Healthy Skin: Where to Start
By Rachel Shouse
Various skin conditions are extremely common. Nearly 90-percent of people will struggle with acne at some point in their lives. This makes sense as your skin is your largest organ, giving plenty of room for problems to occur. I struggle with beauty products when they claim their products provide "healthier looking skin." Instead of striving for pretty skin, strive for healthy skin. There are many things we can do to help our skin be its best instead of just looking its best.
What Your Skin Protects You From
Before we dig into the do's and don'ts of proper skin care, let's discuss what your skin does for you. Skin is a barrier between you and all the things that could hurt you. It alerts you of pain; protects you from germs, bacteria, and viruses; and maintains a healthy balance of fluids in and beneath your skin. Being your main protector makes your skin rather important and worth taking care of.
How You and Your Environment Affect Your Skin
There are a lot of skin conditions that are outside of anyone's control. You may think of your teenage years as your hormones run wild. You may have struggled with cystic acne or still struggle as an adult. Genetics are also outside of your control, but play a large role in the condition of your skin.
There are also things within your control. Going outside without sunscreen, for example, can cause sunspots and worsen wrinkles. Not drinking an adequate amount of water causes your skin to become dehydrated. Poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, and washing your face with water that's too hot are all great examples of how we damage our own skin.
Changing Habits for Healthier Skin
There are an insurmountable number of products that promise to do miracles. In reality, a lot of what goes on with your skin is because of certain habits you have. Eating too much sugar causes more blemishes, for example.
There are foods, drinks, and vitamins that can benefit your skin. Green tea, omega-3 fatty acids, and mangoes are great examples. These three can help keep your skin moisturized, help your skin rid itself of dead cells, and protect the collagen within your skin.
Getting exercise is also helpful. Working out makes most of us sweat. When we sweat, our bodies rid themselves of toxins that normally would have remained within your skin, causing blemishes.
Changing habits can be really difficult, especially ones that involve multiple areas of your life. Just know that it doesn't have to cost hundreds of dollars in order to see your skin with a healthy glow. You also need only tackle one change at a time.
To learn more about your health, wellness and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Valencia, Calif.