No matter how much time you spend at the gym or how well you stick to your new diet, you may still be neglecting an important component of your health: your skin. Even a yoga-practicing, vegetarian health nut (i.e. yours truly) can wake up every morning with dry skin on her hands and a new zit on her face. With so many myths surrounding skin care, you may not know how to start taking better care of yourself. Should you pop that unsightly pimple on your chin or just let it be? Should you put on sunscreen each time you go outside, even in the dead of winter? Her Campus consulted dermatologist Lauren Zeifman to put the rumors to rest.
To Pop, or Not to Pop?
Myth?: You should never pop a pimple.
This rumor is true, but many people don’t know why exactly they should leave their zits alone. (Maybe that’s why so many of us are guilty of squeezing our skin, anyway.) Zeifman warns against two possible consequences: “We all have bacteria under our nails, which can cause a secondary infection to our skin” if we try to pop a pimple, she says. Popping can also create trauma under the skin, resulting in a scar that may heal slower than the pimple itself. Most individual blemishes disappear on their own within a few days, but if you really can’t wait to be rid of yours, visit a dermatologist or skin care specialist, who can extract pimples or blackheads under sterile conditions.
Hands Off!
Myth?: Touching your face throughout the day will make your acne flare up.
While hand-to-face contact isn’t known to cause acne, it can introduce new bacteria to the skin and make existing acne worse. “If you have an open wound on your face, such as a scratch, the bacteria from your hands can get transmitted to your skin and cause a secondary infection,” Zeifman says. So unless you’ve just washed them, keep your hands off.
You Are What You Eat.
Myth?: Dairy products, greasy foods, chocolate and shellfish cause acne.
Research still hasn’t settled this issue. The American Academy of Dermatology maintains that so many factors contribute to acne – including heredity, hormones and stress levels – that our diet’s influence on our skin is hard to discern. And unless you keep a food diary, it’s hard to track what you ate and how it affected your skin. If you do happen to notice that a certain food causes your acne to flare up (the culprit in my case: too much yogurt), eat it in moderation or avoid it altogether.
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What’s the Deal with Cucumbers?
Myth?: Putting cucumbers over your eyes benefits under-eye skin.
Most people are still in the dark about what makes this veggie so popular for facials. Cucumber flesh is 90% water, which can cool and hydrate your skin, Zeifman says. Its Vitamin C content also makes it a natural anti-inflammatory, and applying cucumber slices to the eyes can decrease puffiness in the skin underneath.
A Cure for Acne?
Myth?: You can rid yourself of acne by…
- …rubbing toothpaste on pimples. Zeifman asserts that toothpaste does not cure acne. To prevent potentially harmful chemical interactions, don’t use toothpaste if you are already using a prescription acne medication.
- …tanning. “Tanning may initially improve an acne-prone area by drying it out,” Zeifman says. But as your skin attempts to rehydrate itself, your sebaceous (or oil) glands can become overactive, producing more acne. Too much sun exposure can also cause other problems, such as melanoma and premature aging. Though there is no cure for acne, Zeifman recommends treatment in the form of oral and topical antibiotics or retinols. One of the most widely prescribed oral retinols, Accutane, makes some users nervous when they are urged not to become pregnant while on the drug. Can Accutane impact future pregnancies, even after you stop using it? Zeifman asserts that this rumor is false. “Studies have shown that after being off Accutane for over one year, there are no risks of birth defects,” she says. After using the medication, her patients reported “multiple healthy pregnancies.”
Don’t Wait – Exfoliate!
Myth?: You should always wash your make-up off before going to bed.
Washing your face before bed eliminates bacteria and oil that have built up on the skin over the course of the day. Soap and water are all you need to prevent clogged pores, pimples and blackheads. Zeifman also recommends making exfoliation a part of your weekly skin care regimen. “Exfoliating the skin physically removes dead cells, which can even out skin tone, fight signs of aging, prevent breakouts and minimize dark spots,” she says.
Seasonal Skin Care
Myth?: Your skin care regimen should change season-to-season: more sunscreen in the summer, more moisturizer in the winter.
To protect your skin from dry winter weather, it’s often necessary to use a heavier moisturizer than you would in the summer. For acne-prone skin, Zeifman recommends water-based cream for winter and lotion for summer. But although you should wear more sunscreen in the summer, when you spend more time outdoors, UVA/UVB protection is an everyday essential. “For young women, sunscreen is the first line of treatment to prevent premature aging,” Zeifman says. Make sure you don’t leave home without some!
Sources:
Lauren Zeifman, r-PA-C, Founder and Associate of Park Avenue Skin Solutions
“Food Does Not Cause Acne,” from AcneNet.
http://www.skincarephysicians.com/acnenet/acne_and_diet.html