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Join Dr. Zain, along with Heather and Courtney, in this episode of 'Skinside Out: Science Meets Beauty' as they dive into the concept of the 'skin barrier'. They discuss its anatomy, importance, and how it functions like a brick-and-mortar system to protect us. Learn about common issues like dryness, redness, and sensitivity that indicate a compromised skin barrier, and discover expert tips and treatments for repairing and maintaining a healthy barrier, especially during harsh winter months. The team also debunks common myths about skincare and provides essential advice on handling products like retinoids and exfoliants to ensure optimal skin health.
00:00 Introduction to Skinside Out
00:22 Understanding the Skin Barrier
02:29 Winter Skin Care Challenges
02:55 Identifying a Disrupted Skin Barrier
06:46 Repairing the Skin Barrier
11:17 Moisturizing Tips and Tricks
13:48 Reintroducing Active Ingredients
15:12 Debunking Skincare Myths
16:09 Oil-Free Products for Acne
16:37 Slugging and Its Effects
18:19 Simplifying Skincare Routines
18:45 Understanding Skin Barrier Health
21:14 Impact of Medical Treatments on Skin
23:16 Genetic Skin Conditions and Ceramides
24:53 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Creators and Guests
Host
Host
What is Skinside Out?
Welcome to Skinside Out, where science meets beauty, the ultimate dermatology podcast! Dive deep into the fascinating world of skin health with expert insights, evidence-based discussions, and myth-busting truths. Each episode explores the medical, cosmetic, and surgical aspects of dermatology, while keeping you informed about trending skincare topics. Whether you’re a skincare enthusiast, medical professional, or just curious about how to achieve your best skin, Skinside Out is your go-to resource for staying informed and inspired.
36 - Skinside Out - Skin Barrier
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[00:00:31] Dr. Zain: Welcome to Skin Side Out Science Meets Beauty. I'm your host, Dr. Zane, with Heather and Courtney. So today we're gonna be talking about the skin burger. We hear this term a lot, and we're going to define what it is, how it changes with different seasons, and how we can repair it. So let's get right into it.
So Heather, let's talk a little bit about skin anatomy and the different layers and how the barrier comes, um, becomes a part of that.
[00:00:59] Heather: Yeah, so the skin barrier, um, I use this analogy like a brick and mortar analogy, um, but I also kind of like to use my hand as a reference, so. Your, if you think about a house that you've got the bricks and then you've got the mortar in between the, um, bricks.
And so think of the bricks as your skin cells. Mm-hmm. They're held together by that skin barrier, and so you can also kind of think of my fingers as. Your skin cells and they're held together by a skin barrier. But when you have a disruption in your skin barrier, like the mortar in a brick house, or the spacing in between my fingers, your skin cells can't hold themselves together.
Brick can't hold itself to other bricks. And so they start to fall apart and then things from the environment are able to get through and cause a reaction. Um, so that could be, you know, numerous things. It could be, um. Allergies. It could be environmental factors. There are lots of different things, but that's kind of like the basic makeup of your barrier.
But there are other things that play a role like lipids, cholesterol, stuff like that, fatty acids that can help protect the skin barrier too.
[00:02:09] Dr. Zain: Yeah. And it kind of alludes to the function of our skin. Right. So this brick and mortar system is used for protection, right. Our skin is like our defense with the environment, right?
So it is protecting all the internal organs. Um, it is the largest organ of the body and it has such a pivotal role in protecting us. So if our barrier is, you know, compromised in any way, then it also compromises our protective, you know, mechanism. And that allows, you know. Allergens to cause allergies, um, you know, microorganisms to cause infection and a whole other host of issues that can lead to skin disease.
Yeah. So this is the season where we talk a lot about the skin barrier because it's really cold, it's dry. Um, a lot of irritation with the skin. So with the wintertime, I think a lot of people start focusing on the skin barrier because a lot of their skin barriers have been impaired. So let's talk about.
