Let's face it, your skin was probably the last thing on your mind until you got pimples, zits, spots, or you noticed that it looked dull or dry. But no matter how much - or how little - you think about it, your skin is super important. It is the main thing that makes you look like you. It covers and protects everything inside your body, and holds you together. Think about it: without skin, your muscles, bones and organs would be hanging out all over the place. What's more, your skin constantly protects your body from unwanted visitors, like bacteria and viruses. It helps you warm up when you're cold, cools you down when you're hot, and lets you touch and feel things. And when you bite your lip or skin your knee, your skin repairs itself perfectly in a matter of days, often without any trace.
Your skin is pretty incredible. What appears to be just a thin covering is actually the largest and heaviest organ in your body. It's washable, stretchable, tough and waterproof. It's amazing to think that even if you soak in the tub for hours on end, your skin doesn't let any water in. And when you grow, or gain or lose weight, your skin expands and contracts with your changing size. What you can see is only a tiny part of what's going on. Underneath, your skin works non-stop around the clock performing hundreds of tasks, all while constantly renewing itself.
Your skin isn't just a simple flat sheet. There is a lot more to it than meets the eye. Learning how your skin works will give you the power to improve it and maintain it, and will help you feel better about your face. As you can see below, the skin is made up of three main layers:
As a whole, every square centimetre of your skin is packed with millions of cells along with lots of nerve endings, tiny blood vessels, glands, hair follicles and muscle fibres. Acne affects guys and girls in approximately equal numbers, but there are differences. For example, guys are more likely to have more severe, longer-lasting forms of acne. Hormones play a central role in the whole acne drama. You've probably heard of a hormone called testosterone. Although it's often called a male hormone, both girls and guys produce it. Anyway, testosterone breaks down into the powerful hormone dihydrotestosterone (DHT) that regulates how much oil your skin produces. Just like too much testosterone on a footy field can cause trouble, high levels of testosterone can act like an accelerator on your sebaceous glands, making them pump out more oil.
But testosterone isn't the only hormone involved. There are others, such as insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1), that can cause trouble for your skin too. IGF-1 not only steps up oil production but also cranks up skin cell production, big time. Then, when these skin cells can't be eliminated quickly enough, they build up and block pores. The big challenge is that the levels of these pro-pimple hormones are naturally elevated during your teenage years, which contributes to acne and all sorts of other skin problems in a major way. Fortunately, following the basic guidelines of the Gorgeous Skin Plan helps keep these hormones in check.
There are hundreds of anti-acne products out there. Just flip through any teen magazine: it seems every second ad touts a product that promises to stop new breakouts in their tracks', fight blemishes', wipe away pimples' and provide instant acne relief'. Washes, cleansers, lotions, toners, spot treatments, patches, strips, gels! Most of these blemish-battling products claim that with a few applications, they can virtually eliminate the most stubborn skin condition.Although many of the zit zappers may work in the short term, after a while their effectiveness will fade. And they generally fall short because they don't get to the root of the problem.
Remember those Inuit teenagers living in Northern Canada, the Kitavan teenagers in Papua New Guinea and the Aché teenagers in Paraguay? They've all got the normal teen hormones, just like us, but they don't get acne. And that's all because of what they eat. Topical (surface) medications fight the symptoms, and often not very effectively. You have to attack acne where it starts: with your diet. Diet is acne's cause and also its solution. Take care of your skin from the inside out - eat a great diet, get enough sleep, and keep your stress levels in check - and your skin will love you for it, and you will love your skin!
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Note: This article was sent to us by: Milla Adren at 07052010
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