AGING SKIN – DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

Aging skin is something everyone will experience, and ironically, it starts when you’re an infant. Of course, we don’t think of a baby’s skin as aging, quite the opposite. Still, one’s skin goes through a series of events throughout their entire life, beginning at birth.

This post will examine what causes dermal damage, wrinkling, and sagging skin and will tell you what you can do about it.

I am not a skin specialist and do not give medical advice. I will tell you what I do, what I use, and why. I’ll also tell you some things that you can do right now. As OMYs, you know that keeping what you’ve got in the healthy zone allows you to take advantage of technological advancements. This applies to your skin and overall health (which, by the way, has a lot to do with skin aging).

Aging Skin Happens:

Yes, it happens simply by sticking around, but my post today talks about some things that speed up skin aging and some things that slow it down. Yes, OMY, you have options.

Speeding up Skin Aging:

Most of what I will talk about here is a reflection of lifestyles. This is good because it means you have a measure of control over the pace of your skin’s aging. Most of my followers are over 40, with no upper limit. So let’s assume we can disregard the younger crowd and just talk about the point where skin aging becomes readily observable.

Instinctually, we can look at another person and do a pretty good job of guessing their age – much (but not all) of this is because of their skin condition. That being said, most people who ask me my age are surprised and guess I am twenty years younger than my actual age.

Does this ever happen to you? It can. I’m not special, not a genetic freak with super genes, I’m an ordinary person, and there’s no reason you can’t do what I do to gain the look of vibrant, healthy skin.

So let’s start going through our list of skin threats.

Smoking:

I wish I didn’t have to say this about cigarettes and other forms of tobacco, but dammit! just stop using them. Here’s an article from the Mayo Clinic about the effects of smoking on one’s skin – it’s not pretty, and it’s not sexy – it is, however, eye-opening.

Unfortunately, the ground for smoking-damaged skin is often laid in our early years, and quite a bit of damage has been done to our younger skin without notice. I am glad that smoking is on its way out, which also applies to other forms of tobacco use. It’s simply destructive – there is no other way to describe it.

Air Pollution:

“Air pollution is considered a harmful environmental risk to human skin and is known to promote aging and inflammation of this tissue, leading to the onset of skin disorders and to the appearance of wrinkles and pigmentation issues.”

(Martic, I., Jansen-Dürr, P., & Cavinato, M. (2022). Effects of Air Pollution on Cellular Senescence and Skin Aging. Cells, 11(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11142220)

Not much to say here; facts are facts – air pollution is all around us, and it is a complicated subject. There are, however, things you can do to minimize its effects and protect yourself.

Excessive Sun Exposure:

I love the sunshine. It feels good on my skin. Too much of a good thing, however, can be dangerous. Too much sun is inflammatory (sunburn), and breaks down the structure of your skin. Some of this can be repaired, but bad sunburns can permanently damage it.

This link is to a very good article about the effects of photoaging (sun damage). Its short and long-term effects

Dried-out Skin:

As we age, one of the things that naturally happens to our skin is a loss of moisture. This is particularly true if one lives in an arid climate. This is easy to correct, but skin dryness has no immediate effects, and can just linger on, causing wrinkling and promoting skin aging.

I’m not going into its any deeper because it just makes intuitive sense – desire out skin is not good and easily corrected, as we’ll see later.

Excessive Alcohol and Lousy Diet:

These two tend to go together. Think Fatburger and beer. This category merits an entire book, but in a short form; it’s just a lifestyle/diet change.

Note that I said excessive alcohol. Reasonable drinking is probably OK, and according to some sources, might even be healthy. But if you’re eating junk food and guzzling beer, you’re on the wrong track and harming your skin and your overall health. In fact, overall health is reflected in your skin.

Inflammatory Agents:

There are many things that can cause skin aging from inflammation. In fact, there’s a made-up word for this called Inflammaging. This condition is caused by excessive sun, heat, chemical exposure, freezing, and skin diseases (not a complete list).

Here is an excellent article on inflammaging from Glamour’s online magazine. Although this is not a scholarly article, it’s a very well-done discussion of the subject.

Lack of Exercise:

Exercise means increased blood flow and corresponding nourishment to your skin. This is not complicated to understand, but there’s more, including improving your overall health. A healthy body and aging skin are opposites.

Increasing your overall health with exercise (and a supportive diet) will automatically postpone premature skin aging. Later, I will offer you a tip on the exercise issue.

Generally Poor Health:

What is there to say here? As I just pointed out, one’s overall health status is reflected in their skin, and poor health leads to premature skin aging. I will address this in the final part of this post.

So What Can We Do to Slow Down Skin Aging:

As I said earlier, speeding up and slowing down skin aging is mostly a matter of lifestyle, and to that, we can add some helpers. During our discussion, I will talk about things I do and things I would recommend to a friend or a loved one.

On Smoking:

Just stop. Stop all tobacco use. If you’re having trouble with this, see your doctor and see what your options are. Of course, the first step is to make yourself want to stop smoking more than you want to keep doing it. If you don’t do this you probably won’t make it.

