Current Problems in Dermatology

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an account of the value granted to the oncologic medical tattoo by those women who have just finished their surgical and plastic breast reconstruction process following a mastectomy. To this end, we conducted in-depth interviews with the beneficiaries of the Aesthetical, Paramedical and Oncologic Micro-Pigmentation Foundation's (FEMPO) free program. Medical tattoos are positively evaluated in connection with post-breast cancer physical reconstruction; they are granted a high value due to the aesthetic effect and the simplicity of the intervention, both in the reconstruction of the areola-nipple complex and the reduction of scars and adverse effects from the adjuvant treatment on hair and eyebrows...

A characteristic feature of the anatomy of the human face is its arrangement in layers. The main layers include, from outside to inside: (i) the skin; (ii) the subcutaneous fat; (iii) the superficial musculoaponeurotic system; (iv) the deep fat, and (iv) the periosteum overlying the bony structures of the skull. Herein, the facial bones provide the basis for the ligaments and other facial structures that are attached to them. In contrast, the muscles control the mimics and movements, hence the dynamic anatomy of the face...

Alternatives or complements to laser tattoo removal are needed. Laser removal requires 8-12 sessions and can easily take longer than a year. Some colors cannot be removed, and scars may appear. Applied to allergic reactions in red tattoos, lasers can boost the allergy. A recently developed 20 MHz high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is introduced as a complementary method to lasers, but also as a stand-alone treatment for selected groups. 20 MHz HIFU allows for application of high-power ultrasound energy to very small focal targets in the dermis, and thereby precise confinement of thermal lesions in the outer layers of human skin, precisely where tattoo inks are deposited...

Vitiligo is an acquired skin depigmentation disorder that affects 0.5-2% of the world population. It is characterized by loss of the natural brown melanin pigment of the skin clinically manifested as few or many white patches on the skin and microscopically with the total absence of me-lanocytes in the epidermis. The change in appearance caused by vitiligo can affect persons' emotional and psychological well-being and may cause them to alter their lifestyle. The social complication of vitiligo depends on ethnicity and on geography and local opinion, which may deem vitiligo contagious...

This chapter explains the international regulative framework on equipment and inks for cosmetic and medical tattooing. In the following text, the word "tattooing" refers to body tattooing, permanent makeup, and microblading. From a global perspective, regulation of equipment for cosmetic (decorative) tattooing, and especially inks, is inconsistent and mainly based on a diversity of national laws. In contrast, regulation of equipment for medical tattooing is subjected to the internationally harmonized medical devices regulation...

The Q-switched neodymium-yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser remains the gold standard method for tattoo removal including cosmetic tattoos. Modern picosecond lasers are referenced to the Nd:YAG laser and essentially do the same job. Persons with cosmetic tattoos in the face are especially eager to achieve perfect removal or correction and from start are critical to suboptimal results. Customers mostly request complete removal; sometimes the goal is fast treatment and bleaching to prepare for a cover up tattoo...

Cosmetic tattoos may cause burning sensation during magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and interrupt the procedure, and thereby any diagnostic workup. Tattoos also may cause disturbing artefacts in MRI images. The sensation, which can be painful, is due to magnetic elements in the tattoo ink deposited in the tattooed skin. It is not a thermal burn but a subjective sensation of burning. Tattoo ink bottles can be tested for magnetic properties by the artist in the studio, before cosmetic tattooing is performed, using a simple magnet test...

Emerging virus diseases are a major threat to humans and public health. Over the past two decades, there has been mounting interest in the increasing number of viruses causing unexpected illnesses and epidemics among humans. Emerging diseases also include as yet unrecognisable infections, or a previously recognised infection that has expanded into new ecological niche often accompanied by a significant change in pathogenicity. In the wake of these discoveries, the need for stronger infection prevention measures for personal services such as tattooing and cosmetic tattooing procedures needs to be revisited and re-established through more rigorous measures...

The European Union for Standardization called CEN (Comité Européen de Nomalization), as a result of the project named CEN/TC-435 in January 2020, released a new hygiene standard for tattooing as a non-binding recommendation on safe tattoo practice in Europe, ready for national implementation. It describes hygienic standards for facilities, instruments, tattoo ink handling, and tattoo procedures. Informed consent is included. It is generic and covers all sorts of tattooing. Medical tattooing is performed in hospitals, private clinics, and in tattoo parlors...

