MCO : Breakouts of Acne

The most ubiquitous manifestation of the "New Normal" practised around the globe during this pandemic is the wearing of face masks. Not the luxurious, silky variety used during an invigorating spa session, but those blue and white ones. Go out in public without one, and you'll earn disapproving looks from others.

But many people have started noticing that their skin is not as pristine as how it used to be. This could be due to various factors like stress induced, viral food trend induced, Netflix marathon induced, but has it ever crossed your mind, that it might be due to your mask?

How does your mask cause breakouts, and how can we identify this "maskne"?
"Maskne" is the whiteheads, blackheads and pustules that appear along the outline and areas that are covered by your mask.

Technically, the acne which you might be experiencing is known as acne mechanica, and it is simply due to friction from the long hours of wearing your mask. Your skin gets irritated from constant pressure and friction, and this disrupts your skin barrier, making it more vulnerable to inflammation when it is combined with the bacteria and also excessive sebum that builds up from the heat and humidity caused by long hours of having your mask on.

So should you stop wearing a mask?

No, absolutely not. Remember,  mask wearing is recommended by the World Health Organisation to halt this pandemic, so here are some preventive steps which you can practise to prevent and treat your "maskne":

Remember to change your disposable mask frequently as soon as it is damp.

For reusable cloth/silk masks, remember to wash and dry them daily.

Avoid using heavy face oils, creams or makeup if you are wearing your mask for a long time. Choose light, oil free moisturisers and sunscreen.

Avoid creamy lipsticks that can transfer oily residue to your face.

Play up your eyes with eye makeup since that is the only feature that will be visible behind your mask.

After removing your mask, cleanse your skin with a soothing cleanser.

Look for skincare products containing anti-inflammatory ingredients like salicylic acid or Zinc and niacinamide if you start to see signs of breakouts. Boost your skin's protective barrier with ingredients like ceramides, glycerin and squalene.

Always remember to hydrate your skin well at night.

Treat your skin with the best serums at night and wake up with refreshed skin.  Once a week, pamper your skin with a luxurious mask..the type we ladies used to be more acquainted with before this pandemic!

Remember, do not skip wearing a protective face mask just because you're worried about getting "maskne"!

By Dr.Arzhealza (Anna Hoo Clinic)

MCO weight gain?

The COVID-19 pandemic which surely does not need any introduction has brought the whole world to its knees. Our country, like many other nations around the world has implemented and is still practising strict measures to help keep this disease from spreading further.  The battle cry heard all over the world was “Stay home , flatten the curve!” While our country has been largely successful in flattening our pandemic curve.. how many of us have started noticing an exponential growth of the curve on our bellies?

Being confined to our homes and having extra time in our hands has turned many of us into amateur chefs, which isn’t a bad thing.. every now and then a new recipe goes viral on social media and everyone rushes to replicate the recipe.  In March, Korean Dalgona coffee was all the rage and people all over the world were posting pictures of their own creations on their social media pages. Then in April, Basque Burnt Cheesecake became the quarantine dessert of choice. Cream cheese were flying off the shelves in many supermarkets as everyone realised how easy it was to bake their own dessert at home. Perhaps less popular in our side of the world, is the pancake cereal trend. But what all these viral food trends have in common.. is how sugar laden they are! It is perfectly fine to have a decadent treat once in a while but it is important to keep track of your food intake to prevent yourself from gaining unwanted excess weight. Don’t use your gym closure as a reason for you not to maintain your workout routine. In fact, one does not need a gym membership to be fit and healthy. YouTube workouts which can be done in your own room without even changing into workout clothes are just as effective as gym classes. It is recommended to a combination of moderate intensity cardio workouts and body weight workouts at home, for a total of 150 minutes per week. This can be easily spread out to 5 half-an-hour workout sessions per week. 

Some of you might notice that your clothes feel snugger than usual eventhough there are no changes to the reading on the scale. Don’t be complacent, this could mean that your body composition has changed.. in other words you might have lost lean muscles and gained fat due to a lack of physical activity at home, coupled with mindless snacking or overeating. The only proven way to increase your lean muscle mass and reduce your fat mass is by eating healthily and exercising regularly. A great way to keep track of your body composition is by doing a special test called the InBody test which is available at Anna Hoo Clinic. Our clinic utilises the latest model of the InBody machine from South Korea which is able to give you a highly accurate measurement of various parameters in the body including your total body water, protein, minerals and body fat mass. Besides that, we are also able to know how strong our muscles are in relation to our weight, and what aspects we need to improve in order to achieve an optimal physique.  Many people who are seemingly of a healthy weight for their height, turn to have an unexpectedly high amount of dangerous visceral fat, which is the fat surrounding the abdominal organs. The higher the amount of this fat in the body, the higher the risk is for us to develop chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure, among others. Do contact us to set an appointment to get an in-depth understanding of your body composition with our InBody test today!


