Pampering Your Skin

The quest to stay young looking has become a virtual passion especially as baby boomers move through middle age. You can see it in commercials, particularly for women, who maintain that the effects of age can be defeated so the skin can remain smooth, soft and wrinkle free. While it’s easy to discount this quest for great looking skin as vanity, there is truth to the idea that taking good care of our skin is a worthwhile ambition for baby boomers as they approach their retirement years.

Often we don’t think a lot about our skin. It seems so self sufficient and self healing that we take for granted that it will just get better when it suffers mild abrasions or cuts or other ailments. Few of us take the time to appreciate the fact that the skin is one of vital organs (the largest one) and that we should take care of it with as much concern as we do for our heart and lungs.

Maintaining robust health is a goal for baby boomers who have always been driven to fight the effects of aging and stay youthful. So just as we all have worked together to become aware of the risks for heart disease, cancer and other endemic problems as we age, we should also become well informed on lifestyle choices that can affect the ability of our skin to stay healthy and able to take good care of us well into our golden years.

There is no other body organ that is so exposed to damage and so rugged in resisting the wear and tear of the world than the skin. But the elements and even things we do can cause wear and tear on the skin and cause it to become dry, wrinkled and eventually more susceptible to disease. Some of the things we can do from a lifestyle point of view to give our skin a head start on staying healthy throughout our lives are…

· Protect the skin from the extremes of temperature such as harsh wind and cold. These elements will dry the sin and lead to preliminary aging if we don’t take care earlier in life.

· Similarly being sensible about exposing our skins to the sun just makes sense. The quest for a good tan, while attractive in the short term, is not good skin care long term.

· It doesn’t pay to wash the skin in harsh soaps or to scrub it too harshly. While it is good to maintain a clean lifestyle and clean the skin regularly, we have to remember that harsh soaps and being too aggressive with the skin can wear it down and remove natural lubrication and cleansing agents that the skin generates to take care of itself.

· Some habits such as smoking which we already identified for other health risks, are also hard on the skin. All you have to do is to look at the face of a lifelong smoker to see the deep lines and the deterioration of the skin caused by that habit to make you want to throw your smokes out the window.

Good skin care like tooth care and care of other part so your body require regular attention, good life style habits and common sense. Just as over attention to brushing the teeth can be as harmful as good, excessive washing and obsession about the skin is just as damaging as neglecting it.

There are proactive things we can do from a lifestyle point of view to give the skin the care it needs to do it’s job of keeping us healthy. Routine use of coconut oil each night helps the skin remain smooth and healthy and is a pleasant nightly ritual for you. Good diet with an emphasis on Vitamin A and including generous portions of fruit, vegetables and carrot juice can keep your skin healthy and robust well into those sunset years. And as baby boomers move into that stage of their lives, they will benefit from a lifestyle of good skin care that started early and continued throughout life.