BehindTheMedspeak: After leaving this dermatologist's office, it's time to prepare your survival bunker

For yesterday's Wall Street Journal "Tricks of the Trade" feature, Joshua Lipton asked Dr. Ronald L. Moy, former president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, for tips on how to take care of your skin, with particular reference to the sun and its potential to wreak havoc.

Dr. Moy's response was the funniest thing I've read in I don't know how long; it follows.

A Dermatologist's Skin Care

Ronald L. Moy applies sunscreen before getting into his car. It's a mistake to assume a car gives protection from the sun, warns Dr. Moy, a former president of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery and a practicing physician in Los Angeles. Long-wavelength UVA rays from the sun can penetrate windshields and damage skin. He uses an SPF 15 sunscreen with Avobenzone (Parsol 1789).

Dr. Moy also takes an over-the-counter antioxidant pill with vitamins daily to help protect his skin.

To lighten dark freckles, he uses an over-the-counter bleaching agent that contains 2% hydroquinone. For a small cut, he prefers a liquid bandage, which he says reduces scarring by limiting separation of the wound. It also reduces pain, he says, because nerve endings are covered.

For broken blood vessels, he gets Vbeam laser treatments. And to fight wrinkles, he occasionally gets Botox injections. For a qualified dermatologic surgeon, try www.asds-net.org.

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Being careful is one thing.

And yes, paranoids have enemies too.

But if you're really prepared to take action against every insult to your body's integrity as it carries you through this life to the next, you will be spending the majority of your waking hours swatting at insects while a great silent parasite slowly hollows out your soul.

Wake up and smell the reality — it's really sweet, once you wave away the fear.