What’s Aging You?

By Chelsea Campbell

According to Dermatologist Dr. Jeffrey Dover of Boston, the secret to looking your best is really no secret at all: don't age in the first place. While that might be common sense at best and delusional at worst, Dr. Dover makes a compelling case for prejuvenation. 

Coined by his colleague at SkinCare Physicians, Dr. Ken Arndt, prejuvenation is the practice of preventing signs of aging before it has the chance to wreak havoc on your skin. That means making subtle tweaks in your anti-aging regimen earlier in life rather than later so that you are on the defense for things like wrinkles, sagging, and discoloration, instead of on the offense trying to correct these things later on when they are harder to treat.

Is It Too Late?

So what about the rest of us who aren't 22?  Is there any hope for us? Dr. Dover tells us that prejuvenation can start no matter how old you are. "It turns out, most of our patients are not 20, or even 30," says Dr. Dover. "They're mostly women in their 40s, 50s, and 60s seeking prejuvenation to begin looking their best for their age - because a lot of women are great looking at 40 or 50 or 60! But it may be time to reverse the clock a bit and prevent some future aging. All women and men have their own natural beauty. There are certain little things we can do to make them look their best at low cost and at no risk, to prejuvenate and prevent them from getting older-looking prematurely."

So How Do I Look Younger?

The key is to begin targeting what ages you the most. According to Dr. Dover, a study showed that discoloration and uneven skin tone is what betrays your age more than anything else and can age you up to 12 years. "The first thing that we see is dull, lusterless skin with brown splotches and sometimes fine wrinkles. So we can make someone look 12 years younger just by evening out their color, which is why makeup is so successful with women. Brown, irregular splotches and dull skin make everybody look older. These are simple things that can be done in an outpatient facility that are painless, almost no downtime, and at a pretty low cost."

• "Use sunscreen every morning," he says. "The most common sign of aging really is brown sunspots."
• "Good skincare is the basis of all prejuvenation," according to Dr. Dover. Invest in a good skincare regimen, including using retinoids every night to boost cell turnover and treat dullness.
• Try a laser or pulse light treatment. "Treatments like the pulsed dye laser or IPL treat the red dilated blood vessels of the face. “Broken” blood vessels make you look like you've been drinking or not sleeping enough and can make you look puffy and a little haggard. We see dramatic improvement of up to 90% in just three pulse laser treatments. People have long-lasting improvement and look better within weeks."
• Botox or Dysport can help soften wrinkles, and filler can be used to lift facial skin and soften lines. 

"Basically, they're simple, relatively inexpensive, low-risk procedures; not for fancy people," Dr. Dover says. "Most of our patients are not fancy women or men; they're everyday individuals who just want to look their best.  They spend time and money on their hair and on their makeup. One or two simple procedures can help make themselves look their best." 

Here's to looking 12 years younger!