Sun damage clearly visible (c) Wikipedia

It is incredible to look back over the centuries and find out how all the different attitudes that people had towards sun and tanning have changed.

At one point being tanned was only for the lower class who worked outside on the land and the more wealthy people would prefer to remain pale, as an indication of the status. This is still the case in some Far Eastern countries too.

Then we started to see the ‘healthy glow’ of a tan as a positive thing – although some people took it too far and did irreparable damage to themselves through excessive sun exposure.

It doesn’t just take lying for hours in the sunshine or visiting sunbeds regularly to cause skin damage. In fact, every single day your skin is exposed to UV (Ultra-Violet) light and causes some kind of damage – even when you can’t see the sun itself. You can’t even feel the UV rays so it is difficult to understand exactly what is happening.

Most people are aware that sun damage increases the chance of skin cancer but how many also think about:

• premature aging
• wrinkles
• sun spots, pigmentation, uneven skin tone
• skin dryness
• yellowish skin

But how does this happen?

The UV light from the sun penetrates deep into the skin. It damages the fibre called elastin which keeps your skin flexible, healthy and strong. The more it breaks down the more (and deeper) wrinkles and sagging you will see.

To protect itself from rays, the skin will also produce melanocytes which produce the brown coloured melanin – which gives the tanned effect. However, this is often produced unevenly leaving sun spots or brown marks and patches over the skin.

Collagen which is also essential for healthy skin reproduction is also damaged by exposure to the sun, again increasing the appearance and growth of wrinkles and preventing regeneration from occurring.

There is a common misconception that there is a ‘good’ UV light and a ‘bad’ UV light. You may have heard of them named as UVA and UVB rays. The truth is they are both damaging to you! There is no good UV rays at all! Any sunlight (or daylight as we call it in the UK!) is damaging your skin on a daily basis.

Your best defense against the unsightly signs of skin damage is to maintain healthy skin, keeping young and fresh and reducing your risk of skin cancer and other serious conditions is to protect yourself with a high factor SPF sun cream.

There are plenty of these available for cosmetic use (and built into foundations and other skincare products) which are not the same as your regular gloopy sun cream. If you would like any advice on protecting your skin then please get in touch. We would be happy to talk you through the importance of coverage and find the right products to suit your skin type. At the same time, if you already have been marked by the signs of sun damage, we have a range of cosmetic treatments to reduce these and help you regain your confidence.

Image via Wikipedia

Summer is coming, and with it the indecision and self confidence issues that most of us women suffer from, especially if we’re mothers and ‘of a certain age’. Baring all on the beach? Wearing less and more natural makeup? Wearing bingo wing and celulite showing tops and skirts? Eek!

Cosmetic treatments for the face and body are no longer just seen as a last resort, but as safe, effective and convenient ways to improve your confidence and self-esteem. Young mums especially often have no time to themselves, which is why many of the cosmetic treatments at Riverbanks Clinic appeal to today’s yummy mummys.

For those who want to improve the condition of their skin, then there are various treatments available at Riverbanks Clinic. With treatments available to tackle the likes of age spots, acne and sun-damaged skin, Riverbanks can help give yummy mummys healthier and younger looking skin through treatments such a microdermabrasion, laser skin resurfacing and dermarollers; all designed to treat your skin to leave it repaired and feeling refreshed.

For those whose problem areas are on the body, then again Riverbanks Clinic can help. All women, even supermodels like Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson, experience cellulite, but a session Accent Radiofrequency Skin Tightening can help firm up and smooth loose or puckered skin around the upper legs and abdomen areas. Great in time for the bikini season this summer!

For many women, it’s their hands which give their age away, with sometimes no amount of hand cream able to slow effects of aging. One way to feel yummy again is to treat yourself to one of the hand treatments available at Riverbanks Clinic, such as Sculptra and Radiesse, which help your hands appear plumped up and therefore younger.

Whatever your problem area, see if Riverbanks Clinic can turn you into a yummy mummy this Summer.

We are all aware that women come in all manner of shapes and sizes, which means that although most women are not completely satisfied with their body, they can at least learn to love the body they’ve been given. In fact, for many women, when it comes to looking healthier or younger, it’s the condition of their skin they try to improve, and not their overall body shape or size.

So this Mother’s Day, give your mum something they will really love you for; a course of rejuvenating skincare treatments.

At Riverbanks Clinic, we offer a wide range of effective skincare treatments to tackle various problematic skin conditions, leaving yummy mummy looking skin. For many of us, our mums would have grown up in an age when the exact damaging effects of the sun were unknown, leaving many women with sun-damaged skin. A course of IPL (intense pulsed light) can dramatically improve the appearance of sun-damaged skin using medical strength IPL light which targets the dark patches of sun-damaged skin, causing them to absorb the light, flake, and fall off, reducing the patchy pigmentation of the skin.

