I am always harping on about the importance of protecting your skin barrier, but what do I mean, and why is it so important?
Our skin barrier, also known as the stratum corneum, has a multitude of functions and only now are we realising just how crucial its role is in maintaining healthy, happy skin.
To fully understand my crusade, I need to first backtrack.
When I started in Medical Aesthetics back in 2000, fresh out of the NHS, the speciality was in its infancy in the UK. My initial introduction was with Boots Healthcare, for which I am eternally grateful as they insisted we were taught by the best and I spent several weeks in training before being allowed near a patient. Even then, I was supervised until being deemed ready by the hierarchy to fly solo. Sadly, when they shut their clinics in 2004, their team of medical consultants were no longer on hand to guide me.
There were very few conferences or training events like there are now, so most of our training came from the device or product manufacturers. So, we almost blindly went on their advice when taking on new devices or products. The clinic I worked in after Boots did just that and purchased a Microdermabrasion machine. The patients loved the way it made their skin feel and wanted it more and more. Microdermabrasion became huge, with manufacturers producing more powerful devices which were aggressive on the skin.
By the time I opened my own clinic in 2007, I was over the moon to be able to own an Advanced Medical Microdermabrasion device. Machines that had originally just been used by Consultant Plastic Surgeons to treat scarring etc., in a hospital setting were now available on the high street, and so the revolution began. We were led to believe that the “top layer of dead skin cells made our skin look dull” and it needed to be removed. My device was so powerful I could achieve pinprick bleeding. It wasn’t just in clinics that this was happening. Patients would perform home exfoliation with gritty facial scrubs up to twice a day.
As knowledge has advanced and expert skin speakers are now available to hear most weeks on some stage or other, this advice has taken a complete U-turn. I decided to stop offering Microdermabrasion several years ago and got rid of my device. I was met with some grumblings from patients but have never been more sure of any clinical decision in my life.
Now, the science bit:
There are many layers to the skin. The outer layer of the Epidermis, known as the Stratum Corneum, comprises of dead skin cells, approximately 15–20 layers of them, imbedded in lipids. They are constantly shed and replaced by skin cells moving up from the lower epidermis. This barrier offers vital protection from UV rays, maintains hydration, keeps harmful microbes out, as well as preventing free radicals entering the skin. It is keeping us safe and healthy and yet some still insist on trying to get rid of it. We now know categorically that removing this layer will leave us with dry, vulnerable skin, more prone to inflammatory conditions, breakouts and redness. It is our shield. All forms of barrier destruction, including home exfoliation products, derma-planing, and microdermabrasion can cause problems.
So like I always say:
“Protect your Barrier!”I am always harping on about the importance of protecting your skin barrier, but what do I mean, and why is it so important?
Our skin barrier, also known as the stratum corneum, has a multitude of functions and only now are we realising just how crucial its role is in maintaining healthy, happy skin.
To fully understand my crusade, I need to first backtrack.
When I started in Medical Aesthetics back in 2000, fresh out of the NHS, the speciality was in its infancy in the UK. My initial introduction was with Boots Healthcare, for which I am eternally grateful as they insisted we were taught by the best and I spent several weeks in training before being allowed near a patient. Even then, I was supervised until being deemed ready by the hierarchy to fly solo. Sadly, when they shut their clinics in 2004, their team of medical consultants were no longer on hand to guide me.
There were very few conferences or training events like there are now, so most of our training came from the device or product manufacturers. So, we almost blindly went on their advice when taking on new devices or products. The clinic I worked in after Boots did just that and purchased a Microdermabrasion machine. The patients loved the way it made their skin feel and wanted it more and more. Microdermabrasion became huge, with manufacturers producing more powerful devices which were aggressive on the skin.
By the time I opened my own clinic in 2007, I was over the moon to be able to own an Advanced Medical Microdermabrasion device. Machines that had originally just been used by Consultant Plastic Surgeons to treat scarring etc., in a hospital setting were now available on the high street, and so the revolution began. We were led to believe that the “top layer of dead skin cells made our skin look dull” and it needed to be removed. My device was so powerful I could achieve pinprick bleeding. It wasn’t just in clinics that this was happening. Patients would perform home exfoliation with gritty facial scrubs up to twice a day.
As knowledge has advanced and expert skin speakers are now available to hear most weeks on some stage or other, this advice has taken a complete U-turn. I decided to stop offering Microdermabrasion several years ago and got rid of my device. I was met with some grumblings from patients but have never been more sure of any clinical decision in my life.
Now, the science bit:
There are many layers to the skin. The outer layer of the Epidermis, known as the Stratum Corneum, comprises of dead skin cells, approximately 15–20 layers of them, imbedded in lipids. They are constantly shed and replaced by skin cells moving up from the lower epidermis. This barrier offers vital protection from UV rays, maintains hydration, keeps harmful microbes out, as well as preventing free radicals entering the skin. It is keeping us safe and healthy and yet some still insist on trying to get rid of it. We now know categorically that removing this layer will leave us with dry, vulnerable skin, more prone to inflammatory conditions, breakouts and redness. It is our shield. All forms of barrier destruction, including home exfoliation products, derma-planing, and microdermabrasion can cause problems.
So like I always say:
“Protect your Barrier!”
