When Not to Have Microdermabrasion

As a child, you hated being told you couldn't dive off the high dive, climb trees (your broken leg healed, really!), or stay out past 10 p.m. So you're not happy that your surgeon just told you that you couldn't have microdermabrasion. Do you go to the store and buy an OTC microdermabrasion system, or do you listen to the doctor, the way you listened to Mom and Dad about not smoking? You may want to listen to the doctor if:

• You're pregnant or nursing--hormones mess everything up, including new skin, and besides, microdermabrasion works best after you have more wrinkles from your kids!
• You have malignant tumors in the skin--chemo and radiation aren't something you want to take chances with by compounding the effects with microdermabrasion
• You have active herpes lesions--they don't respond to resurfacing
• You have keratoses, which can develop into squamous cell carcinoma, a.k.a. skin cancer
• You take Accutane to eliminate acne, or have within the last year. Deep microdermabrasion acne surgery can eliminate acne scarring, but you need to wait until your system is free of Accutane, or consider a different acne treatment.
• You smoke. Smoking continues to create wrinkles and pollutes the skin. For any facial procedure, you should give up smoking, permanently if possible. You pay several hundred dolalrs for a treatment, so you want it to work.

Your doctor has good reasons for saying no to microdermabrasion treatment, just as your parents did. After all, you're safe and healthy today, aren't you?