The skin covers the surface of the human body and is the body’s natural outerwear. Healthy skin not only fulfills complex physiological functions, but also directly reflects the beauty of the human body, making people glowing and healthy. With the improvement of material living standards, people’s spiritual living standards have also been gradually improved, and the concept of aesthetics has been deeply rooted in people’s hearts, so skin health and beauty care has also received more and more attention.
Health care of the skin
(A) The traits of healthy skin
The criteria for judging whether the skin is healthy or not should mainly include the skin color (skin tone), smoothness, texture, moistness, elasticity and its function, and the differences in skin traits are mainly related to genetics, gender, age, endocrine changes, nutrition and health status.
1, skin color
Skin color is mainly determined by the content and distribution of melanin in the skin, the condition of skin blood circulation and the reflection of light on the skin surface. Healthy skin should be white and red, but the skin color of different races can be white, yellow or black due to genetic influence.
(1) Melanin: The amount of melanin depends on the number and function of melanocytes and other factors. For example, vitiligo patients in the lesions of melanocytes disappeared, so no pigment production; albinism patients in the epidermis, although the number of melanocytes normal, but the function of tyrosinase defects, so also can not synthesize melanin; skin trauma and inflammatory reactions, ultraviolet light, some drugs can make the skin in the sulfhydryl group destruction or content reduction, melanin synthesis increased and lead to skin pigmentation.
(2) Skin blood circulation condition: the amount of oxygen carried by the skin blood flow is related to the density and diameter of the skin blood vessels, blood pressure, blood viscosity and the content of iron-containing hemoglobin in red blood cells. If the oxygen carrying capacity is sufficient, the skin appearance is rosy, on the contrary (such as anemia, malnutrition, sleep deprivation, long-term heavy smokers), the skin appearance is gray and pale.
(3) Endocrine factors: physiological and pathological endocrine changes can cause changes in pigment synthesis, such as changes in estrogen during pregnancy, increased secretion of pituitary melanocyte hormone during thyroid disease, can lead to increased synthesis of melanin, resulting in deepening of skin color.
2.Lightness
Healthy skin has a fine texture and high smoothness; unhealthy skin has a rough texture and is dull. Certain occupations (such as field work, farming, long-term outdoor sports), chronic chemical stimuli (such as frequent exposure to detergents) or skin diseases can lead to rough skin appearance, thickening, flaking and lack of luster.
3.Texture
The surface texture of healthy skin is small, superficial and soft, making the skin smooth and delicate. Skin aging (natural aging or photoaging) or certain skin diseases (such as chronic simple moss, chronic eczema, etc.) can cause degeneration or proliferation of fibrous tissue in the dermis, causing the corresponding area of skin texture to increase, thicken or deepen, wrinkles, moss-like changes and other performance.
4.Elasticity
When the water content of the skin and subcutaneous fat thickness is moderate, the skin texture is soft and elastic; skin aging subcutaneous fat atrophy, water content is reduced, skin elasticity is weakened.
5.Wetness
When the skin metabolism and secretion and excretion function is normal, a moderate sebum film can be formed on the skin surface to make the skin moist and shiny; when the sebum secretion is too much, the skin appearance is greasy, too little, the skin is dry, flaky and wrinkled.
6.The function of the skin
Normal skin function not only makes the skin have a healthy appearance, but also can effectively maintain the balance of the internal and external environment of the skin and delay the aging of the skin.
(B) Types of skin
The skin of different races and individuals is very different, and there are various ways to classify the skin type. At present, there are five types of skin according to skin water content, sebum secretion, skin pH and skin responsiveness to external stimuli.
1.Dry skin
Also known as dry skin, the water content of the stratum corneum is less than 10%, pH>6.5, sebum secretion is low, dry skin, lack of oil, fine skin lines, inconspicuous pores, a sense of tightness after washing, sensitive to external stimuli (such as climate, temperature changes), prone to skin cracking, flaking and wrinkles. Dry skin is related to both congenital factors, but also with the frequent exposure to the sun, the use of alkaline detergents too much related.
2.Medium skin
It is also called normal skin, which is the ideal skin type. Its water content in the stratum corneum is about 20%, pH is 4.5-6.5, sebum secretion is moderate, the skin surface is smooth and tender, not dry, not greasy, elastic, and more adaptable to external stimuli.
