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Your skin is the largest organ in your body, and it does a lot for you, such as protect you from bacteria and viruses and keep out pollution and other harmful substances in the environment.
Things both inside and outside your body can start to affect your skin. While internal factors like genetics, aging, hormones, and health conditions are difficult to control, external factors are much easier to influence. These include stress, lack of sleep, dehydration, washing your face too much, eating an unhealthy diet, and exposing your skin to the sun.
At The Well for Health, located in Davidson, North Carolina, our team cares about your health, including the health of your skin. That’s why we want to give you some steps to add to your skin care routine that can boost the health of your skin and maybe even your health overall.
There’s a large variety of things you can do to protect your skin and keep it healthy, but we think the following things are worth noting:
It’s virtually impossible to take proper care of your skin if you don’t know what kind you have. Your skin type determines the exact skin care products you need to use. The various kinds of skin you can have include:
The next step is to choose a cleanser. If you have oily or normal skin, use a foaming cleanser to clean off dirt, oil, and makeup. However, if you have dry or combination skin, a cream might be more beneficial to moisturize your face as you clean away dirt, oil, and makeup. After cleansing, you want to use a toner to help you remove any remaining makeup or debris. For both these steps, use only warm water because hot water strips your skin of moisture.
Using a moisturizer helps hydrate your skin and seals in moisture. Moisturizers contain humectants to attract moisture, occlusive compounds to retain moisture, and emollients to smooth any rough patches of skin.
To protect your skin from the harmful effects of the sun, you need sunscreen. It not only prevents sunburn but also slows down signs of aging like wrinkles and leathery skin. In addition, using sunscreen can decrease your risk of skin cancer. The active ingredients in sunscreens absorb the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays or reflect the incoming radiation.
Use sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or more since these block out about 97% of UVB rays. It’s important to note that no sunscreen can block all UV rays, so try to limit long periods of exposure to the sun as much as possible.
Your skin — and the rest of your body — thrives on a healthy diet packed with fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins like chicken, fish, beans, and eggs. Also, avoid foods high in trans fats, salt, and sugar.
A well-balanced diet ensures that your body gets all the vitamins necessary for healthy skin. The health of your skin also depends on staying hydrated, so make sure you drink plenty of water.
The National Sleep Foundation recommends that adults get 7-9 hours of sleep every night. Studies showed that those who didn’t get a full night of rest or slept poorly showed signs of premature skin aging, not to mention their skin couldn’t heal from outside environmental factors.
While sleeping, during the deep sleep phase, your body enters repair mode, which is when your body can regenerate tissues, such as skin, muscles, blood cells, and brain cells. If you don’t get enough sleep, your body doesn’t have time to make new collagen, a structural protein that strengthens your skin.
Want to learn more about how to take good care of your skin? Call us at 704-459-5296 or book an appointment online today.
