Acne & Wrinkles at My Age?
Puberty brought bouts of acne. In your 20s, finding Mr. or Mrs. Right was of chief
consequence. When the 30s hit, you worked to raise little Johnnie or Suzie to be a model kid.
Now that your hitting the fabulous 40s, you should be coasting through life, right. Well, why
are you suddenly dealing with the cosmetic double whammy of acne and wrinkles? Even your
insurance company figures that you should have gotten rid of acne by the age of 25.
The
number people over 30 needing acne treatments has climbed to the extent that a report
published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology recommends raising the age for
insurance coverage of the acne drug tretinoin to at least 40. The authors of the report, Drs.
Steven Feldman and Alan Fleischer, add that many insurance companies refuse to pay for
tretinoin prescriptions for patients older than 25.
Cosmetic Catch 22 Even if your
insurance company leaves you to fend for yourself, you still have options for freeing yourself
from acne and wrinkles. At first, coping with acne and wrinkles may seem like a cosmetic catch
22. Do you dry your skin with acne cleansers containing benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid,
and worsen your wrinkles? Or, do you smear on the moisturizer to smooth the wrinkles, but cope
with the zits brought on by the extra oil or sensitivity to a new product?
There's a
smarter way to handle acne and wrinkles.
1. Interpret the acne
2. Allow your
skin to improve as you use self-awareness to remove zits.
Interpret the acne
While
dealing with acne and wrinkles, target the acne first because acne is an autoimmune disease.
Having an autoimmune disease means that your thoughts, emotions, and/or environment are
affecting you in an adverse way and require immediate attention. Thus, acne may reveal that
you need to relax more, change your eating habits, reframe your interpersonal dialogue, stop
dating that jerk from the office and/or make another beneficial alteration to your
lifestyle.
Zits arrive on your face to report on some unpleasant activities within your
body and life. Once you get feedback from these zits, you can take action to send the zits
away while augmenting your health in the process.
Acne is usually an indication various
hidden or overlooked health problems. Here's a sample of the questions you should ask yourself
when dealing with acne so that you can unravel the mystery behind your zits. Are you:
Regular?
About 70% of your immune system is located in your intestines. If this area is
blocked with waste, your immuno-defenses are down. So, instead of waste leaving your body via
the rectum, it chooses to leave through the skin. Waste leaving the skin can cause an
infection that presents itself as acne.
Tense?
Tension likewise reduces the vigor
of the immune system. Take a few deep breaths throughout the day to calm your body. Take a
long walk in the fresh air to wind down.
Eating nutritionally?
Cases of acne have
been improved with consuming foods containing zinc, essential fatty acids, vitamin A and a
host of other nutrients. All of these vital nutrients are available in leafy green vegetables,
fruits and olive oil.
Worried about unresolved issues?
Not resolving personal
issues creates conflict and tension in the body. Again, these issues most be addressed to
avoid undue stress within the body.
Exercising daily?
Exercise reduces stress and
gives you an opportunity to subconsciously contemplate challenges that you may be facing.
Physical activity also keeps your muscles and intestines toned, which keeps encourages
regularity.
Changing pillowcase frequently?
Using a dirty pillowcase aggravates an
acne condition. Your face naturally secretes oils during the night. These oils are sticky. So
if you pillowcase if dirty, you are allowing your face to collect extra waste during the
night, which could further clog your pores.
Moving or changing your job/career?
New demands or feelings of lose can sometimes accompany change. Transfer these emotions into
something constructive by writing in a journal or envisioning how these changes are going to
benefit you. Find comfort in these changes and opportunities for new beginnings.
Experiencing excessive facial hair growth and erratic periods?
Conditions such as acne,
excessive facial hair, and erratic periods could indicate an androgen disorder or other
underlying hormonal imbalances. Your doctor can provide you with a series of endocrine tests
to ascertain your hormone levels and what corrective actions you should take. Ricardo Azziz,
M.D, who serves as Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Director of the Center for
Androgen-Related Disorders at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, estimates that 80 percent of women
with excessive androgen levels suffer from an endocrine disorder called polycystic ovary
syndrome (PCOS). Dr. Azziz adds that women with PCOS often have insulin resistance and are at
increased risk for developing Type II diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
Once the
acne is under control you can move on to the wrinkles. Another reason for treating the zits
first is because if you alter your lifestyle in such as way as to free yourself from acne, and
you doing this in a healthy and patient fashion, you will actually lessen the number of
wrinkles you have.
