Healthy Lifestyle Alternatives

Posts Tagged ‘Sun damaged Skin’

Prior to this, are you aware that the sun is actually the main cause of 80% of the wrinkles that appear on your skin? If not, this is the best time to change perspectives. Since childhood, we have been taught that sun exposure is important in making our body stronger. It is true that UV rays can help in the production of Vitamin D.

However, the sun’s UV rays are stronger in this day and age. That being said, you are more susceptible to Photodamage. You only need 20 minutes of premeditated sun exposure for daily Vitamin D production. If you directly expose your skin to ultraviolet rays longer than that, you are thereby increasing your chances of acquiring more wrinkles and other skin problems.

The following are some of the common effects of excessive sun exposure:

1. Wrinkling of skin – UVA and UVB rays damage collagen fibers. As a result, collagen tends to age faster. Collagen is what creates structured appearance of the dermis. Without this, your skin will lose its original shape.

2. Age spots - The dermis tends to produce melanin as a way of counteracting UV damage. While youthful skin can still regulate melanin production, this becomes difficult to maintain as you get older. As a result, age spots and pigmentation problems appear.

3. Leathery texture of the dermis – You will eventually lose the core moisture-retaining properties of the dermis. This prompts the changes in dermis texture. Your skin will turn rough and leathery.

4. Yellow complexion – Darkening of skin tone will progress to worse conditions. Usually, people who are excessively exposed to the sun during their younger days might find themselves sporting yellow-colored skin when they get older.

5. Cancer – The sun also affects the cells of your integumentary system. Ultraviolet trays trigger the appearance of harmful free radicals. These are single electrons that follow a free pathway. They tend to snatch paired electrons, thereby damaging DNA and cells in the process.

You have to constantly fight the ever-present effects of radiation. It is not yet too late to reverse the damages you can already see on your skin.

The Doctors Tips

1: Birth control pills or hormone replacement can make you sun-sensitive, so never be stingy with the sunscreen.  Use ENHANCEMENTS Mineral Peptides SPF 20 for easy sunscreen re-application throughout the day.

2: Heat (even cooking over a hot stove), hormones, and sunlight can cause brown spots on your skin. Keep cool and reapply sunscreen every 2 hours when exposed to the sun. Remember, no sunscreen lasts all day.

3: The aging rays in the UVA spectrum are present from sun-up to sun-down, 365 days a year, rain or shine, and even penetrate window glass. Reapply REVERSE UVA/UVB SPF 15 Sunscreen or ENHANCEMENTS Mineral Peptides SPF 20 throughout the day, especially before driving home to prevent the left side of your face from becoming more sun damaged than the right.

4: Skin hit a plateau? UseENHANCEMENTS Micro-Dermabrasion Paste 1-2 times weekly on stubborn brown patches and to boost the REVERSE Regimen results.

5:  Always wear UVA/UVB sunscreen and do not sunbathe. A single day of unprotected sun exposure canvirtually undo months of treatment.

6:  Use the REVERSE Regimen until your skin is bright and even toned, usually 2-6 months, then transition to the ANTI-AGE Plus Regimen.

7:  Hydroquinone can stain fingernails so use ESSENTIALS Gauze to apply toner and wash hands after use.

8:  Use the REVERSE Regimen to treat the décolleté, neck, hands, and other parts of the body prone to showing signs of sun damage.

9:  TheREVERSERegimen is not recommended for pregnant or nursing women., no matter how cloudy it is.

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Healthy Lifestyle

Good skin care — including sun protection and gentle cleansing — can keep your skin healthy and glowing for years to come.

By Mayo Clinic staff

Don’t have time for intensive skin care? Pamper yourself with the basics. Good skin care and healthy lifestyle choices can help delay the natural aging process and prevent many skin problems. Get started with these five no-nonsense tips.

1. Protect yourself from the sun

The most important way to take care of your skin is to protect it from the sun. A lifetime of sun exposure can cause wrinkles, freckles, age spots and rough, dry skin. Sun exposure can also cause more-serious problems, such as skin cancer. For the most complete sun protection:

Avoid the sun between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. This is when the sun’s rays are the strongest.

Wear protective clothing. Cover your skin with tightly woven long-sleeved shirts, long pants and wide-brimmed hats. You might also opt for special sun-protective clothing, which is specifically designed to block ultraviolet rays while keeping you cool and comfortable.

Use sunscreen when you’re in the sun. Apply generous amounts of broad-spectrum sunscreen 30 minutes before going outdoors and reapply every two hours, after heavy sweating or after being in water.

