Thursday, November 29, 2012

Give the Gift of Latisse® this Holiday Season!

If you are looking for a great, unique gift for a woman in your life, Greenville Dermatology has you covered. We are currently offering buy one, get one free Latisse® kits!

Latisse® is a prescription treatment to help grow eyelashes longer, fuller and darker. This is a great product for women of every age, and it has been known to double the fullness of lashes in just 16 weeks. Want proof? Check out this before and after photo:

Before at 0 weeks

After 16 weeks
 

Call Greenville Dermatology to schedule a consultation and find out if Latisse® is right for you!

864-242-5872

Monday, November 26, 2012

Seeing Under Skin

Doctors may soon be able to ‘see’ under the skin as a less-invasive way to detect skin cancer.

Since the 1990s ophthalmologists have used an imaging technique called optical coherence tomography (OCT) to examine eyes, and recently dermatologists have begun to show interest in this technique as a non-invasive way to detect skin diseases, including cancer.

OCT provides high-resolution images, and when used for dermatological purposes, it can show a 3-D network of blood vessels beneath the skin. Researchers from the Medical University Vienna (MUW) in Austria, as well as Ludwig Maximilians University in Germany, used OCT to look at both healthy patches of skin and allergy-induced patches of skin. Scientists were able to see that the blood flow in the vessels to the healthy skin was drastically different than the blood flow in the vessels to the unhealthy skin.

“The condition of the vascular network carries important information on tissue health and its nutrition,” said Rainer Leitgeb, lead researcher at MUW. He goes on to mention that there is a lot to learn about this technique and that the value of this information is very much underutilized.

The hope is that OCT will eventually allow physicians to reduce the number of biopsies performed on patients, but also assess how quickly a tumor is expected to grow. For patients undergoing treatment, OCT could help monitor progress.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

SKIN CANCER MYTHS AND FACTS:


I recently came across an interesting link on www.skincancer.org that lists some common skin cancer myths and correlating facts. I wanted to share it as some of the facts may surprise you!

Myth 1: 80% of a person’s lifetime sun exposure is acquired before the age of 18.

Fact 1: Actually, only about 23% of lifetime exposure occurs by the age of 18.


Myth 2: Ingredients in sunscreen may cause cancer.

Fact 2: Current research shows that when used as directed sunscreens are safe and effective.

 
Myth 3: You cannot get sun damage on a cloudy day.

Fact 3: You can, and you will – 80% of harmful rays can penetrate clouds and fog.


Myth 4: Only Caucasians develop skin cancer.

Fact 4: While Caucasians are at higher risk of developing skin cancer, non-Caucasians are more likely to die from skin cancer because it is more difficult to spot and because of belief in the misconception noted above. Click here to learn more. 

The overall lesson is that you need to wear SPF 15 or higher – no matter your age, skin color or if it’s a cloudy day! For more myths, visit: http://www.skincancer.org/skin-cancer-information/skin-cancer-facts/myths-vs-facts.