And how we can help repair it,
[00:03:18] Heather: I think, I guess first. I think we should kind of dive into things that could be representative of an irritated or disrupted skin barrier. So most commonly it can be like dryness or flakiness, but you can also notice like redness. Mm-hmm. Sensitivity to your products. Like when you put um, a cream on and it stings, but it never stung in the past, that could be a disrupted skin barrier.
Um, skin conditions are getting worse. Like if you have rosacea and that you're, um, noticing that you're flaring up, that could be an irritated skin barrier. Um, if you're overproducing oil or your products aren't sitting well on your skin, these are all different examples of having an irritated or disrupted skin barrier.
[00:04:05] Dr. Zain: And many times my patients come to me with, you know, impaired, you know, barriers, but they're confusing it for other conditions like acne or allergies or things like that. But, you know, that's why it's important to seek true guidance when having these, because. A, an impaired skin barrier versus acne has very different treatment regimens.
Many of the acne regimens can actually worsen the skin barrier. Yeah. And irritate you more.
[00:04:32] Courtney: Yeah, I think. This time of year is hard. Um, I always tell people I have, you know, seasonal skincare, uh, regimens that I do. So I think it's hard if people maybe just started on a regimen for their acne or things like that and they continue it throughout the winter season, what they might have been able to tolerate in the summer and fall time, they're not able to tolerate so much in the winter.
So. Things like exfoliating cleansers, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, your retinoids. Maybe during the summer or fall, you were able to tolerate it every night or every other night. Mm-hmm. But maybe in the winter you can only get to two or three nights a week. Um, using too many different actives or over exfoliating.
And then just combined with like the cold weather, less humidity in the air, the dryness. Um, the hot showers, the heat, because I am definitely one that keeps their heat on at 74. 74. 74. Gosh. So all of these factors combined. It just makes for this like crazy environment for your skin just get so dried out.
Yeah. You know, it helps with that. Humid. A hot shower. I'm gonna say it's a humid box.
[00:05:42] Heather: I, I'll say I love a hot shower. I feel like I am horrible with that, but it's terrible for your skin. Don't know. Do what I say, not what I do.
[00:05:52] Dr. Zain: Oh, I'm, I'm the same way. Like I have it cranked up all day.
[00:05:55] Courtney: Yeah. It's steamy, like I can't see.
Oh. Literally like,
[00:05:58] Dr. Zain: you can see like, like my skin's like red, like just.
[00:06:04] Courtney: That's awesome. There's like condensation on the wall. Yeah, I know. It's so hard because it feels so soothing and so nice. Yeah. Yeah. But it is really not great for your skin. I think as long as you are taking some steps to rectify that, then Yeah.
You know?
[00:06:22] Dr. Zain: Yeah. After you towel off, you know, put on your moisturizers and. Sometimes I'm a little iffy with that too. Sometimes.
[00:06:28] Heather: I
[00:06:28] Dr. Zain: also like
[00:06:29] Heather: to give the analogy for the hot water of, again, do as I say, not as I do, but, um, of like butter on a dish. So think of your skin barrier as butter. If you're trying to wash off butter off of a dish, it's gonna melt right off and just kind of slide right off with hot water.
So if you were to use that, you know, in a shower, figuratively, your skin barrier is, um. Melting off. But if you're using cold or lukewarm water to try to get butter off of a dish, it's not really gonna move. Mm-hmm. And so your skin barrier is gonna be more protected, like the butter not moving. Hmm. I like that.
[00:07:07] Dr. Zain: Yeah. I love butter. So,
[00:07:12] Courtney: you know.
[00:07:13] Dr. Zain: And why do we want a healthy skin barrier? So what advantage does it pose for us?
[00:07:17] Heather: Well, it protects us from the environment. Mm-hmm. Um, minimizes any sort of risk of infection.
Yeah. I think that's the biggest one.
[00:07:25] Dr. Zain: Maintains hydration.
