Think 'green' to protect your patients' skin
By Wendy Steele, MS

The anti-aging movement is everywhere, with some companies promising their products will "cure" the effects of getting older.

All "miracle cures" are short-term at best. The best anti-aging formula is to clean up what we put in our bodies and on our skin. Chiropractic care can take a leadership role in the anti-aging movement by providing a regime of natural skin care as a way of preserving healthier, younger-looking skin.

One of the most serious types of cancer is melanoma. According to the Melanoma Research Foundation (www.melanoma.org), this cancer is increasing at a rate of more than 3 percent a year and is considered the fastest-growing cancer. Caught early, however, it can be 100 percent curable.

To minimize the risk of melanoma, your patients need to take care of their skin. And, if they have had melanoma, good skin care is not an option — it is essential. However, many over-the-counter products are less than successful in meeting your patients' needs. And prescription products their MD may recommend can be harsh and ineffective, as well as expensive.

The problem with these remedies? Their healing ingredients are immersed in a foundation of junk — Sodium lauryl sulfate, DEA, parabens, and glycols often lace these expensive products.

The answer is to use products manufactured only with natural ingredients.

Chiropractors are in a unique position to help their clients. As you work with your patients on their skin-care needs, here are some things you may consider:

• Find the stressors. Elaine Carter, DC, of Springfield, Mo., recognizes that nutrition plays a key role in skin quality, and does nutritional testing to identify deficiencies that affect the skin. But she also looks for environmental stressors, such as toxic chemicals.

These include food additives, pesticides, chlorine, fragrances, isopropyl alcohol, and petroleum solvents. These chemicals can have profound effects on a person who already has a liver or other organ dysfunction, or can be the main cause of that dysfunction.

• Help patients research products. Toxic chemicals often come from everyday products. A good research tool is the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Web site, www.ewg.org. EWG's Skin Deep Report is an online database that rates products on a scale of 0 (safe) to 5 (unsafe), based on their ingredients.

The database (Skin Deep) contains information on more than 14,000 categorized products.

• Point them toward 'safe' companies. More than 500 companies have signed the Safe Cosmetics Compact and voluntarily submitted their products to EWG for testing, while many popular skin-care brands have been added by EWG through its own testing.

Founded in 2002, the Safe Cosmetics Compact is a coalition of public health, educational, religious, labor, women's, environmental, and consumer groups.

Its goal is to protect the health of consumers and workers by requiring the health and beauty industry to phase out chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, and other health problems and replace them with safer alternatives.

• Offer 'green' products to your patients. It is important for your patients to take an active role in their health regime. You can help them do this by offering clean, "green" products for their skin care.

The clean products mirror all of the mainstream skin care people use, but offer them without preservatives, sulfates, or extenders.

These products retail for more than their chemical-laden counterparts in the drugstore because they use quality ingredients in therapeutic proportions. Still, most are only one-half to one-third the price of prescription products.

Margins are attractive, since most manufacturers provide excellent discounts for chiropractors who want to resell. Manufacturers are looking for a trusted marketing channel that offers therapy services. They want loyal resellers who can educate consumers about the effects and purpose of green ingredients.

Timing is everything. People need a trusted resource for their skin health, and they need products that are clean, green, and therapeutic. They need someone who they trust to advise them to provide them with products that actually solve their problems with something other than a treatment package that leads with cortisone and steroids.

You can fill their needs. Natural, healthy skin is younger-looking skin and the best tool in waging the anti-aging war.

Wendy Steele, MS, is the CEO of Keys Care. She is a melanoma survivor and an Inner Circle member of the Skin Cancer Foundation. She is the author of Defining Moments and speaks internationally on the topics of skin-cancer prevention and clean, green therapy. She can be reached by e-mail at wendy@keys-soap.com or through the Web site, www.Keys-Soap.com.