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New Beginnings: Supporting Cancer Survivors

New Beginnings: Supporting Cancer Survivors

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, a time of year when charities, brands, companies and people band together to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. Wondering what that has to do with Dermatology? Cancer patients undergoing radiation treatments for cancer are usually marked with 2-3 small tattoo marks on their skin. These marks guide the radiation therapist to position the treatment in the same exact location each time. While these marks are clinically very helpful during cancer treatment, they are permanent and leave recovered patients with a constant reminder of their battle. That’s where Dermatologists come in, to remove these tattoo markings with the latest laser technologies.

Psoriasis 101

Psoriasis 101

If Kim Kardashian has it, it must be good, right? Well, that’s not the case when it comes to psoriasis. Kardashian has openly talked about her struggle with this autoimmune disease that affects an estimated 7.5 million Americans according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). In recognition of Psoriasis Awareness Month (August) we asked Dr. Klein to explain what this disease is, what it looks like, and the latest treatment therapies available.

Melasma Malaise

Melasma Malaise

Do you ever feel like hormones are the teething of womanhood? What’s this <insert strange bodily development>? Ah, must be hormones. Well another fun result of those pesky regulating substances chugging around our bodies is something called Melasma - or more commonly, the mask of pregnancy. As if pregnancy wasn’t scary enough without bringing a mask in to it. But I digress…melasma translates from the Greek word for dark, and that’s exactly what it is. Dark brown/grey patches of skin that develop, typically on the face, although they can also appear on the body, most notably on the forearms. Melasma can show up during periods of hormonal disturbance, most commonly pregnancy or while taking birth control, but can also happen without hormonal fluctuations and can even happen in men.

Shedding Light on Sunscreen

Shedding Light on Sunscreen

If you were born in the 70s or 80s, you probably consider yourself clued up on sun care and how to stay safe. Most of this generation, and those that follow it, know the dangers of tanning beds, we wear sunglasses year-round (okay, maybe sometimes it’s to hide at school drop off) and we’d never think of letting our kids on the beach without a thick layer of SPF…and a hat that we wrestle back on at least every eight minutes. All of that knowledge aside, there is still a lot of confusion about sunscreen – which ingredients should we be choosing, and which chemicals are a no-no? Everybody seems to have an opinion and there’s no hiding from the consequences of choosing incorrectly; sun damage and premature aging on the “good end” and skin cancer on the very scary end.