Medical microdemabrasion using the new DiamondTome Technology can also help to give your mum smoother and younger looking skin this Mother’s Day. Using a technique which stimulates the production of collagen, medical microdemabrasion also polishes the skin to remove dead cells, leaving the skin luminous and plumped up and therefore fresher and younger looking.

To treat more severe cases of aging or sun-damaged skin, then a course of laser skin resurfacing may be a more effective treatment. This treatment works by removing the top layer of skin, helping to dramatically reduce the appearance of lines, wrinkles and age spots, and improve the skin’s firmness, complexion and the skin’s overall tone.

So this Mother’s Day, get your mum something she will really appreciate; the gift of younger looking skin.

Want to know more? Contact us now!

It won’t come as much of a surprise that skin damage is a huge issue for British men and women, with summer holidays, sun beds and general ageing leaving many with sun damaged skin. If you start to find that your face is showing the obvious signs of sun damage such as uneven skin pigmentation, red thread veins and looser skin, then an Intense Pulsed Light (or IPL) treatment could give you back healthier, younger looking skin.

Sun damage does not only occur after a 2 week intensive summer holiday, or one too many trips to the local tanning booth, but also over time. Sun damaged skin and general signs of ageing can even be caused by our own feeble British sun where UV light is still able to break through the clouds and reach our exposed skin. This everyday exposure to harmful UV rays makes our skin become damaged and weaker as the levels of collagen are reduced, leaving us with sagging, as well as discoloured and unhealthy looking skin.

Intense Pulsed Light treatment is an innovative, non-invasive procedure which can turn sun damaged skin into healthy, youthful looking skin. This simple, non-invasive treatment involves medical strength IPL light being used to target areas of sun damaged skin, which absorb the light, dry, and then peel and fall away, leaving the skin restored.

Of course it is important to make sure sun protection is practised everyday, with it recommended that a high SPF is worn on the face and exposed skin throughout the year. But where skin has started to show serious signs of aging, IPL can be used to eliminate signs of sun damage to restore skin to a fresher appearance. Not just for use on the face, IPL can treat sun damaged skin all over the body, leaving your body looking as smooth as undamaged as ever before.

To find out more about IPL, contact us now!

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photo credit: vladeb

For many, the idea of undergoing an invasive cosmetic procedure to get a healthier, younger looking face is too extreme. But there is a much more natural, gentle and simple procedure to give women the youthful face they are after. Forget full face lifts, and instead consider Sculptra treatment to enhance and restore youth in the face and body.

Sculptra, also known as the liquid facelift, is a non-invasive cosmetic treatment that helps to restore volume and therefore youth to the face and body. This injectable treatment involves a qualified Sculptra medical professional injecting the natural Sculptra treatment into the areas which need plumping up. Like seeds of collagen, over a few months Sculptra encourages the skin’s natural collagen to grow, plumping up the area to leave a more youthful skin.

Sculptra is a treatment which can be ideal to smooth, fill out and repair all sorts of facial and bodily problem areas. The most common areas for women of all ages include sagging jowls, hollow cheeks and deep folds and wrinkles, which all age the skin, leaving it looking unhealthy, tired and old. Other areas where Sculptra can help are wrinkly hands and chest area, and acne scarring, all of which can reduce the confidence all women should have about their body.

But this innovative Sculptra treatment can help women get their confidence back by restoring these problem areas to a former more youthful glory. Although it takes a couple of months or so for the effects of Sculptra to appear, the overall effects are long-lasting, and can last for up to three years.

This liquid facelift can be the perfect solution to a whole range of ageing face and body problems, giving women back the confidence and healthy appearance they desire without having to undergo invasive cosmetic surgery treatments.

Did you know that Vaser Lipo can rid you of manboobs?

Or that acne scarring can be fixed with Dermaroller?

Or that Medical Microdermabrasion is great for getting rid of forehead wrinkles?

Well with our handy “Top to toe cosmetic treatments for men” poster – you’ll be able to see at a glance what we can do at Riverbanks Clinic to help you get rid of unsightly wrinkles, fat, hair and more!

To download it (PDF) click here –> Male Top 2 Toe Treatments

And then be sure to Tweet, Facebook and Stumble to your heart’s content so that all the men out there know how to look beautiful!

We’re delighted to let you know that Isabel and Banu will be hosting a coffee morning at Riverbanks Clinic on Wednesday 28th July between 9am and 12 noon.

Why not come and join us, have a  tour of the clinic, and then listen to our talks on Coffeeberry Minerals and new skin care for 2010? Banu and Isabel will be offering makeovers with  Coffeberry Minerals so you can see just how well they work!

