Keeping your skin young

FOX Medical Team

Jessica Anderson is only thirty, but, a few months ago she started noticing this wrinkle, right down the middle of her forehead. 
And pretty soon, she couldn't stop fixating on it. 
So, she came to Dermatology Consultants Dr. Gabriel Martinez-Diaz, for a temporary fix: Botox.

"I'm married, I have kids, my husband looks younger than me. Well, he is. He's a year younger. But I don't want to literally look like his old lady," said Anderson.

A lot of us start noticing changes in our skin when we're still in our fresh-faced 20's. Pores getting bigger. Discoloration.Dryness that wasn't there before. Dr. Martinez- Diaz says your dermatologist can help. To keep your skin - looking its best, Martinez Diaz says you've got to protect it against the sun. Yes, even now - in the winter time.
 

" I have found in my time in the state of Georgia, many patients say, well, I only wear sunblock when it's sunny outside. Well the reality is we live in a sunny state. So we are always in the sun," said Martinez-Diaz.

Choose a sunblock with an sun protection factor of 30 or higher, reapply often. And Martinez Diaz says if you're smoker, find a way to quit - because nothing ages the skin faster than smoking. As we hit our 30's, 40's, and 50's, we lose volume in the mid faces, and that plumpness and elasticity that young skin has.

Dr. Martinez Diaz often recommend topical creams like retinoids to boost collagen production, antioxidants to undo damage, And he says Botox can be a short-term fix, if you have expression lines like Jessica's. But as tempting as it is to want that quick fix, Martinez Diaz says he's focused on the big picture.

 "Why would I focus on a wrinkle when we have a lot of other things we need to address or the wrinkles are to be more noticeable."