A Woman with a Vision: Lindy Snider Creates Skin-Care Line for Cancer Patients (MassageMag.com)
April 11, 2011 (MassageMag.com – original link) - Cancer isn't pretty, but a woman's wish to feel beautiful doesn't end when treatment begins. How do you redefine beauty in light of cancer?
In the ever-expanding world of beauty, skin-care specialists are rethinking their role. Providing the usual services of massage, manicures, pedicures and hydrating of "normal" skin is great, but sometimes life throws us a curve. Illness strikes, and the simple pampering now becomes a struggle to regain and restore skin that has been damaged or depleted by illness, surgery and cancer. With recent studies reporting that more than 40 percent of Americans during their lifetime will hear the phrase, "You've got cancer," we cannot ignore this basic need.
Patients are well aware of the usual side effects of chemotherapy and radiation: nausea, hair loss and fatigue. But few realize what effect their treatment has on their skin–the largest organ of the body. The skin-related side effects from treating all types of cancer–acne-like rashes, extreme redness, dryness and inflammation--can be so debilitating, physically and emotionally, that patients will sometimes abandon their treatment.
Witnessing two of her closest friends experience these ravaging conditions, Lindy Snider searched the shelves. She found lotions, creams and gels for everything imaginable, but nothing that would provide relief for a cancer patient. Snider forged ahead.
Snider gathered a team of dermatologists, oncologists and patient focus groups. She researched to find the purest and most appropriate ingredients and developed the first full line of skin-care products designed to address these side effects. Her mission was to bring about a sense of relief and to renew, revitalize and restore skin during and after treatment.
Snider's skin proprietary "LSA Complex" of special botanicals and antioxidants was formulated to promote soothing wound comfort, and to be antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Her passion was to redefine beauty in the face of illness. Courage and bravery are needed in going through cancer, but pampering and continuing to feel and look your best are crucial to maintaining a sense of well-being.
Snider's vision in identifying the importance of addressing skin-related side effects is now widely-recognized in the medical community and hailed by doctors and oncology nurses throughout the country. Due to an emerging science called supportive onco-dermatology, studies show that taking care of their skin helps cancer patients feel more in control and it enhances their quality of life.