[00:07:27] Heather: Mm-hmm.
[00:07:27] Dr. Zain: Um, it also allows us to use skincare products and have them work more efficacious. Right. So that's another important reason why we want a good skin barrier. Um, you know, keeps inflammation low. Um, support anti-aging, of course. Mm-hmm. Um, an impaired skin barrier.
I mean, you can see these patients, I mean, their skin looks dry, irritated, um, it looks more aged. you know, just having more moisture just gives it more youthful appearance. Um, and also prevents, um, you know, flareups of, you know, these dermatologic conditions such as eczema, acne, rosacea, et cetera.
Yeah. So how do we repair it?
[00:08:04] Courtney: Moisturize. That's right. Take cold shower now. Yeah.
[00:08:09] Dr. Zain: So let's go through a step by step way of how we can repair our skin barriers.
[00:08:14] Courtney: Um, so, you know, like I touched on earlier, sometimes the treatments that you're doing at home might be okay during the more humid months, um, your glycolic acid and your retinoid, but maybe during the winter months you might have to tone them down a little bit.
Um, one of the. Um, recommendations I like during the winter time is sandwiching, uh, your moist, you're a retinoid with a moisturizer, so that's where you wash your face. You apply moisturizer first, apply the retinoid, and then you moisturize right on top of that. And I think that can really help with tolerability.
Um, you might wanna bump down to maybe a couple nights a week just during that really cold, dry season, um, and then increase back once we're able to tolerate it a little bit better. But just kind of watching how much exfoliation you're doing can be really helpful.
[00:09:02] Dr. Zain: Yeah. Listen to your skin. I mean, I started, you know, tretinoin again.
Um, a few weeks ago. Okay. And it really,
[00:09:13] Courtney: oh, you haven't been able to tell, I was gonna say this is better than before. Yeah. So
[00:09:18] Dr. Zain: I was like peeling. Yeah, I was really irritated. Um, my staff was making fun of me. Um, but I had to take it back. I haven't used, you know, the Tretinoin for over a week now. My skin feels a little better and I think I may have to dial it back.
So I go back to my skin better. Alpha ret, um, it's just not. Doing it for me right now.
[00:09:39] Heather: I Go ahead. I think sometimes too, when we're having some sort of like irritation or dryness. I think it's easy to think, okay, what, what can I put on to help? Mm-hmm. Whereas sometimes it might be better to actually dial back, take a step back, take products out of your skincare routine.
Mm-hmm. And keep it simpler. And I think if you. Can kind of use that to your advantage. It'll help protect your skin barrier and restore your skin barrier. Yeah.
[00:10:07] Dr. Zain: Like more skincare products doesn't necessarily mean like better, healthier skin.
[00:10:11] Courtney: Yeah.
[00:10:12] Dr. Zain: So it can actually cause more problems. Yeah.
[00:10:13] Courtney: Yeah. That's exactly what I was gonna say.
Sometimes just getting back to the basics and helping your skin. Calm down is so important instead of, yeah. Seeing what you can just throw at it. Yeah.
[00:10:24] Heather: Okay.
[00:10:24] Courtney: Um, so yeah, gentle cleansers I think sometimes can be helpful if you're normally using like an exfoliating cleanser, maybe just limiting how often a week you're using it to maybe once or twice a week instead of every day or something like that.
And then focusing on your replenishing, um, ingredients. So your ceramides, your hyaluronic acid, fatty acids, cholesterol, um, even niacinamide, things like that to help restore the skin and repair it. Yeah.
[00:10:51] Heather: Um, you can also, um, kind of seal that in with something that's a little bit more occlusive and that will help to, um, absorb some of those products that you just put on.
So whether this is like a petroleum based ointment or I really like the Laroche Poe Saplat, I think that's a nice barrier Cream or, um, any sort of balms can help to kind of lock all of that in some people. Um, use the term like slugging and I think there's, I've seen, you know, the term basting too, and it's kind of the same thing.
