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It could be just around the corner or already here, but here are some tips on the Top 10 Steps to a Healthy Menopause excerpted from MenopauseRx.com.
#10: This is not your grandmother’s menopause
#9: Know what’s happening physically
#8: Menopause can affect sexual function
#7: Talk with your clinician about menopause
#6: Focus on what’s important to you
#5: Menopause treatments are safe and effective
#4: Don’t accept a “one size fits all” treatment plan
#3: Know how hormone therapy works
#2: What to expect from your hormone therapy
#1: Stay fit and healthy
To read more on each tip visit their website and the post on Top Ten Steps to a Healthy Menopause: http://www.menopauserx.com/topten.htm
The North American Menopause Society has launched a new newsletter for menopause called Menopause Flashes that can serve as a resource for answering questions and finding resources on menopause. There are so many questions regarding hormone therapy; what is fact and what is fiction? You may have read about hormone therapy in advertisements, online or talked to friends about it. But what is really true and what is not?
There is a great link on this month’s Menopause Flashes that answers questions on hormone therapy by listing the facts and fiction about the topic. To find out what is fact vs fiction go to: http://www.menopause.org/MF200912two.aspx. It might answer some questions for you that you have been wondering about.
For more information on NAMS (North American Menopause Society) visit their website at www.menopause.org.
I’ve been throwing around the term “menopausal skin” for a few weeks now and somebody asked me to explain what exactly that means. I’m glad she asked, because it encompasses so much more than “aging”.
Menopause brings about all kinds of changes in woman’s body. The physical changes that we most commonly associate with menopause are the end of the menstrual cycle and the beginning of hot flashes. But, menopause has a significant impact on the skin as well. The loss of estrogen causes diminished collagen and elastin production which results in loss of firmness and elasticity of the skin and the appearance of more lines and wrinkles. In fact, there are some studies that show that skin can lose up to 30% of collagen after the first five years of menopause. Women can also experience changes in texture and tone of the skin, dryness, pigmentation problems, acne and even facial hair. Aren’t you glad you asked???
One of the ways to manage menopausal aging is to use skin care products that contain ingredients known to enhance collagen production. Retinoids (Vitamin A such as retinol, retinol palmitate, retinoic acid or tretinoin) are always a good choice. Your doctor can prescribe Retin-A® or Renova® for its proven exfoliation and rejuvenation qualities. It’s a good treatment if you are suffering from menopausal acne as well.
Collagen-enhancing peptides such as the SmartPeptides found in Striking Skin Care are also excellent for restoring menopausal skin. For instance Striking Multi-Peptide Serum contains Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14 and Heptapeptide-7. These peptides encourage keratinocyte proliferation and migration as well as collagen production. In plain English that means it makes the skin look and feel firmer while diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. In fact, in an independent clinical study of Striking Multi-Peptide Serum, 94% said they had firmer skin in 14 days and 84% said the appearance of fines lines and wrinkles were reduced in 14 days.
Here is a “before” photo:
Here is the “after” photo at 14 days:
The formulation also contains trehalose and glycerin which are excellent at protecting the skin from dehydration while helping to restore its natural moisture balance. The result is smoother, firmer, well-hydrated skin.
The use of a good broad-spectrum sunscreen is also highly recommended to protect the skin from the sun’s aging rays as well as discourage any hyperpigmentation that may occur. Look for a sunscreen that protects from both UVA and UVB rays. There are many sunscreen options available for use over or under your moisturizer or there are several foundations on the market that contain SPF that are a good option.
I’d personally also invest in a Clarisonic Sonic Face Brush (see my post on 10/8/09). This brush cleans your skin more efficiently than manual cleansing which allows your treatment products to penetrate better and do what they’re supposed to do. The initial investment is big ($195), but the payoff is worth it.
What tips do you have for managing menopausal skin?
Posted by Brigette, contributor
I’m reading “The Wisdom of Menopause” by Dr. Christiane Northrup, not because I’m going through menopause but because I need to learn more about what happens to our bodies (and more specifically, our skin) during that stage so I can write about it more accurately on the Striking blog and newsletter.
I was sharing with some of my friends that I was simultaneously reading books about raising teenagers and going through menopause. Then the questions came up:
“Why are you reading about menopause?”
