Local integrative dermatology clinic, Healthy Skin Solutions, is back to face-to-face appointments, offering the practitioner-patient rapport that is essential to creating treatments that grow with you.
The family-owned Kingston clinic continues to offer their four-step process of treating a wide variety of inflammatory skin disorders such as eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, rosacea, hives, and fungal and bacterial infections.
Practitioner Luke Clews retrained from a medical physicist to a complementary dermatologist and has been working in his father’s clinic for over a decade.
His four steps of treatment are identifying the primary triggers that caused the flare-up, identifying the secondary triggers that keep aggravating the skin, creating an individualised treatment plan, and addressing the triggers to reach long-term success.
“At Healthy Skin Solutions, we do offer creams to help the symptoms, but what we find with most patients is that they have cupboards full of creams!
“The problem with topical treatments is that they are not long-term solutions.
“We look deeper, at immune function, gut health, if there’s any stress or environmental factors. It all impacts the skin.”
Luke explains that at Healthy Skin Solutions, a holistic approach is key: “We treat the whole person”.
“At the root of all skincare problems is an allergy or intolerance to a food, medication or environmental factor,” he says. “It’s just a matter of identifying and treating it.”
Over the past two years, Luke has observed a steep influx in hand dermatitis due to all the handwashing and hand sanitising Canberrans have been urged to do during the pandemic.
He notes that cases of “mascne” (acne caused by wearing face masks) have also skyrocketed, along with eczema flares triggered by the tension and stress built up over the pandemic.
“Particularly in 2022, we are seeing flare-ups triggered by exhaustion and burnout.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic, people have been anxious and struggling non-stop, just in day-to-day life. Now that the situation is starting to wind down, our skin is suffering backlash from the flux of stress hormones.
“Stress is the most common trigger of skin inflammation,” says Luke.
If this sounds like a problem you’re dealing with, Healthy Skin Solutions offers early and late appointments to cater for those with busy schedules.
No referral is required, with appointments generally available within one to two weeks.
Healthy Skin Solutions
49 Jardine Street, Kingston
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