Mm-hmm. But it's just, um, kind of helping too. Lock everything in. However, if you are acne prone or if you have a lot of milia or you're prone to milia, then it might not be something you wanna do.
[00:11:38] Courtney: Yeah. My favorite pro tips during the winter for my patients, um, number one is to apply your moisturizer directly after the shower.
While your skin is still a little damp, it'll absorb better. And then also to switch to a cream instead of a lotion. I think sometimes our moisturizers during the summer might be more lightweight in that lotion form. Mm-hmm. But the cream is actually going to be thicker and will soothe and repair more.
[00:12:05] Dr. Zain: Yeah. Um, and then I think that we talked about it, but moisturizing and moisturizing more than you think. Um, there's nothing like too much moisturizer, especially in the, this cold, dry, uh, condition. So I think that just be liberal with moisturizer. If you feel dry moisturize, there's no problem with over moisturizing as long as you're using the right product.
I
[00:12:31] Courtney: like the cotton gloves too, for Oh yeah. It's like, as I get older, my hands have gotten dryer and I feel like, especially during the winter when I'm washing them so much, they get all like cracked and dry. I'll just throw on some moisturizer and put on like the little gloves and just, you can still
[00:12:48] Heather: like do stuff.
You can still like, you know, fold laundry or something like that and still use your hands without getting like. Ointment everywhere. Yeah.
[00:12:56] Courtney: Yeah. You know, I don't like the, the greasiness of a slug.
[00:13:00] Dr. Zain: So what do you do with those gloves after you use 'em? Just throw 'em out.
[00:13:03] Courtney: I, I think you wash 'em. Wash '
[00:13:04] Heather: em. Oh, okay.
Yeah. You know, doctors, he doesn't care about the environment.
[00:13:11] Dr. Zain: Um, and then always going back to UV protection, you know, with an impaired skin barrier, you are more prone to burning and having a lot of irritation. So make sure you wear your SPF. Uh, sun Protective practices and clothing, um, are really important.
[00:13:28] Heather: I think a lot of chemical based sunscreens unfortunately, can be more irritating if your skin barrier is already disrupted.
So you might want to focus on more mineral based, like zinc or um, titanium dioxide.
[00:13:39] Dr. Zain: Yeah. And then with winter activities, a lot of people are going skiing, remember on the slopes? Mm-hmm. Put on your sunscreen. Yes. That light reflects off that white snow and you can get burned.
[00:13:49] Heather: Mm-hmm. Very easily.
[00:13:50] Dr. Zain: Yeah. And especially it's like super cold on the mountains.
Mm-hmm. You know, wind everything. Mm-hmm. Is like also, you know, harm your barrier and then you have the sun going on it. So you got two insults.
[00:13:59] Heather: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:14:02] Dr. Zain: All right, so we talked about the skin barrier, moisturizing and key ingredients that can help. When can we reintroduce more active? So more, I guess, harsh ingredients.
[00:14:16] Courtney: I think, you know, when your skin, you can kind of gauge that sensitivity if something is burning when you're putting it on red flag. Mm-hmm. If something is causing redness or rashness. Red flag. Mm-hmm. So I think reintroducing things slowly is so important. Um, I have a lot of patients that when they start.
Reintroducing, like their retinoid for example. They just go back to every night because that's what they tolerated before. And then they call me and I'm so irritated. I'm like, okay, now we gotta go back to the beginning. Restart. Yeah. So I think making sure that you are incorporating things slowly. Maybe adding an extra night a week with the retinoid or an extra day with your exfoliating cleanser and just gradually in increasing.
[00:14:59] Heather: And it, you know, don't do multiple things on the same night. Mm-hmm. Don't do glycolic acid. Mm-hmm. And then, um, benzoyl peroxide and retinoids. I think that's all. Mm-hmm. A lot all at once, especially being so active. Mm-hmm.
[00:15:14] Dr. Zain: Yeah. I, I always tell my patients like, bring in one new active a week.