And of course, if the weather is nice, you can take a look at our beautiful grounds and wildlife at the same time.

Places are limited, so please book soon, either on our Facebook event page, or by calling Banu or Isabel on 01582 762877 to reserve your place!

Reduce or remove acne scars for good with Dermaroller

Acne scarring can be an unsightly reminder of having to deal with that condition.  It’s hard not to feel self-conscious if you’ve been left with visible scars – but that can change with a little help!

Dermaroller is the latest celebrity ‘secret weapon’ to treat acne scars and leave your skin bright, clear and bursting with youthful radiance.  This treatment uses micro-medical skin-needling to roll away the imperfections and stimulate your own collagen to regenerate and repair your skin naturally.

It’s not a celebrity secret any longer – you can get the same fantastic skin with Dermaroller treatment at Riverbanks Clinic.

This banishes:

•    Acne scars
•    Pigmentation from sun damage and age spots
•    Wrinkles on face, neck and decollete
•    Stretch marks

Compared with other similar treatments you’ll experience only slight redness on the first day and then your skin is back to normal, so there’s no need to take time out for recovery; downtime is at a minimum. Ideally, the treatment is over three thirty minute sessions, but your initial consultation will establish exactly what your particular skin condition requires.

Imagine what it will be like to remove those little imperfections and to smooth away the signs of an aging skin, those little wrinkles and the ‘papery’ look on your neck and décolletage.  Radiant, resilient skin will shed the years and your friends and family will only notice that you’re looking really fabulous!

Not convinced? Read Banu’s story of how Dermaroller helped get rid of her acne scars and scarring!

As she says:

I would recommend Dermaroller Microneedling from Riverbanks Clinic to anyone with acne scarring or blemishes as it really does work!

The first step is to talk to a specialist who can examine your skin and advise you on the best approach to treat your acne scarring – Dr Jain’s specially trained team are able treat you expertly will be able to ensure you get the results you want.

Book your appointment

..at the prestigious Riverbanks Clinic now on 01582 762877 and take the first step to banish those blemishes for good.

Make an enquiry here

As the Baz Luhrmann song famously says, “Wear sunscreen”

He goes on to say:

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists.

And that’s Riverbanks Clinic’s very own Dr Ravi Jain’s advice too – wear factor 30+ sunscreen every day to keep your skin safe as well as looking good. SPF30+ should be an essential part of any anti-aging skincare regime, and you should be even more vigilant as the Summer grows closer.

Gone are the days when basting yourself in searing heat to achieve a golden tan was a pastime to be commended. Nowadays, we’re constantly being reminded of the dangers of skin cancer, and being told to cover up and apply high-factor sunscreens.

As we age, and spend more time in the sun, our skin becomes weaker and less elastic. Collagen, the protein that makes up 80% of our skin, loses its ability to stretch and recoil and we develop wrinkles and age (liver) spots that make us look much older than we are.

Doctor Jain highly recommends the sunscreens featured in our online shop – each one having been tested and proved to work – whether or not you’ve had a procedure at Riverbanks. Why not take a look and buy sunscreen online now?

As for the Baz Luhrmann song? We’ll give him the final word:

trust me on the sunscreen…

That’s right – the offer of the summer! Simply purchase 4 or more skin care products from our online shop (one of which must be a skin corrector) and we’ll give you £100 off our June  Advanced Skin Peel courses!

So why not take a look at the following products and start the Summer with fantastic looking skin?

Prevage MD 1%

Priori Advanced AHA Perfection Facial Gel

Priori Idebenone Even Tones Mini Kit

VITAGE Phytoestrogen Gel

Want to know more about our Advanced Skin Peel Courses?

An Advanced AHA skin peel is ideal for sun-damaged skin, or certain kinds of acne, pigmentation issues or fine wrinkling around the mouth and eyes. The process is less aggressive than some chemical peels, but nonetheless highly effective.

The peel generally causes some flaking, redness and dryness, as the old skin gives way to fresh, young skin. However unlike harsher THC peels, the much milder side effects diminish within a day or two. Once the body heals itself naturally, the outer layer of skin exfoliates, with patients usually able to engage in normal activities within 24 hours.

• As skin ages the exfoliation rate of dead cells from the stratum corneum slows dramatically thus increasing the appearance imperfections manifested in this dead cell layer.
• As skin ages the moisture content of skin is reduced due to reduced levels of the skin’s natural moisture binding substance – Hyaluronic Acid.
• AHAs work by two main mechanisms of action- they are natural chemical exfoliators and potent moisturizers.
• The result of topical AHA use is skin NORMALIZATION – a return of the skin to “normal” moisture content and proper exfoliation rate – back to basic skin fitness and health.

To find out more, please visit our Advanced Skin Peel page