Latest news with #DeshanSebaratnam
News.com.au
6 days ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Winter is flaring up eczema for about a third of Aussies who suffer from the irritating skin condition
An irritating skin condition is flaring up for a third of Australians trying to keep warm this winter, made worse by heaters, woollen jumpers and long, hot showers. Eczema is a dry, itchy and inflammatory skin disease that usually begins in childhood and affects one in five children and one in 10 adults that suffer redness, scales, bumps, skin cracks, oozing fluid and crusts. Children are more likely to experience eczema because their immune system has not matured. People with a family history or from East or South Asian countries or others who suffer from hay fever or food allergies are also affected. The condition can be deadly when it is left uncontrolled and extremely inflamed, although rare. People can get serious infections from the disease, or the body can divert all of its blood away from vital organs to the skin. Dermatologist Deshan Sebaratnam told NewWire that a lot of people would notice eczema flare-ups due to the cold change in weather. 'When it is cold, there's often less humidity in the air, so your skin loses water to the air easily,' he said. 'There's also less sunlight, and sunlight dampens down the activity of the immune system in the skin and because it's cold, people aren't using their creams and moisturisers as much as they should. 'Wearing long clothes and things like wool can also be irritating on the skin, so now's a common time for eczema to flare up for a lot of Australians.' Dry air, heaters and long. hot showers that strip the body of natural oils can flare up eczema. The best way to avoid the condition is to use thick and greasy moisturisers that contain glycerine and ceramides to trap water in the skin and avoid products with fragrances, perfumes or food. 'You shouldn't be spending lots of money on your moisturisers,' Dr Sebaratnam said. 'Products from the QV ceramide range are really good or QV intensive as well. 'Funnily enough, people can use a cream their whole life, or a moisturiser or make-up, then suddenly develop allergies to a product. 'No one really knows why, but one day your immune system just decides it doesn't like it, then every time you put it on you get eczema. 'That's called contact dermatitis, and that can also make eczema worse.' Dr Sebaratnam said people with concerns about their skin should see a GP or dermatologist, a medical specialist in skin disease and health. 'No one understands your skin like a dermatologist, and they can help you know with eczema,' he said. 'It is a really itchy and uncomfortable condition that affects your sleep and has a cosmetic impact in terms of people's confidence if it is on their face. 'It can affect children's schooling, and even adults. If you're constantly scratching you can't focus at work, it affects every facet of your life.' Dr Sebaratnam said there were lots of myths about eczema. He said food rarely caused problems with the condition and steroids were a safe treatment option when supervised by a doctor.
Perth Now
6 days ago
- Health
- Perth Now
Condition that only gets worse in winter
An irritating skin condition is flaring up for a third of Australians trying to keep warm this winter, made worse by heaters, woollen jumpers and long, hot showers. Eczema is a dry, itchy and inflammatory skin disease that usually begins in childhood and affects one in five children and one in 10 adults that suffer redness, scales, bumps, skin cracks, oozing fluid and crusts. Children are more likely to experience eczema because their immune system has not matured. People with a family history or from East or South Asian countries or others who suffer from hay fever or food allergies are also affected. The condition can be deadly when it is left uncontrolled and extremely inflamed, although rare. People can get serious infections from the disease, or the body can divert all of its blood away from vital organs to the skin. Dermatologist Deshan Sebaratnam says people are more prone to eczema during winter. Supplied Credit: Supplied Dermatologist Deshan Sebaratnam told NewWire that a lot of people would notice eczema flare-ups due to the cold change in weather. 'When it is cold, there's often less humidity in the air, so your skin loses water to the air easily,' he said. 'There's also less sunlight, and sunlight dampens down the activity of the immune system in the skin and because it's cold, people aren't using their creams and moisturisers as much as they should. 'Wearing long clothes and things like wool can also be irritating on the skin, so now's a common time for eczema to flare up for a lot of Australians.' Eczema is a dry, itchy and inflammatory skin disease. Supplied Credit: Supplied Dry air, heaters and long. hot showers that strip the body of natural oils can flare up eczema. The best way to avoid the condition is to use thick and greasy moisturisers that contain glycerine and ceramides to trap water in the skin and avoid products with fragrances, perfumes or food. 'You shouldn't be spending lots of money on your moisturisers,' Dr Sebaratnam said. 'Products from the QV ceramide range are really good or QV intensive as well. 'Funnily enough, people can use a cream their whole life, or a moisturiser or make-up, then suddenly develop allergies to a product. 'No one really knows why, but one day your immune system just decides it doesn't like it, then every time you put it on you get eczema. 'That's called contact dermatitis, and that can also make eczema worse.' Dr Sebaratnam said the best way to avoid eczema was to use thick and greasy moisturisers that contained glycerine and ceramides. Supplied Credit: Supplied Dr Sebaratnam said people with concerns about their skin should see a GP or dermatologist, a medical specialist in skin disease and health. 'No one understands your skin like a dermatologist, and they can help you know with eczema,' he said. 'It is a really itchy and uncomfortable condition that affects your sleep and has a cosmetic impact in terms of people's confidence if it is on their face. 'It can affect children's schooling, and even adults. If you're constantly scratching you can't focus at work, it affects every facet of your life.' Dr Sebaratnam said there were lots of myths about eczema. He said food rarely caused problems with the condition and steroids were a safe treatment option when supervised by a doctor. 'Just keep care simple, it doesn't need to be complicated, a simple moisturiser or using medications when you need to on and off,' he said