[00:15:18] Heather: Yeah.
[00:15:19] Dr. Zain: And then you can kind of really see what ingredients.
Are kind of irritating your skin. So you can kind of back down on that and then you can see which one you are tolerating. So you can continue that.
[00:15:30] Heather: Let's do some myth debunking. So Dr. Hussein? Yeah. If somebody says that, you know, it only works if it burns, what are your thoughts on that?
[00:15:41] Dr. Zain: That's a myth. So, I mean, you don't have to have that burning stinging sensation to, you know, reap the benefits from a particular skincare product.
[00:15:51] Heather: and I guess another one, if your retinoid isn't peeling you, it's not effective.
[00:15:57] Dr. Zain: So that's not true as well. Um, so retinoids work on these receptors in the cells of retinoid receptors, and there are a lot of cellular changes that are happening, benefits that you can't necessarily see. Um, you know, with exfoliation, that's just a manifestation of, you know, the skin turnover.
Um, and, you know, you can still get all those benefits without having that, you know, excessive exfoliation.
[00:16:21] Courtney: Mm-hmm.
[00:16:21] Dr. Zain: Yeah. All right. So Courtney. Oil-free is better for acne?
[00:16:29] Courtney: Yes. I don't like oils for my acne patients. I hesitated because I think sometimes that term, as we've talked about with other terms, like clean skincare, mm-hmm.
I think sometimes the oil-free is still like a little misleading. Like just because it's oil free doesn't mean it's still good for acne. But in general, I don't think acne patients should be using any oil-based moisturizers or cleansers. So, yeah. Mm-hmm.
[00:16:51] Dr. Zain: Heather Slugging causes acne in everyone.
[00:16:54] Heather: Not everyone.
Mm-hmm. Maybe Courtney. Definitely because you don't like slug. I get milia every time. Yeah. Every time.
[00:17:01] Dr. Zain: But yeah. But I always point out your little sticker that says Slug life on your
[00:17:05] Heather: I know. Because I do. I like, I think I, I could use a slug every now and then.
[00:17:10] Courtney: Ew. You don't like
[00:17:11] Heather: that idea's
[00:17:13] Courtney: so greasy. I don't, that's so nasty.
[00:17:16] Heather: I would do, uh, so what, what would you slug with? 'cause I'm thinking more of like a. A zinc.
[00:17:24] Courtney: Can I get a facial baby? I'll do it. I'll do my own facial. I'll add some moisture into my skin with my hydrating serum. I'm not gonna put
[00:17:32] Heather: like Vaseline on
[00:17:34] Courtney: head to toe. I'll use a hydrating mask, like a normal person, a little hyaluronic acid and cyclo plast,
[00:17:41] Heather: cycl plast.
So in my mind, I think Cyclo Plast is kind of like mini slugging. Yeah, it's a better slug.
[00:17:48] Courtney: Yeah, it's a better slug for sure. AOR is so occlusive. No, no, no.
[00:17:51] Heather: I wouldn't do
[00:17:52] Courtney: Aquaphor.
[00:17:53] Heather: Yeah, I would do like Cytoplast or like the Vene. Um, cyclate,
[00:18:00] Courtney: you'll be amazed if you just add a simple hyaluronic acid to your moisturizer.
True. You put that on first. Put it on with your retinoid. Mm-hmm. That's my trick. And then put the moisturizer on after it. You'll be amazed. Truly. Yeah. True.
[00:18:14] Dr. Zain: Ha is magical.
[00:18:15] Courtney: Yeah, it is.
[00:18:18] Dr. Zain: I love, I love it. My, I love it for my lips. I mean, especially this time of the year.
[00:18:21] Courtney: Yeah.
[00:18:21] Dr. Zain: And then I slug on top of that.
[00:18:23] Courtney: Yes.