By Dr.Arzhealza (Anna Hoo Clinic)

Preserve your HEALTH and BEAUTY regime!

At the time of writing, the Covid-19 is spreading across continents and infecting thousands of people around the world.

Many are staying home and limiting travel to reduce the risk of infection.

We explore some of the beauty tips that you may keep your health and beauty regime in check.

• Try doing exercise at home rather than going to the gym. There are some simple exercises that you could do at home, such as lifting free weights at home, yoga, or doing Zumba along with the exercise videos on Youtube. Maintaining a healthy body improves your immune system against viral infection.
  
• Take plenty of fluid, liquid diet, and drink plenty of water.
  
• Stop eating canned food, junk food, and street food. Prepare your food. It allows you to eat healthier. Now you will have more control over what you eat at home, which means no MSG, no preservatives, and healthier options. Eat more vegetables and fruits as they are easier to prepare, and they kick a punch of vitamins, that will give you the immunity you need to weather this pandemic.
  
• Going out less also means that you apply less makeup, and you are exposed to less UV rays. This indirectly translates to less aging spots and less wrinkle formation.
  
• Take proper rest; get enough sleep!
  
• DIY beauty regime like applying facemask, giving yourself an excellent facial treatment at home allows you to keep up with your beauty regime and keep your skin well hydrated and fresh.

Stay positive; keep safe! 

Lighten Those Dark Circles

WHAT CAUSES DARK CIRCLES ?

There are multiple causes for dark circles (medically called periorbital hyperchromia), according to medical research.

Genes They can be genetic, affecting any skin color and type, but Asian race and southern Italians are particularly prone to them.

Hyperpigmentation The browner type of dark circles, rather than the bluish-hued type, could be the results of post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation due to sun damage or hormonal fluctuations.

Older, thinner skin As we age, we become more prone to permanent dark circles - simply because, as skin thins, the blood vessels in the under-eye zone show up more. Airborne allergens cause blood to pool in the vessels under the skin, worsening the appearance of any dilated blood vessels.

Nasal congestion Famously, they are linked with lack of sleep. When your nose is bunged up, veins that usually drain from your eyes into your nose become dilated and darker. Equally something in your beauty regime could be the culprit like a new mascara or eye cream, which may also cause puffiness.

Stress When your body is in fight or flight mode, your brain, like every other organ, leeches every single molecule of oxygen it can from the blood, so a darker, more deoxygenated blood flows through your veins. This dark blood is most visible in the transparent skin under our eyes, and is what causes the appearance of these discoloured veins. (The skin under the eyes is the thinnest on the body)

Drugs Some drugs, including the contraceptive pill, can darken the eye area by dilating blood vessels.

Smoking Women who smoke - which affects micro-circulation long before it leads to heart and lung problems - can be prone to dark circles too.

Source : The Anti-Ageing Beauty Bible

Aesthetic Procedures : Which Matter the Most ? Price or Safety ?

Have you ever wonder why a particular treatment is priced differently at different places? Take filler injection for example, you may get filler injection at clinic A for RM1000 while at another clinic, the treatment is RM1500. The same treatment using the same product but with difference in price. What is wrong here?

Many patients treat these procedures like buying groceries in a supermarket. I pay for the product. When I buy instant noodles, the noodles that I get is the same no matter where I buy it, be it a posh supermarket or the nearby convenient store. Similarly, I am going for a filler injection using product X and it does not matter where I receive the treatment, I still get product X.

Obviously such a thought is too simplistic.

When you go for a medical procedure, we have to take into consideration whether the doctor administering the treatment is well trained and certified, the experience of the doctor, the complication rate, the measures taken to reduce infection, processes put in place to reduce medical errors, the after care and many more. There is a lot of background work that makes the procedure safe and successful. The added value that one gets from these is not measurable, especially the ones relating to patient safety. In fact one should ask as why the procedure is performed at such low price at clinic A.

Your safety is of utmost importance. Do not compromise safety over price.