Dry hand skin

Dry Hand and Skin

Take care of your skin and look younger!

If you are interested in trying to determine a person’s age, you can usually depend on their hands to tell the story. Dermatologists agree that your hands can actually look older than your face because of:

1. Long term sun exposure

2. Thin Skin - Skin on the back of hands is generally thinner and is more susceptible to the aging process

3. Pronounced veins, age spots and wrinkles tend to appear sooner than later

As you continue to age, your hands will be ahead of the game as fat content decreases and age spots appear. The amount of sun you exposed them to over a lifetime accelerates the process but, there are some things you can do to help keep your hands looking younger.

First, get the sun exposure under control. If you have red or brown patches showing on your hands and skin, the damage has already been done. Ongoing sun exposure will only continue the damage and increase the number.

1.   Using sun block on the hands and arms will help protect them from further damage. Choose formulas that contain Mexoryl SX (ecamsule) in their products.

2.   Consistently moisturizing your hands can assist in keeping the hands from looking weathered over time. Moisturizing your hands after bathing is preferred as it will help keep the moisture locked into the skin much longer.

3.   A more permanent solution for removing age spots is done by reducing skin pigmentation through laser technology. Laser treatment is considered safe, but some studies have shown that it can reduce the number of free radicals in the treated areas similar to long term sun exposure.

Second, you can have a medical procedure done to have medical fillers injected into your hands. These same fillers used to reduce wrinkles in your face can now be used to add volume underneath your skin to remove the crepe paper look. Of course any medical procedure like this should be done by a qualified dermatologist or plastic surgeon as there can be complications. The costs for these procedures can be in the thousands but could last for one to two years.

In summary, there are medical procedures to help reduce the look of aging in your hands, but limiting sun exposure when you are younger can go a long way when you are older.

If Look Younger, Can you live Longer

A research study conducted in Denmark late last year tried to test the theory that if a person looked younger than they actually were, do they live longer?

To properly test the theory, scientists had to find a way to measure the subjective concept of “looking younger”. To do this, they had to develop a way to measure the perception of age using normal evaluators from different backgrounds and age groups. The study group came from various demographic areas that included male and female nurses, student teachers and older women over 70 years of age.

Researchers gathered photos of over 1800 Danish twins over the age of 70 along with death records and various other data points for the study group to analyze. Each evaluator was tasked with reviewing pictures of the subjects in order to gauge their ages just by looking at the photographs of their faces. Each photo consisted of different angles to properly assess and develop a subjective opinion of their age. There was no additional information given to the study group. This was done to keep their entire assessment based on the photographs and how old they looked.

Once the evaluators compiled the data, the team cross matched the data to the death records collected earlier. The theory could now be tested. They concluded that the difference in the perceived age span between each twin yielded an interesting hypothesis; the “older looking” twin indeed died before the perceived younger one.

As this information is further analyzed, other questions can and should be asked to. Questions like:

1. Did the twin who lived longer actually take better care of his/her health and appearance?

2. Did the perceived older twin look older because of their mental state or was it purely physiological? If they perceived themselves as being old, did it pass through to their appearance and physical health so they gave up on life sooner?

3. Did the twin who lived longer have a more positive outlook on life and therefore lived a healthier lifestyle that actually helped them live longer?

In summary, further studies may support the popular idea that people who take care of themselves feel better, look younger and live longer..

How to Deal with Liver Spots

Liver spots are a natural side effect of aging and usually appear on the hands, face and arms and begin to show after the age of 30. Liver spots are more pronounced in people who have spent a great deal of time in the sun without the use of sunscreen.

A lifetime of Sun exposure eventually takes its toll on a person's skin as they age. Unfortunately, the presence of age spots in combination with thinning of the skin can make an individual look much older than they really are.

If you have red or brown patches showing on your hands and skin, the damage has already been done. Ongoing sun exposure will only increase the number and intensity as you continue to age. Here are some tips to help reduce the number of liver spots:

1. Reduce the amount of sun exposure and use sunscreen whenever possible

Some newer formulas used in sunscreen products contain Mexoryl SX (ecamsule). Products that contain this ingredient are offered by L'Oreal and Neutrogena, very well known cosmetic companies.

Skin lightening products can reduce some age spots to a certain degree. The success of creams and lotions are dependent upon level of darkness. Additional age spots can appear over time so continues use is recommended.

2. A more permanent solution but more costly solution to rid yourself of these pesky spots can be done through the use of lasers. Laser technology can be used to reduce skin pigmentation on a more permanent basis but can cost several hundred dollars. Laser treatment is considered safe, but some studies have shown that it can reduce the number of free radicals in the treated areas similar to long term sun exposure.

In summary, even though laser treatments can be a more permanent treatment in removing age spots over creams and lotions, healing can take much longer due to a lesser amount of blood vessels in the hands compared to other parts of the body..

3 Steps to long term Health and Wellness

Health and wellness is not a quick walk around the track after a stop at your local burger joint. It is a long term plan and strategy that you define and execute consistently. Sensible eating and moderate exercise are the true combination to assist in losing weight and becoming more fit and healthy.

So, if now is the time to pick up a new lease in life, increase your stamina and decrease your level of fat and sugar intake, then by all means look to develop a plan around your goals and objectives.
Here are 3 steps to get started:

1.    Before starting any new program, get a physical and discuss your desire with your doctor. They will give you guidance and point you in the right direction based on the results of your physical and long term goals. Ask about recommendations around nutrition, and your current physical state to determine if the activities you might enjoy are feasible.

2.    Before you decide to change your eating habits, document all the foods you eat over a week or two. This will help you set a baseline of your current dietary habits and choices. Once you see what you have been consuming, determine the areas you might want to address first, like sugar or fat intake.

3.    Develop a plan around the type of food and exercise choices you are willing to make initially. Keep it simple and reasonable in the type of change you are willing to make in the beginning.

If you start to make small changes with gradual adjustments, you are more likely to stick with your program. If you try to make drastic changes all at once, your willingness to continue will be less successful because you will feel that it is too difficult and abandon your plan.