Skin Care & Auto Immune Conditions
Yesterday, I had the lovely pleasure of doing a facial on a person with Lupus. As it turns out, two of my best friends have lupus, including Shad's Aunt, so I decided to do a little more research regarding skin care and auto immune conditions.
If you're not familiar with Lupus, here's a great short article by Live Strong that explains what it is and what you can naturally take to help with the symptoms.
What I understand from my research, is that the number one thing you can do is protect your skin, like everyone should be doing. Lupus patients, particularly, have a sensitivity to sunlight and should avoid using tanning beds.
In addition, it's important to only do superficial peels (i.e., salicylic, glycolic) that don't move beyond the epidermis. Even so, it's imperative that the receiver of the peel use SPF 30 or higher for several days after receiving any deeper exfoliation like these.
Lupus is tricky, complicated, and frustrating at times, because it effects everyone so differently. But there are universal things we can all do, immune disorder-related, especially, to stay healthy.
Here are a few simple tips to aid you:
1) Avoid caffeine, beyond a morning cup. It's a stimulate, and can aggravate the skin.
2) Drink anti-inflammatory drinks and invest in an inflammatory diet (almost all diseases have inflammation at the heart of them). Plus, it helps with inflammation on face, too! Drop the soft drinks, and pick up green tea!
3) Avoid too much sun exposure and always wear SPF.
4) Start paying attention to the products you use, & what absorbs into your skin. Stay away from synthetics, and parabens, if possible.
5) Avoid alcohol, which can lower the immune system. We wanna boost, people!
6) Take B, E, & D vitamins, and up your intake of vitamin C & Zinc (boosts the immune system)
The top advice I can give you is to pay attention to YOU. YOU know your body and skin better than anyone else, so start having a little convo with it... did you like that, skin? how do you feel now?
I'm not recommending you start acting delusional, but I am advising you to start an internal dialog with yourself or take notes about what works and what doesn't. Much of life, like skin treatments, are about trial and error. So get to trialin'!
Love,
Jentri
If you're not familiar with Lupus, here's a great short article by Live Strong that explains what it is and what you can naturally take to help with the symptoms.
What I understand from my research, is that the number one thing you can do is protect your skin, like everyone should be doing. Lupus patients, particularly, have a sensitivity to sunlight and should avoid using tanning beds.
In addition, it's important to only do superficial peels (i.e., salicylic, glycolic) that don't move beyond the epidermis. Even so, it's imperative that the receiver of the peel use SPF 30 or higher for several days after receiving any deeper exfoliation like these.
Lupus is tricky, complicated, and frustrating at times, because it effects everyone so differently. But there are universal things we can all do, immune disorder-related, especially, to stay healthy.
Here are a few simple tips to aid you:
1) Avoid caffeine, beyond a morning cup. It's a stimulate, and can aggravate the skin.
2) Drink anti-inflammatory drinks and invest in an inflammatory diet (almost all diseases have inflammation at the heart of them). Plus, it helps with inflammation on face, too! Drop the soft drinks, and pick up green tea!
3) Avoid too much sun exposure and always wear SPF.
4) Start paying attention to the products you use, & what absorbs into your skin. Stay away from synthetics, and parabens, if possible.
5) Avoid alcohol, which can lower the immune system. We wanna boost, people!
6) Take B, E, & D vitamins, and up your intake of vitamin C & Zinc (boosts the immune system)
The top advice I can give you is to pay attention to YOU. YOU know your body and skin better than anyone else, so start having a little convo with it... did you like that, skin? how do you feel now?
I'm not recommending you start acting delusional, but I am advising you to start an internal dialog with yourself or take notes about what works and what doesn't. Much of life, like skin treatments, are about trial and error. So get to trialin'!
Love,
Jentri
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