Eight Ways to Prevent Premature Aging of Your Skin

It’s your body’s largest organ, and the only one you constantly get a good look at. What is it? It’s your epidermis, of course. Your skin is an amazing thing. It protects you, and it can often take a real beating from the elements and life’s daily hustle and bustle. But no matter what abuse you put it through, it always heals itself or grows back. Truly, it takes a lickin’ and keeps on kickin’.

Your skin isn’t invincible, though, even if it seems to be. It can be seriously damaged. Even if you don’t cause traumatic stress to your skin, though, it will eventually show signs of aging. You don’t want to think about that, we know. Hey, we don’t either, and we wish our skin could stay youthful forever. Sadly, that’s just not reality.

But just because your skin will age eventually doesn’t mean you have to help it along the path. In fact, you should do the opposite and strive to protect it, keeping it as healthy and youthful as you can for as long as you can. Right, that sounds great, of course. But how do you do it? We’re glad you asked.

Quit Smoking

If you smoke, you’ve surely heard this advice from many people before for many different reasons, most of them cancer-related. But smoking does harm in more ways than just that. Smoking significantly expedites the aging process of the human skin. If you don’t want to develop wrinkles and/or dull, pale skin before you reach old age, you should quit. It’s never too late.

Drink Less Alcohol

Are we taking half the fun out of your life? Sorry, we don’t make the rules. We just pass along what’s been indisputably proven by medical science. Alcohol dehydrates the skin and damages it over time, making you look older than you are. Ideally, if you really want to protect your skin as much as possible, you’d quit drinking entirely. Failing that, try drinking only in moderation.

Exercise Regularly

Maintaining a sedentary lifestyle is bad for a host of reasons, and damaging your skin is one of them. It’s best to get at least some form of exercise most – but not necessarily all – days of the week. This can improve blood circulation and boost your immune system, keeping your skin looking more youthful. You don’t have to run marathons or power lift every day, but you should do some kind of exercising most days.

Eat Well

Does it sound like we’re trying to get you to meet your New Year’s Resolution and have the body of your dreams? Well, that’s not the goal here, but, hey, it’s a pretty nice side effect, wouldn’t you say? For our purposes here, we’re recommending you eat a healthy, balanced diet to stop your skin from prematurely showing signs of aging. Eating fresh, whole fruits and vegetables often goes a long way, as does consuming sugar and other refined carbohydrates only sparingly.

Avoid Too Much Sun Exposure

It’s well-known enough to perhaps be considered “common knowledge” in 2017, but it bears mentioning anyway that overexposure to the sun will damage your skin. Whether you’re planning to spend the day at the beach or pool or are going out to a ball game or a backyard BBQ, you should take care to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Use sun block with SPF 30 or higher, wear clothing that covers your skin and/or stick to the shade as much as possible.

Self-Tan Instead of Sun Tan

But how are you supposed to get that coveted tan skin tone without exposing your skin to the sun? Apply self-tanning product instead of laying out in the sun or in a tanning bed/booth. You’ll get the same look without the premature aging and increased risk of melanoma.

Cleanse and Moisturize Daily

But don’t overdo it! You don’t want to roughly scrub your skin, as this accelerates aging. Instead, gently clean your skin with soap that doesn’t sting or burn. And keep in mind that your face needs extra care, so wash it twice a day and again after sweating heavily. Further, you should apply moisturizer to trap water into your skin, giving it a more youthful look.

Watch Your Expressions

Are you an overly emotive person? Making facial expressions causes the muscles in your face to contract, eventually causing lines to form when done repeatedly over a period of many years. One easy way to help with this is to wear sunglasses to keep you from squinting.

Does your skin already look like it’s been damaged some? That doesn’t mean it’s too late! Even damaged skin can repair itself to a degree while staying protected from further undue damage. Make a lifestyle change today to protect your skin and consider laser skin rejuvenation to further reduce the existing signs of aging.