Dr. Akanksha Sanghvi
25-May-2023
Body care is no longer an afterthought. The skin on your body needs just as much care as your facial skin. Though the routine you need for the body's skin is much different from the face, it is important to follow a daily regime for your body's skin as well. Here, Dr. Akanksha Sanghvi takes you through the basics of body care.
A Regular Body Care Routine
1. Exfoliate: The build-up that occurs on elbows and knees needs extra attention and one can use a special body scrub with salts, sugars, coffee, or oatmeal. Exfoliation must be done once a week and it is important to moisturise right after it.
2. Moisturise: It may take time to moisturise your whole body, but is an important step of body care. Moisturisers can be cream-based, water-based, or body oils which nourish and hydrate the skin. It is necessary to choose your product depending on your skin type. For example, individuals with extremely dry skin can apply almond oil, chamomile oil, or hemp oil for intense hydration. Similarly, people with normal skin can use water-based lightweight body lotions to gently moisturise their skin. Someone with eczema-prone skin can apply oil-based heavy creams rich in lanolin, ceramides, and glycerine.
3. Choose your bathing products wisely: Body skin care starts in the shower. Using the right pH-balanced body shower gel is crucial. Harsh soaps with too much sulphate strip off the oils and healthy lipids from the skin, leaving it dry and rough. It is vital to use creamy body washes that are rich in glycerine and healthy oils to rinse your body. Shower oils are great for your skin and when rubbed, they give a slight lather that helps cleanse the body's skin without leaving it dry.
Treatments for Body Skincare
1. Q switch laser toning: Q switch laser toning is a laser technique that helps to de-tan the skin and target hyperpigmentation and uneven skin tone. It involves passing a laser beam onto the skin which helps target melanocytes and melanin, popularly done on the face and neck. However, we advise this laser on the body as well to give a more even complexion throughout.
2. Body peels: Body peels involve the use of a combination of stand-alone peels containing glycolic acid, kojic acid, salicylic acid, retinoic acid, and TCA. TCA peels are very popular for areas such as the back, arms, legs, knees and elbows. They help in peeling the superficial dead skin cells and rejuvenate the skin in these areas. Peels help to clear acne marks, pigment marks, sun spots, and age spots, while improving overall texture.
3. Skin polishing: Skin polishing is done using various tiny aluminium oxide crystals passed through a pen-like device that helps in resurfacing the epidermis and treating uneven skin tone/texture, photoaging, and opening pores.
4. Radiofrequency: Radiofrequency uses thermal energy passed on through a hand-held probe that feels nothing less than a relaxing hot stone massage to lift ageing skin, and treat fine lines and wrinkles. The areas on the body such as flabby inner arms, back rolls, butt rolls, and even decolletage can be safely treated using Radiofrequency.
5. Microneedling RF: It uses the same radiofrequency energy but is passed into the deeper layers of the skin using needles. The skin is numbed and the procedure is performed with minimal discomfort. The areas on the body such as the abdomen, buttocks, neck, and inner thighs/arms are safely treated using MNRF. It helps tighten skin, remodel fat, and even reduces the appearance of stretch marks.
6. Dermal fillers: Fillers are not only for the face. There are special body fillers available that help add volume and reduce wrinkles in affected areas of the body such as decolletage and buttocks. Hand fillers are getting increasingly popular and help rejuvenate the skin of the hands. The filler helps restore volume, reduce fine lines, and plump up the skin of the hands making them look youthful.
