Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Bhavani on October 10, 2013 at 1:29pm

Linda, 

Love your response. I was thinking along the same lines. Estrogen vs progesterone. oil vs dryness. ASCP has a lot of educational videos on their website that might give you the confidence and ability to answer these questions. Good luck

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Permalink Reply by Samantha Maline on October 10, 2013 at 10:01am

All of the responses on this thread are helpful and offer different professional insights.

I would suggest acknowledging the trauma of the procedure she just went through and then offer her not a "quick fix" but rather an anti-inflammatory, soothing, calming facial to get her started on the road to recovery. Her body needs time to heal and balance. Taking a giant step towards "fixing" it would perhaps be best left for a time down the road when her body has had sufficient time to balance out.

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Permalink Reply by coldsalineplexus on October 12, 2013 at 8:37am

If her experience is anything like others I have seen post-hysterectomy, she may be experiencing laxity, sagging, sallowness, sensitivity, dryness, crepey areas, and texture issues.

I agree completely that she may want to get specialized care for her HRT.  In my city there is a nurse practitioner who is MAGIC with tweaking thyroid and HRT regimens.  She is much more hands-on than any of the doctors that my clients have seen for the same issues.

I know she is asking for book recommendations, which I can't really help with, but assuming she eventually lands on your table, and assuming her issues are what I have seen before and described above, I would recommend mild lactic acid peels every 3 weeks, with a major focus on peptides and antioxidants during your mask/treatment phase and at home, and light therapy every time she sees you (possibly even coming in more frequently for lights at first to jump start the mitochondria in her skin cells).  After a few facials like this, with her skin resilience improved, I would recommend gently and gradually introducing a mild retinoid, something in the .5% retinol range, starting with every other night or less (but never less than 2x/week).  Remember, if you go too fast with the retinoid, she'll experience retinoid dermatitis, which, while temporary, will probably freak her out if she's already experiencing the other menopausal skin symptoms listed above.

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Permalink Reply by Nina on October 12, 2013 at 9:17am

I think Retinol might be a little bit too strong for her skin, at least at this point, using Retinol especially with a hormone issue can cause some serious side effects. But I do agree that maybe in the future, it would be a good idea to use. But I just get the idea, even from my own personal experience, that anything that would really cause her skin to peel, is going to be too much right now. Im thinking with a case like this, she's very fragile, start slow, start with more gentle, not too grainy, exfoliating cleansers once or twice a week at this point, then eventually start with light Enzyme Peels, and thennn graduate to stronger peeling products using your discression. But overall, I'm thinking work on just calming and gently repairing her skin for awhile first, until she can handle stronger products. I agree, antioxidants & peptides.

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