Have you ever suffered a skin rash or breakout of pimples when visiting a large city? And as a result of this, did you have to slap on moisturizer? If you’ve had this experience, it means you know just how the environment can affect your skin. This is environmental skin aging-a process according to which ultraviolet light, the sun, and other free radical generating environmental exposures can alter your skin.
The sun’s role in skin damage: Each day that you expose yourself to the sun, it enters your skin and causes alarming and wide-ranging changes. UVA, the longer wavelength, low energy light, gets into the skin.
Being the kind that doesn’t burn your skin, you would never know when it enters your skin where your collagen and elastin are. UVA rays destroy the collagen and the elasticity of your skin and wreak havoc on the pigmentation of your skin, resulting in freckles, sagging skin, lines, and diffuse wrinkling.
How smoking damages your skin: Quit smoking today and your skin will begin to glow tomorrow. It encourages the production of free radicals, strips antioxidants from your skin and intensifies the effects of aging. Smoking also narrows your blood vessels, reduces blood flow to the skin and lowers the levels of antioxidant vitamins like vitamin A, thereby further damaging the elastin or elastic fibers in your skin that provide a healthy tone. You also end up with more wrinkles at a younger age.
Pollution as an agent of skin damage: Pollution is as responsible for premature skin damage as the sun is. By increasing free radical production and increasing the effects of UV radiation on our skin, pollution damages our skin. Apart from pollution, harsh weather depletes the skin of essential moisture, causing it to have a rough texture and fine, dry lines. Very high pollution levels increase ultraviolet rays and in turn cause skin cancer in young people.
To fight the effects of pollution, use a safe soap morning and evening to remove dirt and irritants from the surface of the skin and to protect it with a moisturizer.
Stress: You can be stressed out due to a variety of reasons-your job, health or your son going off to college. No matter what the reason for stress, it does manifest itself in your skin and face. For example, psoriasis is due to an emotional upset and rosacea is due to an emotional problem. But if you modify your reactions to these stresses and learn relaxation techniques, biofeedback and breathing training, you can face these stressful situations with ease.
Skin Care Tips: To prevent premature aging of your skin and any other kinds of environmental damage, do the following:
- Use sun screen with a minimum SPF of 15 along with protective clothing such as full-brimmed hats, long sleeved blouses and shirts, sunglasses and slacks.
- Wearing sunglasses will keep you from aging early and reduce crows’ feet by reducing the squinting due to sun exposure.
- Since your face is constantly exposed to the elements why dry out your skin, you need to moisturize your skin. For this, use skin care products with high amounts of Vitamin E, shea butter, squalene and aloe.
By following these easy steps, you can improve your skin and keep it from environmental damage.