3.Oily skin
It is also called multi-lipid skin, mostly seen in young and middle-aged people and obese people. The water content of the stratum corneum is about 20%, pH <4.5, sebum secretion is strong, the appearance of the skin is greasy and shiny, pores are large, easy to adhere to the dust, skin color is often dark, but good elasticity, not easy to wrinkle, not sensitive to external stimuli in general. Oily skin is mostly related to androgen secretion, high-fat food and fragrant condiments, prone to acne, seborrheic dermatitis and other skin diseases.
4.Combination skin
It is a kind of skin type with dry, neutral or oily mixture. Mostly, the central part of the face (i.e., forehead, nose, nasolabial folds and chin) is oily, while the cheeks and temporal areas are neutral or dry skin. Trunk skin and hair properties are generally consistent with the head and face, oily skin hair is also more oily and shiny, dry skin hair is also dry.
5.Sensitive skin
Also known as allergic skin, mostly seen in allergic people. Skin reactivity to external stimuli, cold, heat, wind, ultraviolet light, cosmetics, etc. are more sensitive, easy to appear red spots, papules and itching and other performance.
(C) Factors affecting skin health
1.Sebaceous membrane
It is a translucent milky film covered with skin surface, formed by sebum, sweat and epidermal cell secretions emulsified with each other, containing fatty acids, steroids, neutral fat, free amino acids, lactic acid, uric acid and urea, etc. The free amino acid, lactate, uric acid and urea in the sebum film are natural moisturizing factors, which can play a role in moisturizing the skin; the sebum film can also prevent the loss of skin moisture, prevent the entry of external harmful substances into the skin and inhibit the growth of bacteria on the skin surface.
The thickness and nature of sebaceous film are affected by age, gender, health condition, environment and washing, etc. Generally, the sebaceous film is thicker in young men, while it is significantly reduced in the elderly; the sebaceous film is thinner in winter than in summer, so the skin is drier in winter and prone to skin cracking and itching.
2.The skin’s acidity
Healthy skin is acidic, pH 5.5~7.0, determined by sebaceous membrane. When the sebum secretion is strong, the pH of the skin decreases, and vice versa, it increases. Generally men are more acidic than women, newborns are more alkaline, and puberty has the lowest pH. The skin has alkaline neutralizing effect, the skin surface can be temporarily changed to alkaline after using alkaline soap, and it will return to the original state after one hour, but if excessive use of alkaline substances will destroy the acidic environment of the skin.
3.Sensitivity of the skin
Different types of skin have different sensitivities to stimuli. Dry and sensitive skin are prone to allergic reactions to various stimuli.
4.Physical, chemical and biological factors
Temperature, wind, sunlight, humidity and other factors can affect skin properties; drugs, cosmetics can also cause changes in skin texture, such as long-term use of glucocorticoids can cause skin atrophy, capillary dilation, certain cosmetics can affect the excretion of sebum and acne-like lesions; various microorganisms (such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, etc.) can cause skin infections, thereby affecting the health of the skin.
5, the aging of the skin
Natural aging of the skin refers to the physiological aging of the skin that occurs with age. The degree of aging is influenced by genetics, endocrine, nutrition, health status, immunity and other factors, and although natural aging of the skin is a natural law, the aging process can be delayed under certain conditions.
Photoaging is the aging of skin caused by long-term exposure to light, mainly caused by UVA, UVB irradiation caused by abnormal expression of skin matrix metalloproteinases, excessive oxygen radical production, degeneration, fracture and reduction of collagen fibers, elastic fibers, increased melanin synthesis, resulting in skin relaxation, wrinkles, skin thickening and roughness, pigmentation, capillary dilation, and prone to skin tumors.
6, the impact of disease
The skin is an important effect organ of the internal organs of the human body, the spirit and the surrounding environment. Various pathogenic factors including organic diseases (such as thyroid disease, anemia, congenital heart disease, severe hepatitis, abnormal vitamin metabolism, etc.) can cause changes in skin tissue, traits and functions.
7.Other
In addition to the above factors, nutritional status, mental state, sleep status, living habits, work nature, etc. also have a greater impact on skin traits.
