Skin Care Made Easy

With summer coming to an end, we find ourselves getting back to “the grind” of getting our kids to and from school and practices, while our work schedules become busier and busier.  It is around this time, where we tend to take less care of ourselves, as we focus more on our family and careers.  As an office full of moms, we understand the importance of time.  When researching skin care products and lines for the office, we not only took into consideration how effective a product was, but also wanted products that were easy to use and had more than one purpose.  Let’s face it, who has time to apply on 4 or 5 different creams as part of their daily regimen? 

A must have skin care product we recommend is the SkinMedica TNS Recovery Complex.  This is a great all in one product.  This product has a combination of growth factors that are clinically proven to enhance skin tone and texture, improve wrinkles and elasticity.  It also helps for fine lines, wrinkles, and overall tone and texture of skin.  It strengthens the skin’s natural ability to regenerate itself and improves the appearance of age spots and improves firmness and resiliency of the skin.

For those of us on a budget, skin care regimens don’t have to be costly. The most important product you should be using is fairly inexpensive: Sunscreen.  Many believe that sunscreen only needs to be worn if we are out for a day at the beach.  However daily sunscreen use not only protects us from sun damage, but helps prevent sun spots, wrinkling and photodamage.  We have a great variety of sunscreens here at the office, which includes  sunscreen gels, sunscreen wipes and sunscreen lotions and creams.

This is just a small sample of products we carry here at the office. Please visit our website at www.floridaskincenter.com or speak to one of our providers so we may design a skin care regimen just for you.

Hope to see you soon.

FSC

 

Put on Your Pink Bra

At Florida Skin Center, we are always looking for ways to give back to our community.  As an office full of women, an organization we hold close to our heart is the American Cancer Associations: Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Event. It is an event that we participate in each year as well as help raise money for.  

The theme for this year’s event is  Put on your Pink Bra.  The next time you are in the office, notice the pink hearts on the wall. These are donations we have collected for this amazing cause.

A majority of us in our lifetime will be affected by cancer. Below are some recent statistics on Breast Cancer.

• About 1 in 8 women in the United States (12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime.
• For women in the U.S., breast cancer death rates are higher than those for any other cancer, besides lung cancer.
• Death rates from breast cancer have been declining since about 1990, with larger decreases in women younger than 50. These decreases are believed to be the result of earlier detection through screening and increased awareness, as well as improved treatment
• Besides skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. women. More than 1 in 4 cancers in women (about 28%) are breast cancer.

(These statistics were taken from the ACA and CDC)

As women we must take care of our health. Skin cancer screens and mammograms are a MUST for all women.

We hope to see you soon,
FSC

Tattoo No More

We get a lot of questions in our office from patients about laser tattoo removal. So in today’s blog we wanted to answer the FAQs we receive from our patients.

How does Laser Tattoo Removal work?
Lasers break up the ink in a tattoo so our own body can absorb it and get rid of it naturally.

What are some common factors that affect laser tattoo removal?
The coloring in your tattoo determines how many treatments you will need. Black, red, and dark blue colors absorb laser light much easier then tattoos with green, light blue and brown colors. Since colors respond to laser therapy differently, Dr. Badia and her staff use one type of laser for easy to remove colors like black and red and another laser specifically for colors that are more difficult to remove such as green.

Both laser treatments can be done on the same day. This makes tattoo removal more effective so fewer treatments are needed to remove the tattoo.

The depth and type of ink used in the tattoo can also determine how many treatments will be required. A tattoo that is covered by another tattoo has more ink and depth in the skin and will require more treatments. Professional tattoos run deeper in the skin than amateur tattoos.

How painful are laser removal treatments?
Laser tattoo removal has been described as a rubber band snapping feel. However, to minimize discomfort topical numbing can be applied to the tattoo as well as lidocaine injections.

How many and how much do treatments cost?
As mentioned earlier since there are many factors that play a role in determining how successful tattoo removal will be we recommend coming in to see one of our providers to get a quote for the cost of treatment.

How successful are treatments?
Please take a look below at a few of our patients before and after photos.

 

 

 

Florida Skin Center Turns 10 !!

Happy Birthday Florida Skin Center!

Dr. Badia and her staff have been very excited this week because Florida Skin Center just turned ten years old!  Over the past decade, Dr. Badia and her staff have been providing our community with great dermatology care.  When Dr. Badia first opened the doors to Florida Skin Center, she wanted to provide her patients with the most up to date dermatology care with a great friendly staff.  And she has done just that. 

With each passing year, Dr. Badia has added to her practice, treatments and procedures that she believes in so her patients can have all their dermatology needs taken care of at one place. These treatments include:  Light therapy, Mohs Services, Full Aesthetic services, and Lasers therapy just to name a few.  In addition, we are the only practice in the area that sees kids. And many of our patients make a trip to Florida Skin Center a “family affair”.

Dr. Badia and her staff at FSC also believe in giving back to the community as well.  You can see her and her staff volunteering at various organizations throughout the community.  Just recently, we were involved in Viva Cape Coral and at speaking engagements to educate the community at City of Fort Myers and local elementary schools.   In fact, Dr. Badia was recognized locally by the Hispanic Affairs Advisory Board as Volunteer of the Year in 2008.  A distinction that is rare for many busy physicians.

All in all, Florida Skin Center has had a great 10 years and looks forward to what the future holds.  We hope to see you soon.