2. Don’t smoke

Smoking makes your skin look older and contributes to wrinkles. Smoking narrows the tiny blood vessels in the outermost layers of skin, which decreases blood flow. This depletes the skin of oxygen and nutrients, such as vitamin A, that are important to skin health. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. In addition, the repetitive facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles.

If you smoke, the best way to protect your skin is to quit. Ask your doctor for tips or treatments to help you stop smoking.

3. Treat your skin gently

Healthy Lifestyle

Daily cleansing and shaving can take a toll on your skin, so keep it gentle:

Limit bath time. Hot water and long showers or baths remove oils from your skin. Limit your bath or shower time, and use warm — rather than hot — water.

Avoid strong soaps. Strong soaps can strip oil from your skin. Instead, choose mild cleansers.

Shave carefully. To protect and lubricate your skin, apply shaving cream, lotion or gel before shaving. For the closest shave, use a clean, sharp razor. Shave in the direction the hair grows, not against it.

Pat dry. After washing or bathing, gently pat or blot your skin dry with a towel so that some moisture remains on your skin.

Moisturize dry skin. Find a moisturizer that fits your skin type and makes your skin look and feel soft.

4. Eat a healthy diet

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A healthy diet can help you look and feel your best. Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins. The association between diet and acne isn’t clear — but research suggests that a diet rich in vitamin C and low in fats and carbohydrates may promote younger looking skin.

5. Manage stress

Uncontrolled stress can make your skin more sensitive and trigger acne breakouts and other skin problems. To encourage healthy skin — and a healthy state of mind — takes steps to manage your stress. Set reasonable limits, scale back your to-do list and make time to do the things you enjoy. The results may be more dramatic than you expect.

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Taking care of your skin is very important to a healthy lifestyle.

You might be surprised to find out the skin is the largest organ in your body. No matter how you think of it, your skin is very important. It covers and protects everything inside your body. Without skin, people’s muscles, bones, and organs would be hanging out all over the place. Skin holds everything together. It also:

• protects our bodies
• helps keep our bodies at just the right temperature
• allows us to have the sense of touch

Skincancer.org

Melanoma is the most dangerous form of skin cancer. In its advanced state, it can cause serious illness and even death. Fortunately, melanoma rarely strikes without warning. Learn how to identify melanoma, how it spreads and what treatments are available.

Healthy Lifestyle

Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer. However, if it is recognized and treated early, it is nearly 100 percent curable. But if it is not, the cancer can advance and spread to other parts of the body, where it becomes hard to treat and can be fatal. While it is not the most common of the skin cancers, it causes the most deaths. The American Cancer Society estimates that in 2008, there will be 8,420 fatalities in the U.S., 5,400 in men and 3,020 in women. The number of new cases of invasive melanoma is estimated at 62,480; of these, 34,950 will be in men and 27,350 in women.

Melanoma is a malignant tumor that originates in melanocytes, the cells which produce the pigment melanin that colors our skin, hair, and eyes. The majority of melanomas are black or brown. However, some melanomas are skin-colored, pink, red, purple, blue or white.

Am I at Risk?

Everyone is at some risk for melanoma, but increased risk depends on several factors: sun exposure, number of moles on the skin, skin type and family history (genetics).

We are all at risk for melanoma. However, some people are more at risk than others. Heredity plays a major role. If your mother, father, siblings, or children (first-degree relatives) have had a melanoma, you are part of a melanoma-prone family. Each person with a first-degree relative diagnosed with melanoma has a 50 percent greater chance of developing the disease than members of the general public who do not have a family history of the disease. If the cancer occurred in a grandmother, grandfather, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew (second-degree relatives), there is still an increase in risk compared to the general population, though it is not as great.

Warning Signs: The ABCDEs of Melanoma

Moles, brown spots and growths on the skin are usually harmless — but not always. Anyone who has more than 100 moles is at greater risk for melanoma. The first signs can appear in one or more atypical moles. That’s why it’s so important to get to know your skin very well and to recognize any changes in the moles on your body. Look for the ABCDEs of melanoma, and if you see one or more, make an appointment with a physician immediately.

To see pictures of moles to compare visit skincancer.org

Melanoma Prevention

The main cause of melanoma is too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays.

The best way to prevent melanoma is to reduce the amount of time you spend in the sun—especially at certain times of the day—and to make sure that you are well protected when you are in the sun. Use sunscreen whenever in the sun and reduce your tanning time. Use sunless tanning lotions to get the tan you want.

Healthy Lifestyle

You can also do a skin self-exam every 6 to 8 weeks. This helps ensure that you find suspicious moles early and have them checked promptly by your doctor.

Childhood is an especially important time for sun protection.

Protecting the skin during the first 18 years of life can reduce the risk of some types of skin cancer by up to 78%. Learn more about protecting children from the sun.

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