Oily Skin

One skin condition that is a common problem with both men and women is oily skin. It primarily affects teenagers, but an oily skin condition can occur at any stage in a persons life.  This condition usually affects the face, hands, arms and legs and its symptons can include:

• Dull looking and patchy skin.
• Skin that is especially prone to open pores, blackheads, spots and pimples.
• Shiny, thick and dull covered skin, and
• Skin which feels greasy and coarse.

Causes Of Oily Skin

In this type of skin , the oil producing sebaceous glands in a person are overactive and produce more sebum oil than is actually needed. This oil oozes and gives the skin a particularly greasy shine and attracts dirt and dust from the enviroment. This in turn makes the sufferer more prone to blackheads, pimples, blemishes, coarse proes and spots, there are many factors that can cause oily skin, these are:

• Hereditary causes. The condition of oily skin can be passed on through your genes, thus if your parents or any immediate family members suffered from this condition there is a high chance you will too.
•  Bad dietry habits. Here a bad or poor diet can led to nutritional deficiences of Vitamins B2 and B5 which can significantly contribute to oily skin.
• The use of birth control pills. The use of birth control pills partially changes the way in which a womans hormones work and so one of the symptoms of this imbalance is oily skin.
• Hormone Levels. There are a wide variety of different hormone levels that can affect whether or not you have oily skin and these can of course be altered by various life stages. Puberty is one such life stage which can increase the chances of a person suffering with oily skin as throughout the teenage years levels of Androgen hormones are constantly changing.
• Pregnancy. A number of rapid changes occur in the body during pregnancy and hormone changes are the main contributing factors to oily skin.
• Humidity and hot weather. The weather can have a dextrimental effect on your skin, in warmer weather the sebaceous glands that produce oil in the skin are forced to work harder and tend to overproduce sebum thus clogging skin pores. This is especially common among in the summer and spring periods.
• Cosmetics that are used. Certain cosmetic products can block skin pores and force the sebaceous glands to produce more oil onto the skin. Other cosmetic products can also aggravate a mild pre-existing oily skin condition and make it much worse.

How To Prevent And Care For Oily Skin

There are a number of ways to prevent and cure oily skin, these are the most important:

1. Take care not to over stimulate your skin with harsh products or those that will over dry the skin. Avoid soap as it will disturb the skins own natural protective layer and will aggravate the pre-existing condition you have. Instead of soap use specific facial cleansers designed especially for delicate skin.
2. Eat properly. The importance of this can not be overstated. Eat a diet rich in proteins but restricted in sugar, fluids and salt. Try to eat plenty of leafy green vegetables and fresh fruits. And finally nutritional yeast, wheat germ and organ meats provide good sources of Vitamins B2 and B5 which are essential to prevent oily skin.
3. Keep your skin as clean as possible using a good quality facial wash twice a day as this will often help to unclog the pores and reduce the amount of dirt on the face. Couple this with a facial scrub three times a week and an oil and wax free moisturiser that will leave the skin matt, once a day and your oily skin problem will reduce itself significantly.  
4. Herbs and herbal remedies can also aid the prevention and cure of oily skin. Aloe vera is renowned for its excellent healing properties and should be applied in gel form when needed. Burdock root, horsetail, oat straw and thyme are also wonderful at nourishing the skin.
5. A clay mask can be put on and used weekly and will make a big difference to you. As the clay dries it absorbs the excess oil from the skins pores, along with the dirt and dead skin cells that have accumulated.
6. Avoid skincare products that leave your skin feeling taut and dehydrated as they cause the upper layers of the skin to shrink. This shrinking restricts oil flow through the skins pores which in turn leads to blockages and breakouts.
7. Remember to take any make up you've been wearing off at night. Many women and men simply forget and go to bed without taking their make up off, whilst this may seem harmless enough, this clogs up the skin pores and sebaceous glands which the skin to produce too much sebum. Also after taking make up off consider using a good quality night cream that helps to regenerate skin whilst sleeping. Most night creams contain wheatgerm which is high in Vitamins B2 and B5 which can help oily skin.
8. Keep your skin hydrated by drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day as this will prevent the skin from drying out too much which actually stimulates the skin into producing more oil.
9. Where possible, try to use cleansing products which contain high amounts of alpha-hydroxy acids, which remove dead cells and give the skin a smoother appearance.

Finally don't forget that your skin is fragile and if you take good care of it, it will take good care of YOU!

Dr Shave

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