“Are you perimenopausal?”
“Which book are you reading? Maybe I should get a copy too.”
Then the realization hit me: as a generation of women, we are unprepared for menopause. We get to see the movies about menstruation in grade school, but there’s no mandatory movie about menopause to watch in our late 30’s/early 40’s to prepare us for that next stage of life. Some of us may get some information from our mothers if we ask, but there’s no “birds and bees” type conversation like the ones we get when we’re learning about the facts of life, so it’s up to us figure out this next phase of womanhood.
We throw around words like “perimenopause” and “menopause” like we know what they mean, but really, most of us are grossly uneducated on the subject until the doctor tells us we’re right in the middle of it. Do we really know what happens? Do we care enough to research it before it happens to us or does all the book reading and information gathering start once the doctor has given us the official diagnosis?
I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. I’ve started to ask questions of my mother and my aunt. So far, I’m not following in my mother’s footsteps: she gave birth to me at 18 and started menopause at 40. I, on the other hand, gave birth for the first time at 29 and had my third (and I think, my last) child 18 months ago at age 42. I’ve started reading about menopause and asking other women who have been through “the change” what they would recommend to read, or if they read anything at all.
What will do you to prepare?
Posted by Brigette, contributor
Product Review: Cool Jams – PJ’s that Keep you Cool
I have been trying out a pair of pajamas from Cool-jams for the last week or so. Cool-jams is based in San Diego, California and was founded by Anita Mahaffey. Her idea came to be when on a factory visit to Turkey, she discovered a new micro-fiber fabric that “wicked” moisture away from the body and dried quickly. Combine her experience as a manufacturer of apparel and sleepwear (she sold robes of her own design at Neiman Marcus and other retailers) with this soft, lightweight fabric and suddenly she had a winning idea.
Cool-jams targets women 40+ who suffer from night sweats, a common side effect of menopause. However menopausal women aren’t the only people who suffer from night sweats. This condition also occurs during pregnancy, use of certain medications, thyroid conditions, diabetes, obesity, chemotherapy or sleep apnea. Here’s how it works: Cool-jams uses a special wicking fabric that is similar to athletic clothing to help keep the sweat or moisture off the skin. The moisture is absorbed from the skin into the fabric and then evaporates out the other side, leaving the body comfortable and dry. A dry night’s sleep can also mean a good night’s sleep for someone suffering from night sweats.
When I received my package I was surprised to find a “bonus”: a drawstring bag was included for use when washing to prolong the life of the clothing.
While I typically don’t get night sweats, it has been very warm in the Seattle-area this month and like most Western Washingtonians, I don’t have air conditioning. I’m happy to report that I have been sleeping comfortably when I would normally wake up due to the heat and subsequent sweating. I have been wearing the Savannah night shirt in periwinkle blue (it also comes in peach) and I love it. It has lace edging to make it oh-so-feminine. The fabric is soft and silky so that when I sleep it doesn’t catch on my sheets but instead moves with me. The fabric is definitely keeping my skin dry and helping me rest without waking up due to discomfort. I was pleasantly surprised that the nightshirt came out of the dryer wrinkle-free and also that it didn’t shrink. I also read that it is snag free which is very nice so that it will look newer longer and not become snagged from my rings or from wear.
The website (Cool-jams) is very informative in discussing how the wicking fabric works and why it makes sense. There is a size information chart online to help pick the size that is right for you.
Win a pair of Cool-jams pajamas or night shirt here (http://www.cool-jams.com/cust-care.html). Under Contact click on “Do you want to enter one of our contests?” Fill out the form and in the drop down click on Cool-jams Contests. Post what your favorite pajama or nightshirt is there on the site and winner will be selected randomly.
http://www.cool-jams.com
Here are some pearls of wisdom gathered from the wise women in my life who have hit menopause and emerged fabulous on the other side:
1. If you’re not a water-drinker, get into the habit now. Staying hydrated is one of the best things you can do for your body as well as your skin.
2. Stay out of the sun, but if you just can’t help yourself, wear sunscreen. Choose an SPF 30 with a combination of chemical and physical sunscreens (titanium dioxide or zinc oxide). Cover your entire body with at least an ounce and reapply every hour. If you start getting red, get out of the sun, pronto! Remember that overexposure to the sun is the skin’s enemy.
