HEALTHY SKIN AND INFLAMMATION

Inflammation describes the process by which our body heals itself.  Today, I’m going to discuss two different types of inflammation: Acute and Chronic.  And I’m going to define the role that inflammation plays in influencing the health of our body’s largest organ, the skin.

 

When your body is injured, an entire network of inner response “teams” is immediately triggered to help fix the injury, which is why you will notice swelling, tenderness and redness around the injury site.  This is the process known as Acute inflammation.  Acute inflammation is necessary to help the body heal its injury and protect against infection.  The pain response of acute inflammation is your body’s signal to stop what you are doing, to avoid further damage.

 

Then there is the process known as Chronic inflammation.  When constant injury or insult to our body is allowed to occur on a regular basis, our bodies are in an ongoing battle to combat the acute inflammatory process, which then becomes a chronic condition.  Chronic inflammation can be triggered by stress, being overweight, sun exposure, diet, exposure to pollution, smoking, hormones and disease, among other things.  Over time, excessive chronic inflammation also significantly increases your risk of several life-threatening or degenerative diseases such as arthritis, allergies, asthma, heart disease, diabetes and Alzheimer’s (source: Reinagel, Monica. The Inflammation-Free Diet Plan, 2006. McGraw-Hill).

 

So what effect does inflammation have on the health of your skin?

 

We learned the importance of a healthy skin barrier (those outer protective layers of your skin) in my last blog.  Having a healthy skin barrier helps protect you from environmental elements that trigger the inflammatory response in the skin.  However, if left untreated an ongoing inflammatory response will break down a healthy skin barrier. Chronic inflammation in the skin manifests itself with visible skin aging and skin diseases.

 

Acute inflammation happens in the form of sunburn when your skin is exposed to excessive sun without any protection (your skin turns red, feels tender and swells slightly).  But chronic inflammation actually occurs on a daily basis from sun exposure – even if you are not in the sun long enough to sunburn.

 

Applying some topical products, like harsh prescriptions or facial scrubs, can trigger inflammation in the skin as well.  Microdermabrasion and chemical peels will also trigger an acute response in the skin.

 

Keep in mind that not all inflammation in the skin is a bad thing.  Microdermabrasion or chemical peel treatments help remove the superficial outer layers of stratum corneum (the skin barrier), and help move fresh cells to the skin surface.  At the same time, collagen and elastin are stimulated in the dermis, to help plump and support the skin.  But you couldn’t microderm or peel your skin every day, or you could be left with one very damaged skin barrier!  It’s also important to protect your skin after one of these types of treatments, since leaving your skin unprotected invites harmful exposure to environmental elements (sun, microbes and bacteria).

 

People who choose to exfoliate on a daily basis (men exfoliate every time they shave their faces) should consider taking steps to repair and fortify their skin barrier after exfoliation, when freshly exposed skin is most vulnerable to damage or bacteria. 

 

Choose skin care products that are fortified with anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory ingredients that strengthen and protect your skin barrier, to help slow the chronic inflammatory process in the skin.  Make it a habit to wear sunscreen every day; preferably a sunscreen that provides at least SPF 30, and is fortified with antioxidants to help fight free radical damage (remember sun exposure is the number ONE element that causes inflammation and visible aging in our skin).

 

To sum up, some acute inflammation may be helpful to trigger cell turnover and stimulate collagen and elastin, which can help keep our skin looking good – but too much extended and prolonged inflammation creates a damaging chronic process, which contributes to visible skin aging and skin disease.

 

What is the Skin Barrier?

Today, I’m going to talk about the skin barrier.  I’m going to define what it is, and why it plays an important role in the health of our skin.

First of all, when you think of your organs, you probably think: heart, lungs, liver, kidneys … generally you don’t think of your skin as an organ – but your skin is an organ — in fact, it is your body’s largest organ.  Your skin is a reflection of the health of your body – if your body is not healthy on the inside, it is reflected in the appearance of your skin on the outside.  As well, the healthier your skin is on the outside, the better job it can do to protect your insides. 

 

The Layers of the Skin

 

Your skin actually is made up of three distinct layers: subcutaneous (or Hypodermis, as shown above), dermis, and epidermis.  The subcutaneous or subcutis layer is the lowest layer.  The subcutaneous layer (sub means under and cutis means skin) is the fatty layer that provides protection and cushioning between the skin and muscle layers.  The dermis makes up a large portion of the skin, and is the layer between the subcutaneous and the epidermis.  The dermis is where collagen and elastin are formed.   

 

The epidermis is the outer layers of the skin, and is actually divided into several different sections, including the basal layer, which lays right on top of the dermis and is where new cells are formed.  These cells that are formed in the basal layer continue to multiply and migrate upward toward the surface of the skin. 

 

The very outermost layer of the epidermis, the skin surface, is called stratum corneum, or the skin barrier.  The stratum corneum, or skin barrier, is actually made up of 7-10 layers of dead skin cells – cells that began in the basal layer and migrated to the surface of the epidermis.  It’s a process that normally takes about 26-32 days in normal, healthy, young skin.  Those dead skin cells are stacked on top of each other and held together at the skin surface with a substance called intercellular lipids.  You may think of scales on a fish, for example, or another common comparison is bricks and mortar, which are the cells and lipids held together.

 

Even though these skin cells in the skin barrier are technically not living cells, they do play an important role in protecting your skin from outer bacteria and viruses.  As well, your skin barrier also holds water inside your body to protect your body from losing water (also known as trans-epidermal water loss, or TEWL).  Our adult bodies are actually about 60-70% water, so if you didn’t have these outer layers of skin barrier keeping water inside your body, you would literally dry up in a few hours, like a piece of dehydrated fruit!

 

Why is it important to keep your skin barrier healthy?

 

As we age, our skin barrier breaks down and our epidermis thins after constant exposure to environmental factors.  It’s not just a matter of looking good on the outside; a healthy, intact skin barrier protects you from environmental factors that contribute to visible skin aging and skin diseases.  A thinner epidermis due to exposure influences the breakdown of collagen and elastin in the dermis, which causes us to sag and wrinkle.  Things like sun exposure, pollution, topical prescriptions, stress and even strong ingredients such as alpha-hydroxy acids or retinols can affect the health of your skin barrier. 

 

When you make a skin care product decision, remember to choose products that are proven to safely help repair and fortify your skin barrier, to keep your largest organ, your skin, at its healthiest.  A healthy skin barrier is your protective shield against the harsh elements of the outside world.

 

* Image used from image.google.com accessed on 11/04/2008.