It’s easy enough to recite the old cliché — beauty is more than skin deep. But how many Americans really believe it?

Whether you like it or not, your skin projects your image to the world. You may have the heart and lung capacity of a 35-year-old, but if you have age-mottled skin, you will be perceived as “old.” Most Americans are aware of that fact and spend a great deal of money on skin care products.

While many of these products can be quite effective, young, healthy skin needs more than cosmetics. The skin is the body’s largest organ and plays many vital roles. Protecting it involves many of the same lifestyle choices important to overall good health.

DON’T SMOKE! Probably the most important health decision you can make is to not smoke. In addition to its effect on the heart, lungs and blood vessels, smoking is guaranteed to damage your skin and speed its aging.

Smoking constricts blood vessels in the outer layers of the skin, making it difficult for the skin to get oxygen and essential nutrients such as vitamin A. The resulting deficiency damages the elastin fibers and collagen that give the skin its structure.

In a more direct way, the act of smoking forces your face into all kinds of distortions — pursing your lips to inhale and exhale, squinting to keep smoke out of your eyes. These generally are less attractive than the smile lines non-smokers exhibit with aging.

LIMIT YOUR EXPOSURE TO ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION. The other major danger to your skin is excessive exposure to the ultraviolet (UV) rays of sunlight.

The most common (but least serious) skin cancers develop as a result of long-term exposure to ultraviolet rays. Melanoma, the most serious skin cancer, is believed to occur because of one or more severe sunburns in youth when skin cells are dividing most rapidly and vulnerable to DNA changes.

UV rays also cause premature aging of skin, damaging elastin and collagen cells that causes deep wrinkles.

EAT WELL. What you put into your body through diet may be at least as important to skin health as what you apply to the outside surface.

Many popular products contain some form of vitamin A, a nutrient that increases skin turnover, replacing old skin cells with new ones. This is a natural process that otherwise tends to slow with age.

Far too often overlooked is water. Even more than other organs, the skin responds negatively to lack of water. One way to tell if you’re mildly dehydrated is to pinch the skin on the back of your hand. If it doesn’t bounce back quickly, you need to replenish fluids.

It may be too simplistic to say, “Take care of the body, and the skin will take care of itself.” But if you treat your body right with a balanced diet and regular exercise, your skin is likely to project your overall good health.



Rupp is information and assistance case manager with the Northern Oklahoma Development Authority Area Agency on Aging.