Despite its common perception as a mostly cosmetic concern, your skin is actually your largest and also one of your most complicated organs. In an average person the skin alone weighs approximately 10 lbs (around 7% of the average person’s body by weight) and is continually replaced every 25-45 days. The skin has an extensive range of functions which include immunity, body temperature regulation, cutaneous sensation, metabolic, a reservoir for blood and as a protective barrier – the final function (protection) is the major reason for the rapid turnover of cells within the skin; it is constantly protecting you from an onslaught of environmental damage by chemical, physical and biological agents. After the age of 25 with usual ageing, this damage begins to exceed growth and repair and begins to show as dry, leathery, wrinkled skin with uneven colour and tone.
A large part of this is caused by exterior factors, but many are caused by factors happening within your body that the skin obscures. Not only are these factors causing damage to the skin, but the same processes are ageing your entire body, with the skin being the outward projection of this accumulated damage – so, to maintain healthy vibrant skin, we need a synergistic approach of reducing the damage from exterior and interior damaging forces, as well as providing the optimal environment for growth and repair of the structure; that way we can maintain youthful skin life-long.
The skin is composed of two discrete tissue layers, the outer epidermis and a deeper dermis which rests upon a subcutaneous layer, the hypodermis, which is mostly composed of adipose tissue (fat). It’s important to understand the basic structure of the skin, so that we can attenuate the damage and provide the right nutrients for maintenance and renewal in the appropriate areas.
Your skin grows from the inside out. The outermost layer, the epidermis, is composed mostly of dead or dying cells – these cells, despite the association of death with lack of function, do have massive biological importance, however using products that misleadingly include miniscule amounts of nutrients for growth and renewal which can only reach the top layers of the epidermis is mostly a waste of time and money; the growth happens in the lower layer of the epidermis, in conjunction with the more alive dermis. Not only does the growth occur deeper in, so does the ageing. You can’t affect the ageing of the skin visible in the upper layers by treating them there once they’ve been produced; you have to treat the lower layers which then grow out into the visible layer. It’s a bit like trying to change a movie in a cinema by manipulating the screen – can’t be done, you need to attend to the projector where the movie is being generated.
To promote and maintain youthful skin requires a multi-faceted approach, which many people place in the wrong order of importance. Spending a fortune on rare-metal infused illuminating crèmes to create a ‘radiant glow’ while subjecting your skin to weekly sun-bed sessions is idiocy – As Sun Tzu said in the Art of War ‘If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.’ The biggest cause of skin ageing, by far, is ultraviolet light – you don’t need precious metal crèmes to distract and disguise the damage; however as we’ll see, less-rare metals may prevent the damage occurring in the first place and they’re cheap as chips.
Ultraviolet light from the sun and other sources is responsible for over 80 percent of the ageing of your skin, otherwise known as photo-ageing. Within the ultraviolet (UV) range (that reaches us on Earth) the long wave radiation (UV-A) accounts for the majority of the total radiation (90–95%) with the mid wave radiation (UV-B) only comprising approximately 5 percent. Of the two, UV-A penetrates deeper into the skin and causes stress to the underlying dermis as well as the more superficial epidermis. UV-B being a shorter wave-length cannot penetrate as far so effects the epidermis primarily. Combined, the damage caused by excessive ultraviolet exposure, especially at the dermis by UV-A, causes the changes in thickness, elasticity, colour, wrinkles and lines seen at the superficial epidermis with usual ageing. Therefore one of your primary concerns in maintaining youthful skin is protecting yourself from excess ultra-violet radiation – easier said than done.
Avoiding being in direct sunlight without protection, especially when the sun’s at its strongest (11am-3pm) is a smart first step. The most vulnerable areas are those less often covered and afforded protection by clothing – the face, hands and lower arms. However, sunlight is not the only concern, artificial light is a growing concern too – I’m not referring to sun-beds or similar tanning technologies, as mentioned above if you’re stupid enough to use those purely for vanity then this article is not for you – I am however referring to indoor lighting.
There’s been a huge push in recent years to phase out previous lamp technologies towards more energy efficient versions such as the compact fluorescent lamps. I don’t disagree with the energy efficiency argument, sustaining and working in concert with the environment should be the primary basis of technology and engineering of all forms. However, let’s design technologies that satisfy that premise, and also don’t cause more problems as a result of their usage. The compact fluorescent lamps now being installed produce an increased level of UV that was of lesser concern with the old style incandescent bulbs.(1) So even if you’re not a mad dog, or an Englishman, and staying indoors to avoid the sun you’re still being exposed to ultraviolet radiation.
To protect your skin from excess ultraviolet you may want to consider using a topical ultraviolet blocker.
There are two main types – chemical and physical. Knowing the science of how some of the chemical type products interact with your biology, I personally go the more physical route. Physical sun-blocks come in many guises and have been used by humans for eons in the form of clay body coverings (paint) and is still preserved today in certain cultures such as the Himba who use butter fat and ochre (containing Iron Oxide) to make Otjize. The same premise used by our ancestors is still used in physical sun-blocks today. The current physical sun-blocks are generally based on zinc oxide and/ or titanium dioxide, with formulations that use micronized* elements such as this product are less prone to leaving a visible white coating and can be used under make-up. After application these two minerals sit in the upper epidermis and physically act as a barrier to ultraviolet. Illustrating the power of this simple intervention a recent study demonstrated no detectable increase in photo-damage after almost 5 years with daily use of a broad-spectrum sunscreen.(2)
As I’ve suggested before, most things in life are a percentage game, coming from an athletic background we were always taught to worry about the yards before the inches. Over 80 percent of skin ageing is a result of photo damage – start there first.
* Micronized is not the same level of particle size as nano-, which (the latter) is considerably smaller and is being currently being studied, especially the titanium dioxide in nano-particle form as a potential catalyst for increased skin damage.(3) Non-nano particles do not have this concern, as they are too large to be absorbed.
References:
1- Khazova M, O’Hagan JB. Optical radiation emissions from compact fluorescent lamps. Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2008;131(4):521-5. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncn234. Epub 2008 Aug 30. PubMed PMID: 18757896.
2- Hughes MC, Williams GM, Baker P, Green AC. Sunscreen and prevention of skin aging: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2013 Jun 4;158(11):781-90. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-158-11-201306040-00002. PubMed PMID: 23732711.
3- Jaeger A, Weiss DG, Jonas L, Kriehuber R. Oxidative stress-induced cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of nano-sized titanium dioxide particles in human HaCaT keratinocytes. Toxicology. 2012 Jun 14;296(1-3):27-36. doi: 10.1016/j.tox.2012.02.016. Epub 2012 Mar 16. PubMed PMID: 22449567.
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