Sallow Skin

Causes and Treatment for Sallow Skin

Sallow skin often makes an individual look older than they are, often times making a person look sickly. Sallow skin is characterised by yellowing or pale tinted skin. The individual that is suffering from sallow skin will often have skin that is tired looking, and may look haggard. They will generally not look like they are in the best of health. The main causes of sallow skin include smoking, a vitamin deficiency, and anemia. Sallow skin may also be caused by dehydration.

Sallow skin may be accompanied by a pale tongue, the inability to sleep, a poor memory, inability to concentrate, dizziness, and an erratic pulse. Many times sallow skin will be a result of another medical condition, such as an ulcer, kidney problems, low iron, and other serious health issues.

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How does an individual treat sallow skin?

Photorejuvenation is a non-invasive procedure that can be used to treat sallow skin. This skin treatment delivers energies to both the dermis and the epidermis. Photorejuvenation offers no down time, and takes about 45 minutes to complete. A warm snapping sensation can be felt during the procedure. Prior to treatment, a cooling gel maybe be applied to the skin. Goggles will need to be worn to protect the eyes. A hand held device will be glided over the skin while bright pulses of light are delivered to the skin. After treatment, the skin will feel slightly warm and can be cooled down by an ice pack. This will help recover the skin. Aloe Vera gel may also be applied to cool the skin.

Side effects of photorejuvenation include short term redness after the procedure. However, this generally goes away within an hour or so after the treatment. Rarely other side effects will be seen, such as scabbing of the skin or blisters. Individuals that are pregnant or breast feeding should refrain from using photorejuvenation to treat sallow skin. Individuals that have tanned skin will not be able to use photorejuvenation to treat the sallow skin either.

Generally speaking, five treatments of photorejuvenation are normally needed for an individual that suffers from sallow skin. These will be scheduled about 3 weeks apart from each other. However, all skin is unique and each skin specialist will have different expectations to follow. Results can typically last for several years, if not longer. Single maintenance treatments can be offered to keep the skin in tip top shape. Maintenance treatments are typically done about 4 months after the last treatment.

After having a series of photorejuvenation treatments, the skin will look refreshed. The tone and texture will have improved, and there will be a reduction in any irregular pigmentation of the skin.

How can an individual prevent sallow skin?

One way to prevent sallow skin includes keeping the body hydrated. This will keep the skin looking and feeling its best. Inadequate water supplies to the skin will create dull skin that is lifeless. A good test to see if an individual is dehydrated is to pinch the back of the hands. If the skin does not spring back immediately, an individual is not getting enough water in the diet and should increase the water to include at least 2 liters a day.

Should you smoke cigarettes, stop smoking. The chemicals in cigarettes deprives the skin of the much needed oxygen. This in turn will not only cause wrinkles, but help sallow skin form.

If diet is to blame for sallow skin, make sure that the diet is rich in iron. Having a loss of iron in the body can cause anemia, which is one of the main culprits of sallow skin. Folic acid and vitamin B12 should also be a part of the diet to ward off sallow skin.

4 replies
  1. mia
    mia says:

    I have dealt with sallow skin for a while now and would do anything to have it taken care of. My skin looks tired and I do look like I have aged much more since the sallow skin overtook my face. My husband has commented on how tired I look anymore, but the thing is, I am not tired one bit. I get my recommended amount of sleep and I feel great. I just look awful. Wanting a treatment that will do as it says. Hoping that my dermatologist can help me decide if photo rejuvenation is a good procedure for me to have. I feel like I am a good candidate for it.

    Reply
  2. Heather
    Heather says:

    One thing that plagues me and my sister is having sallow skin. I feel like a zombie. I am not pleased with how the skin looks. At all! I would love to have a treatment to make it look better. I am fine with having a treatment that has to be done in multiple parts. I just would love to find a treatment or procedure that works. I have tried different home remedies for sallow skin but nothing has proven to work. My sister can not find anything either. Hoping to share this article with her and we can do it together to get beautiful!

    Reply
  3. harriet
    harriet says:

    I have sallow skin. I hate how I look with it. I feel like a freak. I know what my issue is. I do not drink a lot of water and I am not good about taking a multivitamin. I very rarely eat meat so I know that I am low in iron. I guess maybe if I started doing these two things, and ate meat a bit more, then maybe I could get my skin back on track. However, I fear that it might be too late, as I have had sallow skin for a while now. I will be asking my dermatologist about the photo rejuvenation. I hope that this can help me out.

    Reply
  4. Jodie
    Jodie says:

    Sallow skin always made me look like death itself. No kidding. I had the yellow tint to my skin and I always looked tired. I tried to up my water intake, wear sunscreen more, and eat a more balanced diet. However, my skin always still looked bad. I went to my dermatologist and we decided my best bet would be the photo rejuvenation procedure. I ended up having 6 treatments all together spaced out 3 weeks apart. This took me 18 weeks all together. But it was 18 weeks that were well worth it. My skin looks amazing now. The procedure took about 45 minutes to do, and I did feel some snapping, like that of a rubber band. It smarted a bit but was nothing that I could not handle. My skin was red for about 3 hours afterward, but the color faded quickly. I was able to wear a mineral makeup right after the procedure as well. I liked the no downtime. And on a few of my appointments, I had to have it done in the morning and go back to work. Which honestly was not a big deal since I was able to wear the mineral makeup. I would recommend this procedure to anyone that has sallow skin. It helped my skin out tremendously. I go in for maintenance treatments every 4 to 5 months. My skin has seen a huge improvement in the tone and texture and I even feel that the clarity is better.

    Reply

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