If you feel your natural beauty is not up to par and skin care has been difficult during quarantine, you are not alone.
As people are staying home for extended periods of time, they have also been experiencing increased skin care complications. A lot goes into what affects a person’s complexion aside from genetics. For example, a person’s diet, their level of exercise, the amount of water they drink, and more can all play role in the quality of their skin. Unfortunately, all of these are affected as people quarantine during the pandemic.
There are several steps that you can take in your own daily routine to preserve and improve the quality of your skin during these unprecedented times, as well as vitamin booster shots and infusions to give you a leg up.
Here are a few ways you can improve your complexion:
Exercise
Simply by increasing your heart rate and improving blood circulation, more oxygen and nutrients are delivered to the skin. This is vital for skin health, collagen production, and skin cell growth—all of which combined provides a glowing complexion and is also helpful for anti-aging. Regular exercise is known to help reduce stress and working out is also beneficial for a person’s mental health.
Both of these life improvements have an underlying link to improving the quality of your skin. Exercise also reduces inflammation and prevents free-radical damage. Going for a jog around the neighborhood or simple, in-home exercises are easy to do during quarantine and accomplish everything you need to do for skin care.
Yet the work does not stop with the exercise routine. Similar to letting your muscles relax after exercising, your skin needs a cool down as well. Fortunately, this is relatively easy to do. Simply wash your face with cold water or apply a cooling mask and you are all set.
Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults, or 18% of the population every year, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.
Anxiety is related to a number of skin problems—similar to how a brief instance of embarrassment can cause a person to get red in the face or feel flushed. A person’s brain is always communicating with nerve endings in the skin. When a person has an anxiety attack, the body’s stress response can cause sensory symptoms like burning or itching of the skin. Serious skin problems can develop if you scratch too much or too vigorously and cause irritated, broken, or bleeding skin. A person can reduce stress and anxiety through exercise as well as healthy eating habits.
Hydration
A person’s skin naturally produces oil, called sebum, which helps protect the skin from losing moisture. However, everyday actions such as washing your hands with a drying soap—which has become not only common but important during the pandemic—can consequently cause the skin to dry out. There are several ways that you can help your skin regain or retain the moisture it needs to have its natural, radiant glow.
First and foremost, drink water. Experts recommend drinking roughly 11 cups of water per day for the average woman and 16 cups of water per day for men. Not all of those cups have to come from plain water. Some can come from water flavored with fruit or vegetables, as well as coffee or tea. You can also hydrate by eating foods that have a high-water content, such as fruits and vegetables.
Eat Right
Healthy food choices are essential along with exercise and hydration in order to look and feel great. The following nutrients are important for skin care and complexion preservation:
- Vitamin A: The health of a person’s skin, along with their hair and nails, depend heavily on vitamin A to stay strong. Foods that are high in Vitamin A include:
- Cod liver oil
- Eggs
- Fortified breakfast cereals
- Fortified skim milk
- Orange and yellow vegetables and fruits
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Dark, leafy greens
- Sweet potatoes
- Carrots
- Omega-3s: Healthy fats help the skin retain moisture. All of the increased hydration efforts will go to waste if a person does not get enough good, dietary fat. Reliable sources include cold-water fish, walnuts and almonds.
- Fiber: This nutrient is important to help a person’s body eliminate waste and reduce inflammation throughout the body. Foods high in fiber include:
- Beans
- Avocados
- Green peas
- Collard greens
- Whole wheat pasta
- Broccoli
- Chia seeds
- Artichoke hearts
- Vitamin C: This vitamin is an essential nutrient for skin maintenance. It helps protect cells against oxidative stress. Vitamin C, similar to zinc and vitamin A, also helps boost your immune system. Some fruits and vegetables contain antioxidants as well as healthy amounts of Vitamin C and Vitamin E, which can fight wrinkles.
Best food choices for better skin that include vitamin C:
- Fruits: Oranges, grapefruit, lemons, limes, strawberries, kiwi, watermelon, cantaloupe, mango
- Bell peppers: Pick a color, any color; red, orange, yellow, or green: they all work.
- Brussels sprouts, spinach, cabbage, broccoli: They make an easy side dish with a powerful punch.
Sleep Better
A good night of sleep leaves a person looking fresh and healthy. However, this is easier said than done, especially during trying times such as the ongoing pandemic. Nearly 70 million Americans wrestle with insomnia, according to the National Institute of Health. There is a reason a person can often say someone “looks tired” as a lack of sleep has a direct, negative effect on the quality of a person’s skin.
Sleep deprivation affects wound healing, collagen growth, skin hydration, and skin texture. Inflammation is also higher in sleep-deprived patients, causing outbreaks of various, chronic skin conditions including acne, eczema, psoriasis, and skin allergies.
Harvard Medical School offers the following tips to improve your sleep and ultimately improve the quality of your skin:
- Avoid caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine
- Turn your bedroom into a sleep-inducing environment
- Establish a relaxing, pre-bedtime routine
- Keep a regular sleep schedule
- Only go to bed when you are actually tired
- Resist looking at the clock throughout the night
- Avoid taking naps
- Don’t eat late
- Keep the bedroom as dark as possible
- Exercise early
Following these tips and more will put you on a path to improved sleep and ultimately improved skin, restoring your natural beauty and complexion amidst these unusual, trying times of quarantine.
Despite how beneficial diet, exercise, hydration, and improved mental health can be for skin care and especially one’s overall well-being, sometimes even these steps are not enough. A lot of these factors may involve a person’s genetics, but sometimes it is simply a matter of a concept known as bioavailability.
Bioavailability is how much of a particular nutrient is actually absorbed by the body. Various nutrients and dietary components interfere with the bioavailability of vitamins. The only way to ensure maximum bioavailability is through an intravenous infusion of vitamins.
Nova Vita Wellness Centers offers several vitamin infusions that can help improve the quality of your skin as well as drive-thru booster shots tailored toward extra safety and comfort during the ongoing pandemic. For more information, give us a call at 512-387-5920, 512-200-7311 or schedule an appointment online today.
