other inflammation-sensitive conditions such as arthritis and cardiovascular disease.

58 million of us have actinic keratoses. Now treatment is easier.

They look minor. They are usually pea-sized rough patches, often scaly and with surrounding redness, on sun-exposed skin. But actinic keratoses (AK), caused by too much sun exposure, are nothing to dismiss. "They can progress to skin cancer, or there can be so many that it's difficult to pick out lesions that are already skin cancers," says Dr. Suzanne Olbricht, associate professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School.