Products aim to heal damaged skin

I recently saw one of those extreme makeover shows on television in which a doctor described the face of a woman approximately my age as "compromised."

I guess euphemisms are always a good thing when you are referring to skin that is damaged by exposure to sun, toxic air and too many days on this earth.

The baby boomer generation is not compromising when it comes to their compromised skin. Plastic surgeries and botox treatments are being done in record numbers.

I say go for it if you have a stomach for such things. Personally, I would rather see if there is a way to heal what age and a profligate youth spent in the sun has wrought.

Besides sounding less vain, healing rather than cutting makes sense to me. After all, aging skin is damaged skin. Every hour we spend in the sun causes an explosion of free radicals that attack skin cells and in turn produce inflammatory response. After half a century or more of this free radical damage ... well, you could say our skin is hurting. But can this wounded skin actually be healed?

I consulted with Daryl Stegall, co-owner of Innovative Skincare. I had read about one of her products that is being tested by none other than the National Institute of Health for its healing properties on the "compromised" skin of transplant patients.

I asked Daryl how skin-care products that are advertised in Vogue came to be studied by the NIH.

"I have a good friend who is a two-time cancer survivor. I gave him several of our products to try because he wasn't feeling good about the way his skin looked after chemotherapy and radiation. Within a few weeks, his gray pallor was replaced by a healthier glow."

The "Poly-Vitamin Serum" that caused this turn around was so impressive to her friend that he took it to the Washington Cancer Institute where a pilot program was begun. Not only was the self-esteem of patients positively impacted, but a rapid improvement in the "radiation dermatitis" of the patients was found.

When a senior investigator at the National Institute of Health heard about this success, he contacted Daryl to discuss transplant patients that, in almost every case, suffer from severe skin disorders. Daryl sent him some samples of the Poly-Vitamin Serum and within six weeks he was seeing dramatic results. A formal study is now in progress.

Pretty impressive. However, I still can't help but wonder what is so special about Innovative Skincare products? After all, it seems that every skin-care product line promises to make your face look like an eternal baby's bottom.

Not all products for the skin are created equal, claims Stegall.

"For example, we all know that vitamin C is an important antioxidant and beneficial to the skin. But only the 'L-abscorbic acid' kind -- not the 'ester' version that is found in many products -- can be absorbed into the skin."

This is important to pay attention to as, according to Daryl, "Diet can't provide enough of the antioxidant vitamins our skin needs; only 1 percent or less will get to the skin."

One of several healing agents in Innovative Skincare's line is "centella asiatica," which has been used to heal lesions in lepers. Tigers will seek out the plant that produces this ingredient in the wild to heal wounds to their paws.

Sounds encouraging. Reconsider subjecting yourself to the indignity of an Extreme Makeover. Maybe there are some alternatives out there to consider.

Dr. Michael O.L. Seabaugh is a Cape Girardeau native who is a licensed clinical psychologist with more than 20 years experience helping individuals and couples with their emotional and relationship issues. He has a private practice in Santa Barbara and Santa Monica, Calif. Contact him at mseabaugh@ semissourian.com.