Health is wholeness and beauty is a reflection of robust health.
You'll never buy robust health in a jar. It is a mind, body, spirit and environmental support
system that garners full-bodied health. Lets look at want you actually need from a
"beauty cream".
Face Cream Education There are five basic ingredients in any
given anti-aging or anti-wrinkling cream.
1. The oil or moisturizer
2. The
preservatives to keep the cream from spoiling.
3. A scent or flavor
4. A
color
5. The active ingredient.
Only one of these components is essential, the
oil. The preservative is only needed to keep the cream useful. Your face does not need
preservation because the skin is alive. Since some people have allergies to scents and colors
in cosmetics, the body says that these two ingredients are not necessary. The active
ingredient is usually the latest cosmetic drug or multivitamin that is supposed to lift or
dramatically reverse your age by 5-20 years.
Researchers S. Jay Olshansky, Leonard
Hayflick and Bruce A. Carnes bluntly comment on the antics of cosmetic companies in their
report No Truth to the Fountain of Youth, published in the June 2002 edition of Scientific
American. The authors warn everyone aiming to reverse the signs of times on their face that,
"? anyone purporting to offer an anti-aging product today is either mistaken or
lying".
I bet you are thinking, "Won't that oil make acne worse?" The
answer is not if you are using the right oil. Some essential oils such as bergamont, lavender,
lemon, neroli, sandalwood, tea tree and ylang ylang have cleansing and antibacterial
properties which help combat acne infections. Other essential oil like geranium, clary sage
and orange regulate the production of oil on the face. When mixed with a carrier oil such as
jojoba or camellia, these essential oils are ideal moisturizers.
Nothing that you put on
your face will truly change your appearance. Creams are useful, but they are only one
instrument in an orchestra of anti-aging concerts. Health starts on the inside. If you want to
improve your beauty start with how you treat yourself and feed yourself. I mean not only what
foods you eat but what thoughts you eat.
You may eat thoughts of the sort, "I
can't?", "I had a stressful day", "I'm tired of?", "I can't
wait until?", "I'm getting old", "My body isn't as healthy as it used to
be". The menu is endless. If you want to look young and healthy, you have to think young
and healthy thoughts. Here's steps to jumpstart your quest:
Start by changing your
thinking. Develop your own youth model, i.e. with steps you'll take to maintain your vitality
and stick to it.
Enjoy nutritious foods. A study in the Journal of American College of
Nutrition found that eating a variety of fruits and vegetables and using olive oil every day
could help keep wrinkles away. The researchers found that people who ate a diet rich in green
leafy vegetables, beans, olive oil, nuts and multigrain breads, while avoiding butter, red
meat and sugary goodies, were less predisposed to wrinkling. Researchers believe that
antioxidant vitamins, such as A, C and E, which are found in fruits and vegetables, may help
protect the skin from environmental damage.
Use a gentle cleanser each day.
Steam
your face everyday for 5-15 minutes, especially if your have acne. The steam removes waxy
build-up on the skin while it stimulates circulation. This combo of benefits cleans to pores
to reduce the possibility of acne while firming up the skin and facial muscles.
Exfoliate your skin daily.
Moisturize your face in the morning and evening with natural
oils. In addition to the acne fighting oils listed above, you can mix essential oils such as
frankinsense, myrrh, neroli and rose to help encourage the growth of new skin cells. You can
create a moisturizer by diluting 1-3 of your favorite essential oils in a carrier oil such as
jojoba or camellia oil in a ration of 1 part essential oil to 3 parts carrier oil.
Massage your face daily when you apply your facial oil.
Lie down on an incline bench for
5-20 minutes each day to let the blood flow to your head.
Wear a sunhat in the sun.
Give yourself a light skin peel once a month.
Finally, forty can still be fabulous
and your beauty-plan a lot less enigmatic. Just remember the basics, interpret the messages of
your zits, and educate yourself about wrinkle creams- you don't need them.
