What Is Your Skin Trying To Tell You?

 

1. You need to drink more water and use a moisturizer 

Do you forget to drink water regularly? Not having enough water makes your skin lack moisture and become dry skin. Dry skin can also be caused by several things including, sunburn, medications, low humidity, and vitamin deficiency.

If you want to keep your skin hydrated and look youthful, you need to do the following:

• Drinking enough water throughout the day.
• Apply moisturizer creams, lotion, and ointment.
• Avoid direct exposure to the sun for long periods.
• Massages, hydration, and cleansing therapy stimulate skin cells.

 

2. You need to sleep more

Did your skin look pale and your eyes puffy when you didn’t sleep enough? Lack of sleep tends to increase the retention of blood and fluid around the eyes. Also, lack of sleep causes a break in the skin barrier function and mucous membrane causing outbreaks of acne, eczema, and skin allergies.

Your lack of sleep can be caused by artificial light, shift work, sleep disturbances, and social life. To help you get through a lack of sleep, here are some tips:

• Give yourself time to relax:  by creating a healthy atmosphere, and practicing yoga, meditation, and mindfulness.
• Turn off all electronic devices: electronic devices emit blue lines, which have been found to suppress melatonin -often referred to as the sleep hormone is a central part of the body’s sleep-wake cycles.
• Avoid caffeine late in the day: caffeine stimulates alertness.
• Reduce noise: blocking all noise could also help you fall asleep faster and promote uninterrupted sleep
• Stick to a routine: try to sleep at the same time each day and listen to soft music. 

 

3. Stress is not good for you

Does your acne break out when you are stressed out? This is because stress causes your body to make hormones like cortisol, which tells glands in your skin to produce more oil. Oily skin is more prone to acne.

Besides, stress causes a chemical response in your body that makes the skin more sensitive and reactive. It can make it harder for the skin’s problems to heal.

To overcome stress, you need to:

• Take time to yourself, do something that you enjoy. 
• Do regular exercise
• Practice stress management techniques such as yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation.
• Get enough sleep
• Talk to someone. Seek support from a family member, friend, or professional therapist.

 

4. Your hormones are out of the track

Do you know that there is a strong relationship between hormonal changes and skin? Hormonal changes can cause acne on your cheeks and jawline. Most acne is caused by excess oil production, which clogs the pores in your skin and your hormones can have a huge effect on how much oil you produce. Hormonal acne can be driven by hormonal changes from:

• Menstruation
• Polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS
• Menopause
• Increased androgen levels

To control hormonal changes, you need to consult your gynecologist, to know the reason behind these changes.

5. You need to check your blood cholesterol

Do you have small, yellow deposits on your eyelids? If yes, then you probably have cholesterol skin (deposits); these deposits are soft, flat, and yellowish lumps that tend to appear on the upper and lower eyelids, near the inner corner of the eye, and often develop symmetrically around both eyes.

Skin cholesterol might be a marker of underlying vascular atherosclerosis, therefore the best thing to do is to call your doctor to check your cholesterol level.

 

 

6. Your thyroid is up to no good

How could the thyroid gland affect your skin?

Thyroid hormone has a direct effect on skin tissue:

• Epidermal changes: The thyroid hormone is an important regulator of epidermal homeostasis. The skin in hypothyroidism is rough and covered with fine scales, notably on the extensor extremities.
• Dermal changes: In hypothyroidism, the skin tends to be pale because of the dermal water content. In addition, increased dermal carotene may appear as a prominent yellow hue on the palms, soles, and nasolabial folds.

Thyroid diseases affect other parts than the skin, they affect body metabolism and energy, endocrine, respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive, and nervous systems, therefore if you have any symptoms related to the above body systems, you need to have an appointment with an endocrinologist.

 

Skin is the largest part of your body. It acts as a waterproof, insulating shield, guarding the body against extremes of temperature, damaging sunlight, and harmful chemicals, therefore we have to take care of our first-line defense.

 

_References:

_{https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/dehydrated-vs-dry-skin, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3738045/, https://shensclinic.com/why-does-lack-of-sleep-cause-bags-under-eyes/, https://www.webmd.com/beauty/the-effects-of-stress-on-your-skin, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/21792-hormonal-acne, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23385-xanthelasma, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3219173/}