Just because it's in your doctor's office doesn't mean......

According to the January issue of "Dermatology Times" your dermatologists' office is well on it way to becoming a a very active retail center containing products that you can find at your local mall. Remember savy consumer, just beacause you are purchasing a skin care product at your doctor's office DOES NOT mean that you are purchasing prescription medication. Often, a client will come in to see me with a bag chock full of skin products. As I go through each and every product, "nothing in here," "nope, nothing to help your skin in this bottle," "gosh, how much did you say you paid for this?". . and on and on we go. "But!" she exclaims, "They all came from my dermatologist's office. They told me I had to have this serum and this collagen-builder and this toner." I unfortunately have the task of telling this lady, gentleman, teen that their dematologist's office or friendly plastic surgeon's staff is not only their to book appointments, take blood, diagnose, but that one of their major functions is to SELL PRODUCTS! I know, I know it is discouraging beacause as consumers we tend to believe everything our doctor tells us. And no, I am not bashing the medical field as I love my doctors and I too believe everything they tell me. I'm educating you....products are there to sell. And the rule is the same: if the product is not prescription medication then it CANNOT change your skin. One of the biggest sellers out there that you see in the malls, television, radio with big name movie stars telling us that this product will completely get rid of acne is plain old hydrogen peroxide with some other "stuff." Well, any over the counter AHA combined with hydrogen peroxide will help minimize break-out.....short term. The results will not last. The results cannot last because skin needs deeper exfoliation to complete the job. Again, the best chemical exfoliant to complete the job and to build collagen and reduce scarring is.... Tretinoin! (You know it as Retin-a). By the way, did you know that hydrogen peroxide has been clinically proven to hyper -pigment some skin types? And it can make the little hairs on your face and your eyebrows turn orange. Yuk!