In my practice, I come across many patients who visit me with a desire for clear radiant skin whatever their age may be. But all the effort they are ready to put in for the same is just apply a cream for a few days. This may sound a little blunt but dear friend; there are no magic potions available. To have beautiful skin, you need to go deeper as goes the adage ‘Beauty is not just skin deep’.

Our skin is the largest organ of the body. It bears the brunt of all the environmental factors like sun rays, heat, humidity, cold, pollution, etc; Besides it also reflects our inner health.
That is why, on their first visit itself, I enquired about the patient’s daily routine, diet, sleep and exercise pattern, occupation, and stress level. My advice is to modify their lifestyle towards a healthy one, that is to take a minimum of 6 hours of sleep daily, do proper exercises, eat healthy and on time, and minimize the stress by meditation, pranayama, and maintaining a positive outlook towards life.

Now coming back to the skin, every patient’s treatment is individualized according to his/her skin type and subset of problems. I try my best as per my knowledge and abilities to inform the patients about his / her specific problems and the treatment options available. While some conditions respond to medicines alone, others require the use of technology like lasers which is an essential part of any dermatologist’s practice now.

Prescribing medicines is fine but once I tell the patient that they will need something more than just creams and tablets for a good result, I become a suspect. All sorts of questions arise in the patient’s mind. I am happy to address any doubts they might have about the effects/ side-effects/ safety/ efficacy/ downtime, etc. but when some of them act as if I am telling the treatment just to mint money, my morale comes down.

Each of us likes to look our best, that is why for special occasions, we buy special dresses, spend hours in the salon for makeup, hair styling, etc., and also splurge on other accessories. But is looking good on special occasions enough??

Why can’t we aim for skin that looks good/ radiant on any normal day? Here comes the role of new technologies. Let it be clear that these are very safe and most of them are even approved by the USFDA( United States Food & Drug Association) after stringent tests.

So the next time you are advised to go for a treatment procedure, follow what is said by the dermatologist as he/she is an expert in getting back your beauty in a healthy way.