skin damage Archives - Reskin Clinic

What Is Blue Light and How Can It Affect Your Skin?

Blue light is part of the visible light spectrum, meaning you can see it. It has a short wavelength, which means it has lots of energy and can create oxidative stress.

IN THIS HIGH-TECH WORLD WE NOW LIVE IN, THE SUBJECT OF BLUE LIGHT IS TALKED ABOUT MORE AND MORE. BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT OUR DEVICES ARE NOT THE ONLY SOURCE OF BLUE LIGHT? WE ALSO GET IT FROM THE SUN. IN FACT, UP TO 30% of the rays from the sun are actually blue light.

So team this with sitting at your laptop or scrolling your phone for hours, and we would get a pretty continuous dose of blue light all day long.

The Effects Of Blue Light

Although it is visible to the human eye, it can have negative effects on our overall health and well-being.

The effects of accumulative blue light on the skin can cause:

free radicals
inflammation
skin cell damage
damage to the important lipid bilayer that gives our skin its strong barrier
increased redness
pigmentation
dryness
loss of elasticity and collagen
increase in inflammatory conditions
premature ageing

What Can We Do To Prevent This?

So what do we need to do to protect our precious skin cells from this damaging light?

First and foremost, a sunscreen, but opt for one with a blue light filter too. This is sometimes referred to as an HEV filter, and many of the innovative sun care brands will include this now.

We need antioxidants and lots of them. So, look at including them in your diet as well as skincare so we are feeding them in from all angles.

And be conscious of the time spent in front of your screens. If it’s unnecessary, put them down, slap on the sunscreen, and go for a walk.

We have also had a recent new product launch at re skin in Sheffield. This is a brand new supplement from the Advanced nutrition program and has been designed to not only protect from the effects of blue light but also repair the damage caused.

Contains antioxidants and anti-inflammatories, helps to inhibit pigmentation and also reduces the breakdown of collagen.

The research results showed that this new supplement gave a 60% increase in protection from this light. As well as a; 19% decrease in redness, a 17% improvement in hydration and a 15% increase in skin smoothness. This was just by taking 1 of these tablets per day for 8 weeks.

Conclusion

If you are concerned with any of the skin conditions mentioned or spend a lot of time outside or in front of a device, this is definitely a must to introduce to your skin regime.

Get in touch with us today if you have any more questions on skin care, or take a look at our products and start your journey to perfect skin.

Skin Cancer Awareness Month

This month is Skin Cancer Awareness month and as much as we may wear our sunscreen to prevent our skin ageing there is an even more important reason to slap it on every day, UV radiation from either the sun or sunbeds is the main cause of skin cancers, and it is the 5th most common cancer in the UK.

With 86% of melanoma skin cancer cases in the UK being preventable and the fact that this type of cancer is detectable with our own eyes should this really be the 5th most common cancer in the UK?

Skin cancer can occur when the skin cells DNA is damaged beyond repair, usually by UV exposure, this triggers mutations that leads to an out of control growth of these abnormal cells. The main types of skin cancer are Merkel cell carcinoma, Squamous cell carcinoma, and Melanoma.

The two main causes are Ultraviolet rays from either the sun or sunbeds, however there are other factors that can make us more susceptible to this type of cancer.

Sun Exposure

Too much sun exposure increases our chances of skin cancer, especially sunburn. In fact, having a blistering sunburn as a child can increase the risk of melanoma in adulthood by double!

All skins should take care in the sun, even darker skin types. If the following applies to you extra care should be taken:

Pale, white, light brown skin
Have freckles, red hair, or fair hair
Tendency to burn
Have many moles
Have a family history of skin cancer
Live in a hot country

This is not an exhaustive list, and every single person should take precautions to protect their skin daily.

Sunbeds

Not only accelerating skin ageing tenfold, sunbeds are artificial UV rays that directly damage your skin cells DNA. The earlier in your life you use sunbeds the greater the risk, and evidence shows people exposed to sunbeds before 25 are at a greater risk of developing skin cancer.

Age

Melanoma risk increases with age, in fact half of people diagnosed with skin cancer in the UK are age 65 and over. But please don’t have the attitude if you are under this that it may not develop as it is still the second most common cancer in adults under 50.

Skin Type

It may be obvious, but the group of people more at risk are people with fair skin, fair or red hair and those with freckles. These skin types burn very easily and therefore their skin’s DNA is easily damaged. However, if you are a darker skin type don’t be under any illusions that you don’t need to be cautious. Yes, darker skins are lower risk but that doesn’t mean that they won’t get it…look at Bob Marley.

