Posted: May 20, 2016
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month. As the weather gets nicer and people try to recover from their SmartLipo procedures before beach season begins in Miami, it’s important to take steps to prevent the possibility of skin cancer. While sunscreen and protection remains a must, a recent study suggests that the SmartLipo might be helping you as well.
As you may know, SmartLipo allows you to lose stubborn pockets of fat by using a laser that melts them away beneath the skin. However, because the laser has to go through the skin to affect the fat beneath, it ends up stimulating the production of collagen in the areas it touches.
Collagen has several positive effects on your skin:
- Keeps your skin taut
- Strengthens your skin and hair
- Reduces wrinkling
- Keeps your connective tissues intact
There are some people who, because of a genetic defect inherited at birth, have bodies that do not produce certain types of collagen. A study of these people by the Queen Mary University of London, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, showed that most people with this genetic defect get a rare, fast-spreading form of skin cancer that is fatal in nearly two thirds of all cases.
From this evidence, the scientists concluded that the collagen missing from within the subjects’ bodies allowed the cancer to spread so quickly, and that collagen may actually restrict the spread of cancer within everyone else. In other words, having healthy collagen levels might help prevent skin cancer, though more research would be needed to confirm this.
Whatever the scientists end up discovering, there are plenty of cosmetic reasons to get procedures, like SmartLipo or laser skin resurfacing, that stimulate the production of collagen in your skin.
To schedule an appointment with Miami SmartLipo surgeon Dr. Jon Harrell today, contact the Weston Center for a free initial consultation. Dr. Harrell can be reached by phone at (954) 526-0066 , or online through this website.