How to keep your skin healthy

People say that beauty’s only skin deep; it’s what’s on the “inside” that counts. Our insides are certainly important, but skin is your first layer of defence against the outside world. Skin can also give important clues to your overall health. Learn to take good care of your skin, so your skin can keep taking good care of you.

Skin protects your body in many ways. The skin provides a barrier to protect the body from invasion by bacteria and other possible environmental hazards that can be dangerous for human health.
Skin plays other roles, too. It contains nerve endings that let you feel when an object is too hot or sharp, so you can quickly pull away. Sweat glands and tiny blood vessels in your skin help to control your body temperature. And cells in your skin turn sunlight into vitamin D, which is important for healthy bones. Skin can also alert you to a health problem.
There are plenty of ways to keep your skin healthy –
1.    Apply sunscreen every day before you go outdoors. Sunscreen is the closest thing we have to a fountain of youth. It really can slow down skin aging. It can also help prevent skin cancer. Look for a sunscreen that offers broad-spectrum protection, SPF 30 (or higher), and water resistance.
2.    Don't smoke. Smoking speeds up how quickly your skin ages. If you smoke, your wounds will also take longer to heal. And research shows that smoking worsens some skin diseases.
3.    Resist the urge to scrub your skin clean. If you've been sweating heavily or have a serious acne flare, it may seem natural to scrub your skin. Don't! Scrubbing irritates your skin, which can worsen any skin condition, including acne.
4.    Wash your face when waking, before bed, and after sweating. Washing when you wake up removes the dirt and bacteria that settle on your face while sleeping. Before bed, you want to remove makeup and grime, such as smog, smoke, or dirt, which may have landed on your skin
5.    Gently wash your face. Gentle cleansing helps skin look its best. To gently cleanse your face, wet it with lukewarm water. Then apply a mild cleanser, gently applying the cleanser in a circular motion with your fingertips. Finish by completely rinsing off the cleanser and gently patting your face dry with a clean towel.
6.    Stress less. Finding healthy ways to manage stress can help your skin, too. Some skin diseases like psoriasis and atopic dermatitis (eczema) often appear for the first time when someone feels really stressed. Stress can also cause flare-ups of many skin conditions, including acne, eczema, psoriasis, and rosacea.
7.    Drink: We all know that we need water to keep us hydrated. Still, we forget about it. We even don’t drink when feeling thirsty. That’s a bad habit. That’s not good for health as well as skin. You need water to keep your skin healthy. Besides water, you can also drink milk, fruit juices etc. And avoid cold drinks as most of them are harmful to your skin.
8.    Have a Sweet Sleep: There is no secret that sleep can give you healthy skin. We need a sound sleep of 6-8 hours every day. Still, we ignore it because whenever we stay late at night, we find dark circles in the morning. And we try to hide it with creams. Although, the root of the problems remains unsolved. The only thing to solve the problem is good sleep. Always hit the bed with clean skin. So, sleep well for sweet, healthy skin.
9.    Say Goodbye to Fast Food: In this modern age, most people fond of fast food, junk food. Although, we know that they hardly add nutritional value to skins. Saying goodbye to them might be difficult for many people. So, we can follow the 80/20 rules. Eat 80% healthy foods and only 20% fast food, junk food etc. Thus, we can keep our skin healthy.
10.     Exercise Regularly: you should stay active to keep your skin healthy. Don’t sit in a place for a long time. If you spend time sitting for a long time, your blood circulation will decrease and will affect your skin. Regular exercise can boost your blood circulation. Consequently, your sink health becomes better.

Author’s Bio:
Aritri Ghosh
Amity University Kolkata.