(D) skin care
1.Create good living habits
(1) emotional stability, mood: mental state and skin traits are closely related, emotional optimism, stability can make the parasympathetic nerve is always in a normal state of excitement, the latter makes the skin vasodilatation, increased blood flow, metabolism, the skin is expressed as a rosy complexion, glowing; conversely, depression, sadness, anxiety or tension can cause and accelerate skin aging, making the face dull, gray, lack of life.
(2) adequate sleep: biological clock varies from person to person, but the basal cell metabolism is generally at its peak from 10:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Good sleep habits and adequate sleep time are very important to maintain skin renewal and function, while the cerebral cortex is in a state of inhibition during sleep, which is conducive to eliminating fatigue and rejuvenation. Adults should maintain 6 to 8 hours of sleep per day, overworked or insomniacs often have a dull complexion because the skin is not properly renewed.
(3) reasonable diet: protein, fat, sugar, vitamins and trace elements are necessary to maintain normal skin metabolism and skin beauty, fresh vegetables and fruits not only provide a variety of vitamins and trace elements, but also to keep the bowels open, timely removal of toxic decomposition of the intestinal tract, play a role in skin care, so the diet structure must be reasonable. Once the lack of vitamins and trace elements, there will be dry skin, flaking, erythema, pigmentation; smoking, excessive alcohol consumption can accelerate skin aging, should be avoided as much as possible.
(4) strengthen physical exercise: regular physical exercise (such as running, hiking, swimming, etc.) can increase skin absorption of oxygen, negative ions, accelerate the excretion of waste, increase the amount of oxygen carried by blood flow, and enhance the skin’s ability to adapt to the external environment, so that the skin to maintain lasting beauty.
2.Strengthen the skin health care
(1) skin cleaning: the surface of the skin will have dust, dirt, skin excretions, microorganisms and other adhesions, the latter can block the hair follicle pores, sweat gland mouth, so often clean the skin is very important, cleaning can also promote skin blood circulation, improve skin and physical and mental health. Washing skin should choose tap water, river water, lake water and other soft water, no irritation to the skin; mountainous areas of the water contains more calcium salts, magnesium salts, skin hair has a certain irritation, should be boiled or add the appropriate amount of borax or baking soda, so that it becomes soft water before use.
The choice of detergent should be based on the type of skin, such as oily skin can choose hard soap, neutral skin can choose soft soap, dry skin can choose over fat soap, etc.. Bathing frequency and time should vary according to the season, the environment, morning and evening bathing can be, the water temperature to 35 ℃ ~ 38 ℃ is appropriate, early morning bathing water temperature can be slightly lower, bedtime bathing water temperature can be slightly hot, conducive to sleep.
(2) Prevention of skin aging: avoid strong sunlight as much as possible, when you go out, you should play umbrella, wear light-colored clothes or use sunscreen. Adhere to self facial health care massage can improve skin blood circulation, accelerate metabolism, increase skin cell vitality, prevent atrophy of the dermal papillary layer, increase the activity of elastic fibers, thereby delaying skin aging. According to the climate, age and individual skin type to choose the appropriate anti-aging, moisturizing, antioxidant cosmetics, should be careful not to use cosmetics containing hormones, mercury, arsenic and other ingredients.
3.Hair health care
Hair health or not directly affects the beauty of the skin, but also the hair itself is an important symbol of the external beauty of people (especially women), so it is very important to keep hair health. Hair should be kept clean, shampoo 1 to 2 times a week is appropriate, the choice of shampoo should be based on the degree of greasiness of the hair, dry hair with protein shampoo, oily hair with weak acid shampoo, dandruff more can be used when the shampoo containing sulfur, etc., and at the same time according to the hair quality of the appropriate choice of conditioner.
Beauty of the skin
The skin, like other organs of the body, will gradually age with the growth of age. The skin is covered on the surface of the body, and the signs of ageing often appear on the skin first, such as crow’s feet, forehead wrinkles, sagging eyelids until the whole body skin sagging, marking a person’s life mileage gradually towards the twilight years, there is no effective way to stop this natural physiological evolution. However, certain methods can be used to remove or mitigate certain flaw that affects skin health, such as laser, freezing, electrocautery, electrocoagulation, cutting and other methods commonly used in clinical practice, this section mainly introduces the following cosmetic methods.