3. If you smoke, you may want to consider quitting. You already know what it can do your skin, so I won’t preach to you.
4. Don’t forget to use your anti-aging products past your chin. Pay attention to your neck, decollete and even your hands.
5. If you feel like you need a little “extra work”, go for it! But remember, you need to take care of your skin to maintain the results whether it’s Botox, fillers or surgery.
6. Since collagen starts to diminish by 1% every year once you hit 40, choose products with ingredients that are known to boost collagen production. Striking Skin Care with SmartPeptides is a good place to start.
All pretty common sense notions, but sometimes, it’s common sense that we lack!!
Posted by Brigette, contributor
From time to time we’ll have guest bloggers posting. Our first guest blogger is Brigette, a 43-year old skin care professional, mother of 5 and part-time blogger.
Menopause. There, I said it.
Truth be known, I’m not there yet. I am actually an anomaly in my family: the women in my family for the last two generations started at 40, and here I am in my mid-40’s with an 18 month old. But still, I know what happens and I am not looking forward to it.
All that being said, the thing that I’m most concerned about is my skin. This might stem from the fact that I’ve been in the skin care industry for over 20 years, or maybe because I’m just plain vain (or a little of both). All I know is that what my aunt warned me about: “You’re going to dry up from the inside out and then your face is going to fall in your lap.” Nice.
During menopause, the lack of estrogen being produced in the body causes skin dryness and in some cases, acne, never mind the fact that once menopause starts, collagen production decreases dramatically (hence, the face falling in your lap comment). In fact, once you hit 40, your collagen diminishes by 1% per year. I was really starting to panic about the dryness (my skin already has the moisture content of the Sahara and I am prone to eczema in the winter) and the sagginess (I hate gravity) until I started working on the Striking Skin Care line.
I had been using another product with peptides that I was completely satisfied with when I came to work for Helix BioMedix (the manufacturers of Striking). Not one for change once I find a combination that works for my fussy skin, I switched over because we kept getting incredible feedback from customers about the quick and positive changes they had seen in their skin after using the product. They were right. I started by adding the Multi-Peptide Serum at first. This product contains Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14 and Heptapeptide-7. These peptides encourage keratinocyte proliferation and migration as well as collagen production, which make the skin look and feel firmer while diminishing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. I literally saw a change within a week. My skin looked more hydrated, felt firmer and those pesky lines that keep cropping up around my eyes seemed softer. I added the Restorative Moisture Creme as soon as I ran out of my favorite peptide cream from another company and I’ll have to say, my skin has not looked this good in years.
About Brigette:
Brigette is a 43-year old veteran skin care industry professional who has worked with retail, direct sales, spa and medical skin care companies. In her 20+ years she has worked in all facets of the business from sales and marketing to training and product development. She’s also a part-time blogger and mother of 5 children. She loves leading women to the right products for their skin and readily admits her overwhelming addiction to lip gloss (for which, she notes, there is no 12-step program).
Celebrate women and life’s changes during the month of September. Learn more about menopause on the North American Menopause Society website. This is an easy to use website to find answers to common and not-so common questions about menopause.
Search the Web site of The North American Menopause Society NAMS for accurate, unbiased information about menopause. NAMS is the leading nonprofit scientific organization dedicated to improving understanding of this natural biologic event.
Eileen Kisailus, owner of Lunar Radiance just started using Striking and wrote about it on her blog, Hot Flashing Thoughts. The post is called What Has Happened to My Decollete? She has been using the Striking Skin Care System and talks about her experience.
Check out her blog Hot Flashing Thoughts and don’t forget to check out her website Lunar Radiance that sells sleep wear solutions for night sweats. The sleep wear is designed to help keep skin cool and dry while sleeping through hot flashes. The sleep wear is made with a “wicking” type fabric that helps to pull moisture away from the skin and then evaporates in to the air. This is similar to what athletes have been using for many years.
The product line is suggested for women who are in menopause, perimenopause but also chemotherapy patients and women with thyroid problems can wear these pajamas to help with night sweats. Even women living in warmer climates or during summer months can use these sets to help remain comfortable while sleeping through the night.