FSC

Laser Hair Removal: Ethnic Skin Types

Unfortunately for many women and some men, unwanted facial hair is a common problem.  It is even more unfortunate for those of us with ethnic skin because not only do we have to deal with unwanted hair, we also have to deal with the dark marks and scarring it can leave behind.
This young female came to our office for just that concern: unwanted facial hair.  We treated this patient with four laser hair removal treatments.  As you can see from the above picture, the laser hair removal treatment not only helped her facial hair, but it also minimized her discoloration and scarring.

Beware however.  Not all lasers are created equal.  The laser we used for this patient was one specific for ethnic skin.  If you are shopping around for laser hair removal treatments be sure to ask who will be performing the treatment, what type of laser is being used and the side effects involved.  If you have any questions about laser hair removal treatments for any skin type please feel free to give us a call.

What Makes Us Different from the Rest

As a patient of Florida Skin Center, you not only get excellent dermatology care, but you become part of a practice that believes in giving back.   Dr. Badia and her staff at Florida Skin Center believe strongly in giving back to our community.  Throughout the year, you can see Dr. Badia and her staff involved in various projects and community events. In fact, Florida Skin Center has a volunteer committee which is made up of dedicated staff members that find projects and collect donations throughout the year to help those less fortunate in the community. 

Please visit  http://floridaskincenter.com/volunteercommitee.asp to see what we are collecting for this month.

We annually work with March of Dimes, which is a national organization that helps raise money and awareness for preventing premature babies, and most recently attended their March of Dimes Walk.  We also are involved in Adopt a Highway, Edison Junior Parade and the Hispanic Chamber of Fort Myers.  Each year we hold our Grab a Gobbler event where we give out over a 100 turkeys to needy families.

Dr. Badia is involved in an organization called Girls Going Places.  This is an organization that educates young women about the financial and entrepreneurial opportunities available to them in the community.  Dr Badia also goes to local elementary schools once a month to educate our youth about the importance of protecting their skin from the sun.

The event that we hold most dear to our hearts is an annual event called Children’s Day: Dermatology from the Heart.  Dr. Badia thought what better way to give back to her community than to use her expertise in dermatology for those who need it most.  On Children’s Day, Dr. Badia and her providers give free pediatric skin exams from 9am-3pm free of charge. This year’s Children Day event will be held on June 18^th.  The event is open to any child, because it is never too early to have your child’s skin evaluated by a dermatologist, especially for those of us growing up in Florida.  For more details about this event please go to http://floridaskincenter.com/default.asp .

These are just a few of the events we are involved in throughout the year.  Please visit our website to get updated on our newest project or event.

We hope to see you soon.

Florida Skin Center.

Test your Sun Safety Savvy

Summer is almost here.   That means it's time to hit the beach, breakout the barbeque and most importantly slather on that sunscreen. With summer closely approaching us,  it is important to protect our skin from the sun. How much do you really know about protecting your skin from the damaging affects of the sun? 

Let’s put it to the test. Take this quiz and see how you do.

1. The best way to protect your skin if you have to be outside on a sunny day is to:

a. Wear an SPF 15 sunscreen (or greater) and re-apply every two hours
b. Wear a hat
c. Wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants
d. Wear sunglasses
e. All of the above

The answer is E. It is extremely important that sunscreen gets reapplied every 2 hours. If you have to be out in the sun, seek shade periodically, wear a wide-brimmed hat to help protect your face, and cover up with a lightweight long-sleeved shirt or pants. Strong sunlight can also damage your eyes and the tender skin around them. Choose sunglasses that block at least 99 percent of ultraviolet radiation, and that protect against both UVA and UVB rays.


2. If I only get a sunburn once or twice a year, I don't need to worry about skin cancer.

True
False
True. Getting as little as 1-3 bad sunburns as a child increases your risk of getting a skin cancer in adulthood.


3. The safest way to get a good tan is:

a. Slowly, using an SPF 30 sunscreen and avoiding midday sun
b. Laying out for 30 minutes before applying sunscreen
c. A tanning booth
d. There is no risk-free way to get a tan

Answer is D. There is no such thing as a safe tan.  Going to tanning beds as little as once a month can increase your risk of skin cancer by 50%.  It is always important to wear sunscreen whenever going outside especially here in Florida. Sunscreen should be applied at least 30 minutes before sun exposure.

4. A good application of sunscreen will last all day.

True
False

False. Sunscreen gets broken down in the sun and needs to be reapplied every two hours for maximum effectiveness


5. Which provides more protection from the sun?

a. A dark colored tee shirt
b. SPF 15 sunscreen
c. A white T-shirt
d. A wet T-shirt

Answer is A. Tightly woven, darker-colored fabrics provide more protection than sunscreen or a T-shirt. Most T-shirts, in fact, provide only about the equivalent of SPF 4 protection, and even less than that if they are wet.


6. At what age can I start putting sunscreen on my child?

a. 1 month
b. 6 months
c. 1 year
d. 5 years

Answer B. Because of the chemicals used in sunscreen lotions, most dermatologists recommend not using sunscreen on babies younger than six months old. Instead, keep your baby in the shade and use protective clothing and hats.


7. When should sunscreen be applied?

a. Right before you go outside
b. After you get your beach towel laid out and find an attractive person to do the honor
c. 30 minutes before you go outside
d. An hour after you've been out, depending on your skin type

Answer is C. For maximum protection, sunscreens should be applied 30 minutes before exposure so that the chemicals in the lotion have a chance to absorb into your skin. Sunscreen works by interacting with the skin to absorb, reflect or scatter the sun's UV rays.

So how did you score?  May is National Melanoma Month. If you have not had your annual skin check now is a great time.  And remember, it's never too early to get your kids checked as well.


We hope to see you soon.


Florida Skin Center