Moles

People with lots of moles or moles that are large (5mm+ diameter) are also higher risk. It’s important to keep a close eye on these moles and if any changes are noticed to get them checked immediately.

Family history

There is a small number of melanomas that are caused by inherited genes. If someone in your close family has a history of melanoma, then your risk of developing it can be increased.

Reduced Immunity

A weakened immune system can increase your risk of developing melanoma. HIV, AIDS, or medication that suppresses the immune system can make you a higher risk as the skins immunity system may struggle to repair or fight the damaging forces.

As I said at the beginning of the blog, most skin cancers are preventable and early detection is the key. So protect your skin daily with a good broad spectrum sunscreen, do not use sunbeds, avoid sunburn, and check your moles or any other skin lesions that may appear.

If you need help with your sun protection or keeping your skin in the best of health get in touch for a skin health consultation.

What Does a Compromised Barrier Look Like?

When we have a compromised barrier function our skin becomes more vulnerable to external attacks from things such as pollution, pathogens, microorganisms, the weather etc. It also loses the ability to hold onto the natural hydration in the skin. This hydration is vital to keeping our skin healthy, inflammation down, and its ability to fight attacks from those external forces. Our overall cellular functioning throughout the skin also requires moisture, and I always find a more hydrated skin is more tolerant to most things especially active skincare.

So what are the symptoms of a compromised barrier function? I have listed these below, this list is by no means exhaustive but these are the most common signs.

Skin tightness (constant/after cleansing)
Flaking, dehydrated skin
Oiliness combined with flaking/tightness
Redness or sensitivity
Dullness
Breakouts
Under the skin bumps/spots
Premature ageing
Dermatitis

Desquamation

I thought it was important to mention this as this process in the skin can be dramatically reduced due to our barrier being disrupted. The process of desquamation is the natural shedding of those old skin cells on the surface of the skin to allow for the cycle of the epidermal cells to keep going. Our epidermal cells start off at the base layer of the epidermis and move up, as they do this they become hardened and more resilient to allow for the protective ability needed at that top layer. Once they have reached the top, a chemical process dissolves the bonds between these cells to allow them to shed off and become house dust. This chemical reaction requires moisture to happen, and if our barrier is impaired we lose that all-important moisture and the desquamation process is affected. This results in our skin looking dull, flaky, and our whole epidermal skin cycle slowing down.

What can impair your barrier function?

You might have read the list above and thought that your skin is experiencing some of the signs of an impaired barrier, but what might be causing it?

Below I have listed a few factors that can cause the skin to become compromised, again this is not an exhaustive list but if you feel you are currently suffering from the symptoms it is always a good idea to get professional advice.

Over-exfoliation
Incorrect cleansing products
Sun damage
Pollution
Cold weather/wind
Hormones
Stress
Smoking
Diet
Dry atmosphere
Medication
Diet

As you can see there are many elements that can affect the resilience of our skin, and we probably encounter more than one of these on a daily basis. Our skin is designed to cope with a lot and sometimes all that is needed is to maybe just stop using a certain product and leave your skin to repair and rebuild on its own, other times it may need help. I have included a few products below that are my go-to remedies for compromised skin. But remember this is a general recommendation and without a skin assessment you won’t get individual advice.

Dermaviduals DMS Cleansing Milk

I see so many compromised skins due to incorrect cleansing products used, so your cleanser is the foundation of your skincare regime and a big player in the integrity of your barrier. The Dermaviduals cleanser is gentle, effectively removes makeup and impurities without negatively affecting the skin. There is nothing in this cleanser that the skin doesn’t recognize or that can upset the protective element of the skin.

Skin Omegas

Our skins natural lipids are made up of these essential fatty acids, so adding these supplements into your diet will help keep those lipid levels high and your lipid bilayer making up the skins barrier function nice and strong.

Byonik Supreme Seal

This product is a must for repairing barrier disruption. Containing a high content of ceramides, fatty acids and cholesterol that make up our barrier lipids. It reduces that water loss and restructures the skin’s barrier. It’s also a great product for healing conditions such as eczema and dermatitis.

Byonik Concur Cream

Another product full of those essential lipids, the Byonik anti-pollution Concur cream Contains repairing, healing, and hydrating actives as well as the powerful anti-ageing peptide Matrixyl Synthe 6 promoting the production of collagen, elastin and the all important Hyaluronic acid for hydration.

These are just a few of my recommendations for compromised skin, but my advice is to always see a professional that can give you individual recommendations for your skin and investigate why your skin is behaving the way it is.

To make an appointment to see myself please click here, I offer virtual consultations during lockdown or for anyone that cannot get into clinic to see me. If you are interested in purchasing any of the recommendations above please email me here.

Thank you for reading

Rebecca x