Moisturizing Your Skin

One of the things that happens to us as we age is our skin tends to dry out. If we are in arid or very dry climates, it tends to be worse. My suggestion is that you use a good moisturizer that contains humectants and either stearyl or cetearyl alcohol to give your skin the most moisture you can.

The best time to apply the lotion is right after you shower. Don't completely dry the skin, leave it a little bit damp. Then as you apply the lotion you are give the skin a little extra moisture. This will help keep the cells healthy and give your skin a soft appearance.

In the aging process, the keratin level in the skin drys out. As this happens, you will see the eruption of the keratin. It will appear as a light brownish spot that is raised and has kind of a firm or hard crust. There are usually many of these on the body. They should be looked at by a health care professional to be sure they are not cancerous lesions. Most likely they are what we call keratoses and it's just that keratin level eruption on the skin surface. They usually don't go away once you have them, but you can help prevent them with the application of lotion at least 2-3 times a day to keep the skin well moisturized.

Moisturizers and Alcohol

I mentioned the other day about reading the labels. You may know to look for alcohol as an ingredient in hand and body lotions and moisturizers. You should also know that alcohols have different molecular weights. Now I know that's probably of no interest, but what should be of interest is that alcohols like Cetearyl Alcohol actually act similar to humectants in that they hold water in the tissue because of their molecular weight.

If a label just says alcohol or ethyl alcohol then the alcohol is a drying agent because it evaporates quickly and when it does, it takes water away from the tissue.

So be sure to read the label to see if there is a specific type of alcohol listed in whatever moisturizer you plan to use.

Moisturizing Your Skin

If you've been out in the sun or you live in a dry climate, you will want to be moisturizing your skin with good moisturizing lotions. Be sure to read the labels. The first thing to look for with any lotion is whether it has humectants in it. Humectants are molecules that have an affinity for water. They actually will pull water from the air into the molecule. As you apply this to your skin, it pulls water into your skin which is what the skin needs. It is a misconception that oils moisturize the skin. Oils block pores and don't allow the skin to breathe. If you think about it, tanners use oils to dry out hides of animals. Not all oils are bad and I will address that later.

Humectants that you can look for on the label are glycerine, propylene glycol, glyceryl triacetate, sorbitol, xylitol, maltitol, polydextrose, quillaia, lactic acid, urea, sodium PCA, and hyaluronic acid.

Humectants not only moisturize the skin but they also work to maintain the nature moisture found in the skin. So look for them in your lotions.

Sun at High Altitude

I just returned from the Seminar of the Century in Snowmass, Colorado. It's about 9,000 feet above sea level there and I spent 3 days on the mountain sitting in the hot blazing sun. I started on the first day to apply sunscreen every 2 hours. While I did not burn, I did discover a few spots I had not covered very well. So on the second day I started applying the sunscreen every hour. On the third day there was a hazy overcast - not the clear intense sun of the previous 2 days, but probably more serious situation for burning. I continued to apply sunscreen every hour and excaped without being burned and damaging my skin. I was also wearing a hat and realized on the second day that I needed to apply extra sunscreen to the lower half of my face. The reason was the angle that we were sitting and the direction, early in the day the sun was still hitting the lower part of my face. While I did not burn, there is one more bit of advice I would give you. Be sure to keep the skin moisturized well after such types of exposure. I may not have burned, but I did dehydrate the skin and it requires moisture. When you moisturize, use something that is water soluble not oils. I will speak more about that tomorrow.

Tanning Beds

While many of you may have been told that tanning beds were safe, they are not as safe as you may think. The problem with getting sunburned is that we damage our skin with free radicals from the sun. The damage that occurs actually happens within the cell at the DNA level. The DNA chain is damaged when hit by the free radical. Your immune system has to fix that damage. Most of time the immune system is able to fix it. However, when it is unable to fix it you have damaged cells which may mutate and end up being cancer cells. It makes no difference whether those free radicals are generated by the sun or by a tanning bed, the effect is the same.

My best advice is to not use tanning beds. Sunscreen is your best bet to protect yourself from free radical damage.

Hot Sun and those over 65

Those of you who are over 65 are probably pretty good about using sunscreen or keeping yourselves protected with hats and clothing. The issue for you is not that you don't use sunscreen, but it is one of being aware of how sunscreen my interact with medications you are taking or applying to your skin. You should also be aware that your skin may have increased sensitivity to the sun because of the medications that you are taking.

Hot Sun and Teens

Sunscreen for teens is very important. Their skin may be more sensitive to the sun because of acne medications. When prescription acne medications are used the skin becomes more sensitive and may burn more easily. But it isn't just prescription medications that could lead to a problem. There are other skin care products over the counter which make the skin more sensitive to the sun. The best prevention is to use sunscreen every 2-3 hours.