Skin Care – Finding Relevant Hints & Tips For Your Particular Skin.

With the ever-increasing amount of information being added to the vast online information base on skin care, getting information that is specifically relevant to an individual is becoming increasingly difficult.

Even though search engines are getting more sophisticated and try to provide the most relevant results for your question, they cannot be anything other than reasonably close, but at the same time still remain quite general.

Everyone’s skin is different, we are after all individuals and no two people will have exactly the same skin. Sure, there are 3 basic skin types; oily, normal and dry, but within each of these, there are differences.

For example, some people also have sensitive skin, others have combination skin and in addition, age plays a factor as well. Heredity is another factor that will influence your skin. Depending on your cultural background, there will be additional differences affecting your skin, colour for example.

There are lots of hints and tips on how to care for your skin, but if you don’t know what your specific requirements are, then how do you know which of these hints and tips to follow?

One of the ways you can start to define the needs your skin has is to establish which skin type you have. Then, look at your cultural/genetic influences on your skin and finally consider your age.

So for example, you may have dry & sensitive skin, are from an English (Caucasian) background and are over 40 years young. In other words, you have fair skin that is sensitive and tends to dryness, and your skin is starting to mature.

Now, armed with this information it’s much easier to identify the relevant hints & tips on how to care for your particular skin.

Skin Care is a Necessity, not a Luxury.

Taking Care of Your Skin is like Life Insurance

Menon (2002) says it best, when he states that: “…the human skin is not only the largest organ in the body, but also perhaps the most complex, with at least five different cell types contributing to its structure, and other cell types from circulatory and immune systems being transient residents of the skin. In terms of the number of functions performed, the skin simply outweighs any other organ: its primary function is of course protection, which covers physical, chemical, immune, pathogen, UV radiation and free radical defences. The skin is also a major participant in thermoregulation (regulates the body's temperature), it functions as a sensory organ, performs endocrine functions (Vitamin D synthesis, peripheral conversion of prohormones), is significant in reproduction (secondary sexual characteristics, pheromone production), and perpetuation of the species, human non-verbal communications (visual signalling, emotions expressed), as well as a factor in zenophobia and bias against fellow humans that has shaped the destiny of humanity”.

Okay, it's a little on the 'academic speak' side, but think about it - the skin effects areas of our lives ranging from reproduction to defending us from UV-rays, bacteria, viruses; keeps water both in and out of our bodies and reacts to touch, emotions, temperature, etc.

There are hundreds of skin conditions ranging from annoying to deadly

Whilst there is nothing wrong with our skin, we barely give it a second thought. It is only when something goes wrong that we suddenly start to pay attention and quickly realise that there are very few experts that can actually help us to overcome many of the problems our skin can develop. Most treatments of various skin problems target symptom control. The use of anti-inflammatory drugs, cortico-steroid creams, antibiotics, etc. None actually target the cause of a skin disorder such as dermatitis, eczema, and many other similarly common conditions.

Modern medicine is great at diagnosis what is wrong, but very poor at actually fixing the problem. In their defence, skin problems are notoriously difficult to treat and even natural medicine is not exactly great at it either, but at least it attempts to identify the underlying constitutional cause and its treatment does primarily target this cause rather then targeting the symptoms that result.

To illustrate the difficulty in treating skin conditions, it is useful to have a quick look at the many conditions that fall into the category of skin problems:

Below is an alphabetical list of skin problems as recognised by the National Skin Care Institute:

A-B	E-I	M-P
– Acne	– Echtima	– Malignant melanoma
– Alopecia (baldness):	– Eczema	– Melasma
alopecia areata		– Miliaria
alopecia totalis	– Epidermolysis bullosa	– Molluscum contagiosum
alopecia universalis	simplex	– Paget's disease of the nipple
traction alopecia	junctional	– Pediculosis
– Angioma	dystrophic	– Pemphigus
– Athlete's foot	hemidesmosomal	– Photoallergy
– Basal cell carcinoma		– Photosensitivity
– Bed sore	– Erythrasma	– Pityriasis rosea
– Behcet's Disease	– Erysipelas	– Pityriasis rubra pilaris
– Blepharitis	– Folliculitis	– Psoriasis
– Boil	– Friction blister
– Bowen's Disease		R-S
– Bullous pemphigoid	– Herpes:
	HHV1 - cold sores	– Raynaud's disease
C-D	HHV2 - genital herpes	– Ring worm
	HHV3 - chickenpox, shingles	– Rosacea
– Calluses and corns	HHV6, HHV7 - roseola infantum, sixth disease	– Saint Anthony's fire
– Canker sore	HHV8 - Kaposi's sarcoma herpes virus	– Scabies
– Carbuncles		– Scleroderma
	– Hidradenitis suppurativa	– Sebaceous cyst
– Candidiasis:	– Hives	– Shingles
oral (oral thrush)	– Hyperhidrosis	– Skin cancer
vaginal (candidal vulvovaginitis)	– Ichthyosis	– Skin Tags
penile (candidal balanitis)	– Impetigo	– Spider veins (telangiectasia)
in the diaper area (diaper rash)		– Squamous cell carcinoma
in the skin folds (candidal intertrigo)	J-L
		T-W
– Cellulitis	– Jock itch
– Cold sores	– Kaposi's sarcoma	– Tick bite
– Creeping eruption	– Keloid
– Dandruff	– Keratoacanthoma	– Tinea:
		barbae
– Dermatitis (eczema):	– Keratosis:	capitis
atopic dermatitis	actinic (solar) keratosis	corporis
contact dermatitis	keratosis pilaris	cruris (Jock Itch)
seborrhoeic dermatitis	keratosis follicularis (Darrier's disease)	pedis
cradle cap	seborrheic	unguium
nummular dermatitis	hyperkeratosis	versicolor
stasis dermatitis
perioral dermatitis (muzzle rash)	– Lice infection	– Trichomycosis
dermatitis herpetiformis	– Lichen planus	– Varicose veins
	– Lichen simplex chronicus	– Vitiligo
– Dermatofibroma	– Lipoma
	– Lymphadenitis	– Warts

This list is not an exhaustive list of all known skin diseases or disorders, however it is quite comprehensive and illustrates the vast range of afflictions that may affect the health of our skin.

Bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes are often responsible for skin problems. In order to treat skin diseases caused by such microbes, it is necessary to target the offending bug with appropriate herbs, essential oils, drugs or a combination of these therapies.

However, skin diseases are not solely caused by microbial infection. Some skin disorders are due to deficiencies in nutrients. A classic example is Scurvy, which is a vitamin C deficiency and can easily be treated by taking supplements of vitamin C or eating foods high in vitamin C.

Then there are the other skin problems.... Read the rest of this article here...

References:

Menon, G. K. (2002) New insights into skin structure scratching the surface. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews. Vol. 54, 1, Pages S3-S17.