#3 – Sweat Your Skin to Better Health
You know how good you feel after a long, hard workout. You feel energized, accomplished, and feeling like you can take on the day (after a shower, of course)! Though you may be sweaty, smelly and exhausted, you’re hard work shows on your skin- with a flushed, tight, and tone looking face and body. Exercise offers a number of benefits for your body, including your skin, and should be considered an important part of any skincare regimen. But really, can you sweat your skin to better health?
When you do vigorous exercise, like running, swimming or cycling, most of us get pink (or tomato red like me!) in the face. This is a combination of blood circulation flushing the face and muscles expanding. I, frequently, also feel an itchiness sensation in my legs, face and other areas that are prone to poor circulation.
Blood circulation carries oxygen to the skin, increases neuronal stimulation and jump starts cellular change that we all look for. Sweat glands increase their functions and creates a flushing of toxin build up, helping decrease the chance of certain types of skin cancer. Exercise also gets the lymphatic system working harder, aiding in the reduction of bloating and puffiness. Bye Bye puffy eyes! The exercise firms and tones the skin, giving a more youthful and supple appearance. It also gives your skin a natural glow that outcompetes any bronzer on the market!
Now sweat to the skin is a love/hate relationship for some. It does wonders to your collage building process, but for younger patients (or even oily adults), sweat can wreak havoc on your acne issue and poor size. The toxins sweat releases can increase bacterial or fungal infections on the skin if not removed at the earliest opportunity. I always recommend my “gym rats” to always keep cleansing cloths in their workout bag to use as soon as their done with their workout. This is an easy way to remove the sweat before becoming an acne issue and aiding to elongated pores on the skin. My most common areas of sweat congestion that I treat for patients are along the hairline, the cleft of the chin and nose, and in between the breasts (all areas where sweat can congregate, sit and fester). Back acne and chest acne are also products of sweat sitting on the skin for an extended period of time. Also, many of us, like me, like to workout in the elements of sun, UV damage and free radicals. You are trying to be good to your body, but without protection, you’re doing more harm than good. A physical blocker, like SkinCeuticals physical 50 SPF, is a great way to get sun protection while working out and keeping your skin from harboring more damage. It is not hard to spot a runner who doesn’t use sunscreen.
Vigorous exercise creates these benefits, but other non-adrenaline workouts can achieve similar effects. Downward dog yoga, Pilates, and simple walking can get your blood circulating in similar fashion without the hard impact of running. All of these aid in not only your skin and body health, but your mental health will benefit as well. Different chemicals in the body, like endorphins, act as “uppers” to get you looking good and feeling happy!
So, enjoy the turkey, save room for dessert, and enjoy your holiday eggnog. The New Year’s resolutions (and diets) will soon be upon us and we will all be enjoying the added benefits of exercise and sweat to the skin – for a few weeks at least.
Till next time Melbourne!
Love the skin you’re in!
-A