1.Laser blemish removal and hair removal
Laser cosmetology is a skin beauty technology that has been developed rapidly and effectively at home and abroad in recent years. Lasers with wavelengths of 510nm, 520-530nm and 532nm are suitable for treating pigmented diseases in the epidermis (such as freckles, seborrheic keratosis, coffee-milk spots); lasers with wavelengths of 1064nm are suitable for treating pigmented diseases in the dermis (such as nevus of Ota);
Wavelengths of 694nm and 755nm are suitable for the treatment of pigmented diseases at the junction of epidermis and dermis; wavelengths of 595nm are suitable for the treatment of bright red nevus, facial capillary dilation, etc.; semiconductor laser is used for hair removal in various parts of the body.
2.Chemical peeling surgery
The use of corrosive agent is directly applied externally to the skin lesion, with the help of the drug’s primary skin covering the surface of the human body, which is the natural coat of the human body. Healthy skin can not only complete the complex physiological functions, but also directly reflect the beauty of the human body, can make people glowing, healthy and vigorous. With the improvement of material living standards, people’s spiritual living standards have also gradually increased, and the concept of aesthetics is deeply rooted in people’s hearts, so skin health and beauty are also receiving more and more attention.
Health care of the skin
(A) The traits of healthy skin
The criteria for judging whether the skin is healthy or not should mainly include the skin color (skin tone), smoothness, texture, moistness, elasticity and its function, and the differences in skin traits are mainly related to genetics, gender, age, endocrine changes, nutrition and health status.
1, skin color
Skin color is mainly determined by the content and distribution of melanin in the skin, the condition of skin blood circulation and the reflection of light on the skin surface. Healthy skin should be white and red, but the skin color of different races can be white, yellow or black due to genetic influence.
(1) Melanin: The amount of melanin depends on the number and function of melanocytes and other factors. For example, vitiligo patients in the lesions of melanocytes disappeared, so no pigment production; albinism patients in the epidermis, although the number of melanocytes normal, but the function of tyrosinase defects, so also can not synthesize melanin; skin trauma and inflammatory reactions, ultraviolet light, some drugs can make the skin in the sulfhydryl group destruction or content reduction, melanin synthesis increased and lead to skin pigmentation.
(2) Skin blood circulation condition: the amount of oxygen carried by the skin blood flow is related to the density and diameter of the skin blood vessels, blood pressure, blood viscosity and the content of iron-containing hemoglobin in red blood cells. If the oxygen carrying capacity is sufficient, the skin appearance is rosy, on the contrary (such as anemia, malnutrition, sleep deprivation, long-term heavy smokers), the skin appearance is gray and pale.
(3) Endocrine factors: physiological and pathological endocrine changes can cause changes in pigment synthesis, such as changes in estrogen during pregnancy, increased secretion of pituitary melanocyte hormone during thyroid disease, can lead to increased synthesis of melanin, resulting in deepening of skin color.
2.Lightness
Healthy skin has a fine texture and high smoothness; unhealthy skin has a rough texture and is dull. Certain occupations (such as field work, farming, long-term outdoor sports), chronic chemical stimuli (such as frequent exposure to detergents) or skin diseases can lead to rough skin appearance, thickening, flaking and lack of luster.
3.Texture
The surface texture of healthy skin is small, superficial and soft, making the skin smooth and delicate. Skin aging (natural aging or photoaging) or certain skin diseases (such as chronic simple moss, chronic eczema, etc.) can cause degeneration or proliferation of fibrous tissue in the dermis, causing the corresponding area of skin texture to increase, thicken or deepen, wrinkles, moss-like changes and other performance.
4.Elasticity
When the water content of the skin and subcutaneous fat thickness is moderate, the skin texture is soft and elastic; skin aging subcutaneous fat atrophy, water content is reduced, skin elasticity is weakened.
5.Wetness
When the skin metabolism and secretion and excretion function is normal, a moderate sebum film can be formed on the skin surface to make the skin moist and shiny; when the sebum secretion is too much, the skin appearance is greasy, too little, the skin is dry, flaky and wrinkled.
6.The function of the skin
Normal skin function not only makes the skin have a healthy appearance, but also can effectively maintain the balance of the internal and external environment of the skin and slow down the aging of the skin.