What are the methods to treat skin problems?

I stocked up on soothing essences when I had redness, followed the trend of acid treatments when I had acne, and piled on whitening products when I was dull. I spent tens of thousands of dollars, but the problem was not solved. Instead, I turned my good skin into sensitive skin that gets hot and itchy if I don't pay attention.

Not long ago, I met a girl who was 1998. She had recurring red rashes on her cheeks and her lips were closed for almost a year. She changed four waves of online celebrity skin care products, and followed bloggers to do "deep cleansing once a week." As a result, after the spring started, her face became hot at every turn, and even the cold wind turned red. When she went for a dermatoscope, it was discovered that her stratum corneum was less than two-thirds of the thickness of healthy skin, which is typical of excessive care that destroys the barrier. The plan given to her was very simple: stop all functional products, cleansing mud masks and patch masks, only use amino acid cleansing + ceramide repair cream in the morning and evening, strictly wear a mask and umbrella when going out, and even reduce the number of skin care products from the original five or six layers to two layers. After more than two months, her face stabilized, and the red rash no longer recurred.

Speaking of this, I have to mention a controversial point in the industry: many people advocate "absolute reduction in skin care", saying that there is no need to use any functional products except moisturizing and sunscreen. There are also voices saying that the problem must be solved by adding targeted functional ingredients. In fact, both statements are correct, but the corresponding scenarios are different. If you already have sensitive skin with a damaged barrier, and you add all kinds of powerful whitening, anti-aging, and acid-removing drugs to your face, it will definitely increase the burden. But if you have healthy oily skin and want to improve old acne marks, it is definitely useless to just rely on basic moisturizing. Combining it with mild niacinamide and tranexamic acid ingredients can speed up the fading.

Just like the male college student who came to see me last month, his face has been covered with cysts and acne for two years. He has been applying adapalene for almost a year and applying salicylic acid many times to no avail. After careful questioning, I found out that he stays up late playing games until two or three o'clock every day and eats takeout every day. It was fried chicken and milk tea, and he always squeezed the pimples with his hands. In this case, just applying skin care products was of no use. He was asked to adjust his daily routine and avoid things high in sugar and oil, and then went to a regular dermatologist to prescribe oral medicine. In less than three months, most of the pimples were gone, and they no longer reoccurred.

In fact, our skin is really like a small plant on the face. Some people are like drought-tolerant cactus. If you water it every day and apply facial mask, the roots will rot. Some people are like humidity-loving pothos. If they don’t replenish water for ten and a half months, the skin will dry out and peel off. No matter how popular other people’s maintenance methods are, they may not be suitable for the pot in your hand. Many people always think that the more expensive skin care is, the more effective it is, and the more steps it takes, the more effective it is. In fact, this is not true. I have seen too many people use thousands of dollars worth of La Mer to ruin their faces, and I have also seen people use hundreds of dollars of moisturizer to make their skin glowing. The key is to understand the temperament of your skin.

Of course, if you are not sure what your problem is, don’t search for folk remedies online and try random remedies based on your symptoms. Stop using effective products first, and use basic moisturizing and repairing products for a week to observe the condition. If it still doesn’t improve, go directly to the dermatology department of a regular hospital to register. It will be more effective than half a year of messing around.