Cosmetic tattoos are in the same family as medical tattoos and conventional cosmetic care and fall within the overall concept of body modification. Each discipline has its own segment of users and its own techniques and professional providers. However, they all serve the higher aim of shaping the skin and the body and improving image and self-esteem.

Tattooing for medical purposes may have been around more than 5,300 years ago, but most of the interest and changes have occurred during the last 100 years as a consequence of scientific advances leading to quicker, cleaner, and less painful insertion of pigment into the skin as well as advances in medical knowledge allowing for more relevant individual information to be transmitted by the embedded pigment. These changes are ongoing. Cosmetic tattooing or tattooing for camouflage of body surface imperfections, likewise, has advanced during the last 50 years concurrently with the rise of social media, internet access, and the popularity of personal electronic visuals...

Since the beginning of the development of sunscreen products, efforts have been made to measure and quantify the protection performance of such products. Early on an in vivo method was established that allowed statements on the sun protection performance in humans. Later, by establishing defined basic and experimental conditions, the method became internationally standardized delivering the well-known sun protection factor (SPF). The method was widely used and is nowadays regarded as a gold-standard method...

Skin cancer rates have been on the rise for decades and are still growing in spite of the availability of high-performance sunscreens that provide sufficient protection against the damaging effect of UV radiation everywhere on this globe. This paper investigates behaviors and attitudes to sunscreen use that may cause an increased UV exposure risk, for example, not using sunscreen at all. Alongside educational reasons, there is a link to some aspects of applying sunscreens that seem to be disliked universally...

Recent and pending bans in specific jurisdictions of some organic ultraviolet (UV) filters have resulted in significant concern and controversy over the potential impacts of these contaminants in the marine environment. Organic UV filters have been quantified in the aquatic environment as contaminants in water, sediments, and the tissues of aquatic organisms. The limited available laboratory studies on the toxicity of UV filters to keystone marine species such as reef-building corals describe a wide variety of impacts, from significant acute effects to no observed effects...

Organic and inorganic ultraviolet (UV) filters are used in topical sunscreens and other applications to prevent or limit damage following exposure to UV light. Increasing use of UV filters has contributed to a growing number of investigations examining potential effects on human health and the environment. Worldwide environmental monitoring data demonstrate that UV filters reach aquatic environments through two main input sources - direct (i.e., washoff from swimmers/bathers) and indirect (i.e., incomplete wastewater treatment removal) - and can be taken up by various algal, plant, and animal species and sediments...

No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In order to define a label SPF of topically applied sunscreens, in vivo test methods like ISO 24444, FDA Guideline, and the Australian Standard are used worldwide. The basis of all these methods is to induce an erythemal skin reaction by UV irradiation to find the level of MEDu and MEDp (Minimal Erythmal Dose unprotected and protected). In vitro methods replacing the human skin by any kind of nonhuman material are still not available. Thus, offering the new hybrid diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (HDRS) technique that can maintain an in vivo level for SPF testing while neglecting the UV-dose-related erythemal skin reaction is a perfect combination to take care of sun protection and any ethical concerns in SPF testing nowadays...

Infrared light (760 nm-1 mm) constitutes approximately 40% of the solar radiation reaching the ground at sea level. Shortest wavelength near-infrared (NIR) photons (NIR or IR-A: 760-1,400 nm) can penetrate the epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue with numerous biological effects. NIR used to have a bad reputation on the basis of past studies using high-intensity artificial light sources (above the solar IR-A irradiance threshold) at high doses leading to detrimental effects (i.e., upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase-1)...

In 1978, the FDA Advisory Panel proposed both indoor and natural sunlight SPF testing methods but reverted to indoor testing only in 1993. Today's sunscreen sun protection and broad-spectrum claims are based on mandated clinical tests using solar simulators and in vitro spectrophotometers. This research evaluated the protection of 10 high-SPF (30-110), broad-spectrum sunscreen products, as well as 6 sun-protective fabrics against natural sunlight in Arequipa, Peru. Each of the 17 subjects was exposed to natural sunlight for 1 h and 59 min under clear skies, with temperatures and humidity similar to those in an indoor clinical laboratory...

This chapter is focused on those products that are sold primarily as sun protection products and considers the additional claims made for these that are intended to differentiate and imply additional benefits. It is essentially an overview, as each claim would require an individual chapter to deal with in detail. We do not consider products with another intended primary use, such as moisturizer or colour comments, which are, in themselves "secondary sunscreens," defined specifically in Australia [AS/NZS 2604:2012 Sunscreen products - Evaluation and classification] or Canada...