Yeah. No, I, I support a lip slug, but not a face slug. But not a face slug. Okay. There's other, other ways,
[00:18:32] Dr. Zain: Courtney. So do you need a 12 step routine to have good skin? No. How many do you need? 11. Um,
[00:18:42] Courtney: three in the morning, three at night.
[00:18:46] Dr. Zain: Well, my answer is it's individual. So you customize. Yeah. He needs a 12.
[00:18:53] Courtney: I need a three.
Um, okay. Dr. Hussein? Mm-hmm. Does your barrier weaken as we age?
[00:19:03] Dr. Zain: It does. So as we age, our barrier is less functional. Um, our skin is thinner. Um, we are more dry because we're losing more, um, you know, moisture to the environment.
[00:19:19] Heather: Dr. Hussein, do toners help or hurt the barrier?
[00:19:24] Dr. Zain: I don't think toners do much of anything.
If anything, I think they're damaging. It's really drying. The products these days. I mean, you don't need a toner, so I think it's just adding, you know, potentially more irritation to your regimen and then adding more cost to your skincare.
[00:19:40] Courtney: So true. Mm-hmm. We are toner haters here. Yes, we are. So, and I, yeah, I'll say it unapologetically, you know, right.
To me, and I'll tell you why. Yeah.
[00:19:50] Dr. Zain: is barrier damage reversible?
[00:19:53] Heather: Yes. Yes.
[00:19:55] Dr. Zain: Are there irreversible forms of barrier damage?
[00:20:00] Courtney: Probably, yeah.
[00:20:02] Dr. Zain: Yeah, yeah. Like a burn, I think. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So that's what I was kind of thinking of, like burns, um, especially with the lasers.
Mm-hmm. I mean, there are patients, uh, who have had like aggressive lasers or deep chemical peels who, you know, uh. A bad outcome and their skin barrier is never the same. It feels
[00:20:21] Courtney: mm-hmm.
[00:20:22] Dr. Zain: Different. It's more sensitive, more prone to burning. So I have seen patients, you know, who had like, maybe like a really deep peel like 20 years ago who still feel like it's, it's not normal skin anymore.
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So I think you can definitely, uh, damage that barrier.
[00:20:37] Courtney: Mm-hmm. Do you find that patients who are going through like chemo treatments or like different types of like cancers, do you think like medical treatments can impact the barrier?
[00:20:50] Dr. Zain: Yeah, I do think, um, that it can definitely impact the barrier.
There's a lot of medications that can dry out the skin or lead to dermatitis and. You know, these patients tend to become more sensitive because their barrier is a little bit impaired. So I always tell my patients, like our diabetic patients that are definitely a lot drier, their skin barrier is a little bit more impaired.
So I always tell 'em to moisturize. Um, so I definitely think that, you know, medications can play a role, but also certain disease states can play a role.
[00:21:20] Courtney: Mm-hmm. I had this like. Picture in my head. 'cause I feel like the diabetic patients always have like the lower leg. Mm-hmm. Or like, I don't know. Um, and I know those areas are kind of hard to reach, I guess maybe for older people.
But I was just thinking about like that roll roll of lotion thing. You can like lotion your back, you put the lotion on it and then you like slap it on there. You
[00:21:44] Heather: it for your legs. Use it for your legs.
[00:21:47] Dr. Zain: Yeah. It's surprising like the number of patients. I see. Who like literally do not moisturize at all.
Yeah,
[00:21:54] Courtney: yeah.
[00:21:55] Dr. Zain: And like they're like, you know, taking off their socks and like, there's like flakes going on. Oh wait, I love when they say,
[00:22:00] Courtney: they're like, sorry I didn't moisturize 'cause I just wanted to be like, plain for you. But it's like, eat didn't moisturize. Not today. It's, it's been likes a routine thing.
Yeah. Yeah.
[00:22:08] Dr. Zain: I feel like I'm inhaling, like, you gotta get the
[00:22:11] Courtney: shark to like vacuum.