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Real or flake? Experts weigh in on whether TikTok's viral ‘caveman method' skin care routine actually works
The latest viral skincare routine involves no skincare at all. Dubbed the 'caveman method', it involves shunning any kind of skincare products, as well as water, and letting the skin barrier 'heal'. TikTok creator Tia Zakher has become a viral sensation for her adherence to the trend. The 22-year-old sparked debate about the method after posting videos with visibly flaky skin, apparently a result of the trend. 'What you're seeing is dead skin, that's going to flake off eventually while new healthy skin forms underneath,' she told millions of viewers. Zakher has her sceptics but, whether or not you believe the videos, what do experts think about the regime, which has been attributed to other celebrities including Alexa Chung and Salma Hayek? Like many healthcare professionals who have commented on the viral videos, Associate Prof Deshan Sebaratnam, a dermatologist at the Skin Hospital in Sydney, says 'it's not a good idea'. 'The reason being is your body is constantly regenerating itself, your skin is constantly turning over, and old skin cells are being shed. Normally they can fall off, but sometimes they can get stuck together, particularly if your skin's a little bit oilier.' Sebaratnam said a condition known as terra firma-forme – where those dead skin cells can accumulate like scale – can develop when people don't shower. 'I wouldn't recommend what she's doing,' he said. Associate professor Yousuf Mohammed, an expert in pharmaceutics and skin toxicology at the University of Queensland, said sebum – the natural, oily substance produced by sebaceous glands in the skin – provides a partial barrier to protect the skin, but if left unwashed for too long can create the perfect atmosphere for certain types of bacteria to grow. 'The caveman technique [might have] worked when we lived in the caves because we didn't have these new kinds of [modern] pollutants around,' he said. 'In today's day and age, we really do need to wash.' 'There's all this misinformation out there that you need a 12-step skincare routine – that's completely not true. But you don't want to take it from one extreme to the other, like this person,' Sebaratnam said. He recommends in the morning putting sunscreen on, and then at the end of the day a gentle soap-free cleanser, ideally without fragrances or perfumes. 'You don't need to be spending lots of money – the cheap stuff works great.' Sebaratnam says cleansers are helpful because 'with makeup, with sunscreen, even with your own sweat and oil, you need something a little bit more than just water, because those things are oil-based, and oil and water don't mix, so you need something that can help remove oil-based products.' 'That's really all you need in terms of a very simple skincare routine – you don't need to be doing anything extra on top of that. All sunscreen have moisturiser in-built within them, so you don't need to be putting sunscreen and moisturiser on at the same time,' Sebaratnam said. From a medical perspective, only people with conditions such as eczema need moisturiser, Sebaratnam said. But there are lots of different factors that motivate people when it comes to their skincare – 'for some people, that's their form of meditation or their form of self-care'. Sebaratnam says aggressive skin care products can certainly disrupt the barrier function of the skin. 'Even products like soap can strip away natural oils. Anything you put on your skin can disrupt the pH transiently but our skin is resilient and has mechanisms in place to self-regulate this.' Commercial skincare brands often promote products with active ingredients to target specific concerns like vitamin A for anti-ageing, hyaluronic acid for hydration or vitamin C for brightening. 'There's lots of different products that you can put on your skin but, in particular, a lot of the actives, they'll all cause a small degree of irritation, and then if all of a sudden you're putting 12 of these things on, you know, 12 times a small degree of irritation becomes a big degree of irritation,' Sebaratnam says. 'Be intentional with your skincare. Just because you see someone online using something and it suits them, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to help you reach your skincare goals. 'Having a sense of what you want to achieve with your skincare is important, and then you can pick products that suit that.' For some people whose intention is to use their skincare to pamper themselves, they might want to buy expensive products, often paying for a fancy bottle and fragrance, but the improvement in skin quality the next day is likely to be the same whether you use $150 or $15 cream at night, he says. Natasha May is Guardian Australia's health reporter Antiviral is a fortnightly column that interrogates the evidence behind the health headlines and factchecks popular wellness claims What health trend do you want examined? Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian.
