Friday, June 4, 2010

Brittle Nails redux

Oops, I forgot--one more aging issue. I asked my new dermatologist what she recommends for soft, splitting nails. Her advice combines internal and external treatments. The external part: put almond oil on nails with a Qtip, then buff the nails. Guess the buffing enables the oil to adhere to the nails. She said do this once a week and don't use nail polish again until the nails have healed. The internal: in addition to Omega 3 fish oil, which I already take, she recommended taking something called biotin--3 mg per day. I found a vitamin product called Hair, Skin and Nails, which has biotin plus some other stuff. So I bought that and just started taking it. My nails do look better--except for one that has a big diagonal split in it. But then I've been staying out of the garden due to the high temperatures and my propensity to overdo it once I get going...

Age Obsessed

Well, so much for daily blogging! Not sure what the barrier is--I'd think of tidbits to write, and then wouldn't go to the computer. My excuse is that my husband has been working from home since he had knee surgery in mid-April, and I rarely got on my computer. Anyway, back to my quest to find nonsurgical ways to look younger (or slow down future aging).

I picture myself looking younger than I obviously do, given comments people make to me. I won't shop at Harris-Teeter on Thursdays any more, because the check-out person asked me if I was eligible for the senior discount. OK, I just turned 58, but I don't want people to think I'm in my 60s. And the Starbucks barrista misheard something I said and thought I mentioned visiting my grandkids. I know 58 is old enough to be a grandmother, but since my only son is only 18, I'm sensitive to the notion that I look like a grandmother. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I am. So I can pretent that I look young(er), but then reality throws a punch at my jowly jaw.

I recently visited a new dermatologist, to get anti-aging advice. I wanted her opinion as to what works, and what doesn't. My biggest problem is sagging skin, especially in the neck area. She said the only way for me to fix my sagging skin/neck was to get a lower facelift. She said nonsurgical options such as laser treatments need to be done in one's 30s as preventive measures; that technology didn't exist when I was in my 30s. Guess that explains why the laser treatments I tried when I was in my 40s didn't work. She said not to waste my money on expensive creams--something I've seen on the Internet from basically all dermatologists who've weighed in on line.

But I still wonder about exercises--seems like part of the problem is weak muscles. So I'm doing exercises from a book I bought called the Yoga Facelift. I read that Japanese women do facial exercises/massages every night--not sure why that isn't promoted here more. I tried to find exercises on the web, but couldn't--hence the book purchase. I'm going to do ones for neck, jawline, lips and forehead daily for a month, and see what I think. Or more accurately, what others think.

The dermatologist did give me a treatment for my starting-to-emerge age spots. It's a combo of a cream called Azelex and the bleaching agent Hydroquinone, both prescription drugs. I'm supposed to use the combo daily for 3 months on my hands as well as forearms and neck/chest. So we'll see how that works. She also prescribed the Azelex for my face/neck as an anti-aging cream. She was going to prescribe Retin A, but I mentioned that my skin broke out when I tried Retin A some years ago. I was using Tazorac (prescribed by another dermatologist), but thought it was making my skin a bit tough. So I guess "anti-aging" is different from "anti-sagging". I just started these regimens yesterday; I hope my facial skin will tolerate the Azelex--it's very sensitive.

She told me not to waste my money on Kinerase, which is what I'm currently using as a moisturizer at a cost of $129 for 2.8 oz. She recommended CeraVe cleanser (instead of Cetaphil) and moisturizer. It's really cheap, and available at CVS. So I'm using that. I didn't save the sales slip, and I don't remember how much the cost...OK, I looked it up--you can buy 12 oz CeraVe moisturizing lotion for $13.79; the 12 oz bottle of cleanser costs $12.59. You know it's inexpensive, because I had a hard time finding it at CVS--it was on the bottom shelf, where the other inexpensive products are. Plus I went to the CeraVe website and found a $2 -off coupon. But I can't figure out how to print it off--directions said I needed to install a "coupon printer," which I did, but it still didn't print. I'll go back to that once I'm done blogging.

I also asked what I can do for emerging lip lines--some have just emerged, and one is very deep. I'm convinced they worsened after I spent hours one day gardening--even though I was wearing a hat and sunscreen. Anyway, she said the only treatment for that would be an injection--she uses Juvenex. The Yoga Facelift book discusses how injections weaken the muscles (the dermo confirmed that this is how injections work)--the exercises in the book are designed to strengthen muscles. I prefer that approach. The dermo said people typically need Juvenex treatments about every 18 mos. Not as frequent as Botox for brow lines, but I still don't want to go that route. So I'm doing a lip exercise and using a lot of Vaseline. And trying to be more careful about hours spent outside (I need to do an entry on Horticulture Therapy).

So these are my biggest problem areas--saggy neck, beginnings of age spots, and lip creasing. My upper face doesn't look that bad--I'm hoping the facial exercises for forehead/brow will be good preventive measures. I suspect the saggy neck is due to years of seesawing weight gains and losses--+ or - 35 lbs. I had an eating disorder that didn't have a name--it's now called binge eating disorder. My neck was already starting to sag when I was in my early 40s. But I can always hope that targeted exercises will help...

The dermatologist did confirm that I am using good sunscreens--combos of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. My previous dermatologist said these were the most effective sunscreen ingredients. So I searched the web and found that a brand called Blue Lizard from Australia has the highest concentrates of both--Blue Lizard for sensitive skin has 5 percent titanium dioxide and 10 percent zinc oxide. Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby has 4.9 percent titanium dioxide and 4.7 percent zinc oxide, which is the highest among non-Blue Lizard brands from my research. I use these on my face, neck and hands, in part because my face won't tolerate other kinds of sunscreen ingredients. It's funny--with all the new, fancy ingredients such as Helioplex (Neutrogena), zinc oxide is still the best. So the lifeguards who smeared it on their noses back when we were growing up (do they still do this?) had the right idea.

The woman who wrote The Yoga Facelift, Marie-Veronique Nadeau, notes that titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are mineral, rather than chemical, sunscreens, and that's why they are nonirritating. She also notes that the ozone layer that screens out harmful ultraviolet rays is nonexistent in Australia. (See p. 133 of her book.) If this is true, it would explain why Australia has such a good sunscreen product in Blue Lizard.