Skin Care and Skin Conditions

More people are health-conscious these days than ever before. People take vitamin supplements, they work out, they buy organic and eat healthy. Even the Supersize Me crowd isn't clowning around with that food as much as they used to. It seems strange, then, as we become more aware of the importance of taking good care of our bodies, that we'd pay so little attention to the largest organ of our bodies, our skin.

Our skin is magnificent and complex. It protects our muscles, nerves, bones and nervous system. It regulates our temperature, provides us with a multi-faceted tactile interface with the world, provides us sensations of pleasure, warnings of danger through pain. It protects us from infection and disease, heals itself swiftly, and adapts well to the many changes of environment that we put it through. It's at work constantly. It provides us and others with a good portion of our sense of attraction. We look at each other's skin all the time, every day - and yet most of us pay nearly no mind to its well-being.

The skin protects us from a frightening number of attackers, placing itself at risk. The sun, gravity, chemical agents, environmental pollution, dry air, fungus, allergies, natural irritants... and yet we seem to think about it least.

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One constant for most of us is the effect of the sun upon our skin. The sun's U.V. rays may feel great, and give us a free tan, but prolonged exposure can also cause a number of skin cancers, and increase the leathered appearance of aging.

There are different types of skin cancer. The most common are called Basal Cell Carcinomas, followed closely by Squamous Cell Carcinomas. They're localized, so while they're malignant, they're not inherently deadly. Melanoma are the other group, which spreads and kills. It is said that some 85 percent of all melanoma cases are caused by overexposure to the sun.

Some tanning beds can also cause melanomas. Since the sun's UV rays are also diverse, it's imperative that people who are out in the sun often use sun-blocking lotions that protect against both UV-A and B. While skin cancers can have other causes (such as HPV, a virus, genetic predisposition, and chronic wounds that don't heal,) the most common cause remains the sun. Be sure to wear long-sleeve shirts, and a hat if you're going to be outdoors.

Those who spend a lot of time on, in or near the water, or engage in winter sports such as skiing, snowboarding and the like must be especially religious about protecting against the sun's punishing rays. Simply avoiding the sun is not a healthy solution, as the sun also helps our skin by controlling other sources of contact dermatitis, and providing a natural source the vitamin D that is essential to good health and calcium uptake.

Since the sunscreens block the UV that our skin uses to synthesize vitamin D, and taking oral Vitamin-D tablets may cause an overdose, and since Vitamin-D plays a part in killing off cancerous cells, avoiding the sun altogether is ill-advised.

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Gravity pulls at our skin constantly, drawing our features downward. It's said we're at our physical prime somewhere around 16-24 years of age. What the statement means is that, after that age, we've completed the growing years, and our body is no longer replacing itself constantly as it reforms into adulthood. We begin to see the signs of aging and gravity soon thereafter.

Crow's Feet may appear at the corners of our eyes and mouth and forehead. Our skin chemistry is different, not quite so fresh and moist and flushed as it used to be. The process is ongoing; As we become elderly, our skin becomes nearly paper-thin, Liver Spots appear, and the elasticity is long gone.

Some of these can be countered by caring for our skin. Even simple exercise helps our body maintain some youthfulness and gives that "glow." Aging may be inevitable, but how gracefully we do so depends, in large part, on how we take care of our bodies, and the skin is no exception.

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Our skin releases heat and toxins through sweat pores, but it is also permeable. While that can be helpful (DMSO, for example, is said to carry medications with it as it seeps in through the skin, smoking patches, which help addicts kick their habit by providing nicotine without the oral/manual habit, etc.,) it also means that the skin itself is constantly being barraged by chemicals in our environment that it protects us from. Harsh cleaning products are an obvious example. That bit of gasoline spilled on your hand when you filled up is another, and there are even airborne toxins which can be harmful, make our skin sick. Some soaps go too far and break down the oils which keep our skin soft and protected, stripping it of that protection. The most common shampoos are also surprisingly dangerous. Chemicals like Paraben, which the body mistakes as an Estrogen, can encourage breast cancer and cause hormonal imbalances. Sodium Laurel Sulfate, used to make the soap foam up thoroughly, causes dry skin, flaking, eczemas, and other irritations. The same chemical is used to degrease car engines. How smart can it be to use it on our skin? And yet such chemicals are approved, in the name of profit.

Another aspect to bear in mind is that we all have bacteria on our skin. Some of it is potentially harmful. Staph, Strep and Pityrosporum Oval (which causes acne) are just three of the many potentially harmful ones. There are also flora on our skin which are not harmful, and these counteract the others, serving as a barrier against infections. If we use an anti-bacterial soap, we're wiping out countless bacteria, both good and bad. A CDC study found that nurses who scrubbed often transmitted more harmful bacteria on their hands because of this. Gentle soap rids us of odors and helps to cleanse without damaging the balance between the two.

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Acne

Oily Skin

Dry Skin

Age Spots

Puffiness

Broken Capillaries

Eczema

Seborrhea

Psoriasis

Medically speaking, the term "Contact Dermatitis" simply means the condition of the skin being irritated, inflamed by something which it has come into contact with (touched.) This can be anything from the above-mentioned soaps and chemicals to cosmetics, jewelry, plants we're allergic to, or plants most of us are allergic to, such as poison ivy or poison oak. The condition is temporary, as the skin heals itself once the irritant is removed. Meanwhile, we can find relief by treating the symptoms with wet compresses and anti-itch creams that will soothe the skin and reduce swelling. Determining the cause of the affliction is most of that battle.