#438 Skin Anti-Aging Masterclass with Dr Alexis Ortega

Alexis Ortega (0:00)

In light of the evidence that some sunscreen ingredients also cause oxidative damage and get absorbed through skin, and also may have other nasty consequences, it doesn't have to be a neutral pH. Because the theory that skin has a pH of 5.5, that's, in my opinion, obsolete. Let's begin by what everybody should do as a skincare routine.

Siim Land (0:30)

Alexis, welcome back to the show.

Alexis Ortega (0:33)

Thank you. Thank you for inviting me back.

Siim Land (0:35)

Yeah, you were very popular with your last episode as well, where we discussed your three-step program for longevity and anti-aging. But we didn't go into depth with skin anti-aging and the aesthetics, which is also actually very important to a lot of people as they get older, and obviously has a lot of auxiliary effects on your overall health and behavior and just the self-esteem and those kinds of things. So yeah, I'm happy to have you back and discuss about your protocol when it comes to skin anti-aging and aesthetic side of things. So yeah, maybe we can start with how does your skin care routine look like when you're treating like patients?

Alexis Ortega (1:24)

Right. Well, first of all, I would like to say that I quite agree with you. When we discuss aesthetics, it seems to some people something more superficial, but it has a strong impact on our self-esteem. I've seen that in my patient's evolution and in my own taking care of my skin and how important it is for us to feel young, to look young, to see ourselves in our youngest version and like the way we look. I'm sure that we'll also have some retroactive effect on the biological processes of aging, which is an interesting area of study. So that said, let's begin by what everybody should do as a skincare routine in general terms, and then get into detail, give you examples of what I do when I see a patient with a certain need, but let's just imagine a general case of skin aging without any other skin condition. So the first things we should do is analyze the current degree of photodamage, which is a worldwide problem. And we can see it not only in Mediterranean countries, because people travel a lot nowadays. And we go to sunny places. We just happen to like that. So we are exposed throughout our lives. And the other factor is that we live much longer than what our skin.

If you allow me the license, what our skin is designed to weather in terms of resilience against aggressors. And the main aggressor is sun. So we need to actively repair that damage that accumulates over time. And we should understand first of all how to recognize this damage in particular. I'm not talking about inner aging. So if you happen to have more wrinkles than what's average for your skin type, if you have thin skin, you're built to be more pro to developing wrinkles. But if you are, let's say, 25, you have been tanning every year for the past seven to eight years, let's say, for 20 days a year, you'll probably start developing deeper expression wrinkles than the average person of your age that does not expose themselves to sun. So that's one sign. More wrinkles, deeper ones, and drier skin. Second sign of damage is skin pinning or skin atrophy, which you can feel as loss of suppleness. If you touch a child's cheek, you'll see it's pretty supple, it's pretty full and thick. Whereas if you touch an old person's skin, it's much thinner and it's like a paper. So that's another bad sign that you're having advanced skin aging due to sun exposure. And the third one, and the more obvious one, is the appearance of sunspots or, let's say, discolorations. It doesn't have to necessarily be sunspots because some people don't develop them because they are lighter skin types, but they develop discolorations, such as the yellowish color, or sometimes redness, sometimes redness in certain areas of the face, and sometimes in more advanced stages, changes in skin texture which involves pre-cancerous lesions. So, if you start feeling like your skin isn't soft anymore in some places, and it begins to peel from time to time, and some minor scabs or scaling appears, that's a really bad sign, and you should start taking action to repair that damage and to protect yourself from further damage.

Siim Land (6:12)

So, yeah, like you can see certain things or changes with the skin that are related to the sun damage and aging of the skin. This episode is brought to you by Bon Charge, my favorite company for blue blocking glasses, red light therapy devices, and red light light bulbs. These items are essential for keeping your sleep wakefulness cycles aligned in a world that tries to mess them up. Instead of looking at your phone before bed and letting the blue light disrupt your melatonin production, why not wear blue blockers instead that prevent that from happening? Instead of having your bedroom lit up with bright lights, use the more sleep-friendly alternative by opting for flicker-free red light light bulbs that don't disrupt your sleep. Bon Charge also has amazing infrared sauna blankets that can give you the same health benefits as the traditional sauna. You also get the unique benefits of infrared light that improves joint and skin health. Head over to boncharge.com for Siim Land and use the code Siim, S-I-I-M, for a 15% discount.