Try an affirmation. Every time you light up, repeat out loud a verbal affirmation like: “This is so stupid! Why am I killing myself?” or, “Why do I think so little of myself that I’m killing myself for a cigarette?” Think of something yourself and make it look like you’re an idiot for smoking – tell yourself this every time you smoke. This approach works for many smokers to get them to the first step – wanting to quit.

Air Pollution:

Avoid it if you can. Stay inside and avoid areas where pollution is higher. Use a reporting system like this one. Avoid areas where pollution is high, and air quality is low. Check the air quality before you leave home or go anywhere it only takes a minute.

Get an in-home air purifier to create clean air for you and your family. Here’s the one I use – it’s top quality and does an excellent job. It’s easily movable and can go anywhere in your home or apartment.

Excessive Sun Exposure:

Stay out of the sun after 10:00 AM and before 3:00 PM. Men outside wear long sleeve shirts and trousers. Women wear long sleeve tops and long pants. Use sunscreen on exposed areas like the face and hands. Here’s what I use. Be careful to re-apply as necessary. Your sunscreen should be a moisturizer as well as a sunscreen. In hot, dry air, you will need to moisturize your skin while you protect it from the sun.

Dried-Out Skin:

Dried-out skin is rapidly aging skin. This is common in hot and freezing climates and also in arid climates. This is easy to resolve by using a high-quality moisturizer with ceramides. here’s what I use. I also use a night cream on my face to hold moisture in overnight it’s the same brand as my moisturizer to provide compatibility.

A word about ceramides. This ingredient, along with hyaluronic acid, creates a moisture barrier on the surface of your skin to seal moisture in your skin and help slow skin aging. Ceramides are a key ingredient. You can also get it in a capsule to work inside your body, giving you double protection.

Excessive Alcohol and Lousy Diet:

What is there to say here? Keep alcohol to a moderate level or below. One drink a day for women, and two per day for men. Not complicated. If you are a heavy drinker and can’t stop, seek help.

Lousy diet, more complicated. Please, please stop living on fast food and other out-of-the-box junk. Eat real food as your taste prefers. I do not advocate any particular diet, and there are many to choose from. Many experts favor the Meditrainian diet, however, and my own diet is similar. You can look these diets up on Google – they’re ubiquitous.

Inflammatory Agents:

This a difficult and complex category. There are many places to encounter inflammation precursors. At home, at work, and just out and about. In my opinion, the first step in looking at inflammation as an issue is to ask your personal healthcare provider to look into your general inflammation level.

This can start as a simple blood test, possibly leading to a more complex investigation. If your doctor thinks your inflammation level is too high, there are treatments and things you can do to reduce your levels.

Controlling inflammation can be difficult and involve many factors, but the struggle is worth it. Many diseases and negative conditions center around inflammation – reducing it is very much in your favor.

Please look into this, inflammation can be sneaky, and you might not even know you have the problem. Work with your doctor on this.

Lack of Exercise:

This is one of those areas where everyone has an opinion or a suggestion. Usually, it’s to start walking. OK, this is a good idea, but you have to do it right, and most people don’t. Personally, I’m not a big fan of walking as the only form of exercise.

Recently, resistance exercises and strength training have shown systemwide health benefits, not just muscle strength. I think a walking program and a strength training program combined is the best solution for overall fitness.

As silly as it sounds, this area of fitness is very controversial on the academic side of fitness, and there are thousands of technical articles on this very subject. I googled it and got 52 thousand articles.

So from an exercise point of view, I’m going to tell you my preference. First, read the above link and understand what real exercise is. Second, I recommend reading Doug McGuff’s book Body By Science. This is the simplest, most compact, time-saving plan I am aware of that gives you rapid, and real strength increases. I use MgGuff’s methods myself, and I know they work.

Note: The first part of this book is just what it says, lots of science. Keep reading it, though, to get to the “meat.” McGuff also has a special simplified routine for seniors.

Generally Poor Health:

Here’s another vast issue having many causes and results. As a potential solution, I’m going to suggest that you look deeply into cementing a relationship with a personal healthcare provider. Approach them, asking for help with your OMY program. This program creates a long-term plan to get and stay healthier.

I suggest reading my stories about Al and Max, who were both in poor health and turned to OMYism for an answer. I would also suggest reading my article about meeting with your healthcare provider.

Here are the links:

MAX’S HEALTH WARRANTY EXPIRES

OMYIZED Al GETS A SECOND CHANCE

SETTING UP YOUR PERSONAL OMYZONE

Summing Up:

Aging skin is the basic subject of this article. Although we might not think of it in this way, our skin is our biggest organ, and it covers our entire body. It contains all of our internal organs. Metaphorically, our skin reflects the state of what’s inside of us, and provides a “picture” of our overall health.

Rapidly, aging skin is a warning sign that an internal clean-up is due. Mostly this is a lifestyle challenge, as many health-related issues are.

There are many skin diseases, but this article is not about diseases. Instead, I have written about practical things you can do today (or quite soon), to slow down the aging of your skin.

The skin-beauty industry is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. And yes, you can spend tons of money on various treatments. The suggestions I have given you in this article, however, cost little or nothing in comparison and, as a bonus, will make you feel a whole lot better.

OMY1

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