What are medical grade skin care products?

Get the most out of your skin care regime by talking to your skin care physician about medical grade skin care products.

Healthy skin is in. Healthy skin protects the body better. Healthy skin is more youthful. Healthy skin heals faster. Healthy skin can indicate overall health.

Efforts to maximize skin health are ongoing and accomplished only through daily, established routines. The use of skincare products designed to address particular skincare issues are a necessity for most of us.

Medical grade skin care products are composed of medically proven ingredients that are only available through a doctor. Most of these products have been developed through clinical research and the concepts that are found only through development. Yes, your over the counter skin care products are sometimes based on clinical research as well but the dosage of the “wonder” ingredients used in each jar or tube is minimal compared to what you find in a medical grade skin care product. Plus, over the counter skincare lotions and crèmes typically are not designed for deep penetration. Instead they stay on the surface of the skin and do not actually correct or heal a problem. They are a surface treatment and not a medical treatment.

The ability of medical grade skin care products to produce such great results has to do with the products and ingredients ability to penetrate the top layer of skin. The medical grade products work at the dermis, or middle layer of the skin, where collagen and elastin are contained and the basal, or bottom layer of the skin, where new skin cells are produced. Over the counter products, however, work only on the epidermis, or top layer of skin, where we shed skin cells and the new skin cells, created in the basal layer, eventually show up.

Most of us have problems in the dermis area or lower and need help with building and stimulating collagen and elastin to give us a younger appearance. While exfoliation of the epidermis (the removal of those dead and shedding skin cells) is important to a good skin care regimen what is revealed after exfoliation is equally so. This is where medical grade skin care comes into the picture.

The options in medical grade skin care products are broad and ever changing. They vary in the intensity of the application (some treatments require lasers, chemical peels or manual exfoliation) and their ingredients. Only a certified medical physician or clinician should be applying or prescribing medical grade skin care products.

Many of these products can cause burning and blistering or can be misused and cause disfiguration and possible nerve damage. For these reasons you should always verify the credentials of your skin care physician. Check for any pending abuse suits or medical board warnings. Just because everyone is going to a particular doctor doesn’t mean credentials should not be checked.

It’s your skin. Make sure it is well taken care of.