[00:22:14] Dr. Zain: Yeah. So, I mean, moisturize, guys's funny. Especially it's the men. Oh my God. It's
[00:22:19] Heather: funny too, because. The ones that have it, you know, they don't just take their sock off like this. Mm-hmm. Like they,
[00:22:26] Courtney: yeah. Pull
[00:22:26] Heather: it and like dust goes everywhere.
[00:22:31] Courtney: Yeah. It's not
[00:22:32] Heather: no
[00:22:32] Courtney: shame either. Yeah. They're just like letting it go your skin everywhere. Everywhere. DNA, everywhere.
[00:22:38] Dr. Zain: Yeah. And you may have seen this maybe on your skin or you know, some others, they have this like fish scale, like appearance on the legs. Mm-hmm. Um, or elsewhere on the body. What's that called?
I Osis.
[00:22:49] Heather: Yeah.
[00:22:50] Dr. Zain: And that comes from Greek, um, for like fish skills. And these patients actually have a genetic mutation
[00:22:56] Courtney: mm-hmm.
[00:22:57] Dr. Zain: Um, in Rin, and that's like a protein, um, that helps with that mortar that we talked about. So that's deficient. So they actually need external ceramides to help repair that. So I think that's kind of where.
You know, the concept of ceramides really became popular. Mm-hmm. Because we know that's an, it's a necessary, um, lipid, um, for, you know, ma maintaining a barrier. So, um, these patients definitely need some ceramides.
[00:23:26] Heather: Is there a reason why I theosis? Vulgaris is like most common on the legs.
[00:23:32] Dr. Zain: I think that's just the area of the body that tends to get the driest, um, based on I think glands and secretions.
[00:23:39] Courtney: Okay. Yeah.
[00:23:39] Dr. Zain: Um, also probably has something to do with circulation as
[00:23:42] Courtney: well. Yeah. Blood flow. Yeah, that's what I was. I know we had that lady who had it really bad on her face. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That was a testament to, you don't need to slug, because if I could fix her face with my facials and with some of the topicals that you guys prescribed, she's so happy.
Yeah.
[00:23:58] Dr. Zain: What does she call you? Like magician or something? Uh, yeah, she's, she loves you. Yeah, I love her. Um,
[00:24:05] Courtney: yeah, but that's, that's a testament to how hydrating a facial can be. Okay, fine.
[00:24:13] Heather: I just need a facial. Yeah.
[00:24:16] Dr. Zain: All right. So just to recap, um, a healthy barrier equals healthy skin. Um, I really do think that you can't really have that healthy glow and just normal function without that, you know. That properly functioning barrier. And when we can correct that, I feel like we definitely see an improvement in our skin health, um, the way we look and patients also the way that they feel.
[00:24:42] Courtney: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[00:24:43] Dr. Zain: Um, less is more. Yes, I agree. And then hydration and consistency are so important. And you know, I think that's much better than doing like aggressive treatments because that usually leads to more problems.
[00:24:55] Courtney: Mm-hmm.
[00:24:56] Dr. Zain: And then also just, you know, when you're going through your routine with your dermatologist, they can help you.
Um, you know, we are there to help guide you and if your routine is not working or it seems like it's irritating, um, we can help you, um, on your journey to getting, you know, the skin that you're looking for. So all in all, a skin barrier that's intact is, you know, really important for skin health and it will also help us with treating other disease states will help us with anti-aging.
So I think that this was a really important topic that people are very in tune to now. Mm-hmm. People are always talking about that skin barrier.
[00:25:33] Courtney: Our security system.
[00:25:36] Heather: You sounded so nerdy. I know. I wanna do the little,
[00:25:41] Dr. Zain: I think it's the bouncer. Keeping everything out. Oh, that's cooler. Yeah. That's a cooler vibe. Well, anyway, so if you guys have any questions about the skin barrier, um, leave us a comment, um, or reach out to us. Um, please like, subscribe. But until next time, skin inside. Ouch.