Dr. Neha Dubey, Consultant Medical & Cosmetic Dermatologist, Medical Director at Meraki Skin Clinic, Gurugram, reveals how city living is damaging to your skin.
Urban living comes with its own set of pros and cons. While things get more comfortable with lifestyle upgradation in the cities, your overall health suffers due to poor air quality and constant exposure to environmental hazards. The organ that suffers the most (apart from our lungs) is your skin, since it is the outermost protective shield of our body. Here, Dr. Neha Dubey takes you through all the possible ways in which environmental pollution can affect your facial skin.
1. Breakouts: One of the major reasons for breakouts is clogging of the pores due to dirt and grime. Acne due to environmental factors is common in polluted cities. It doesn’t stop there—your sedentary city lifestyle can lead to weight gain, which opens the path of insulin resistance, causing darkening of specific body parts like sides of the face, nape, and under arms. Consuming highly processed food is also a contributory factor for acne.
2. Uneven Skin Tone: Airborne pollutants contribute to various pigmentary disorders of the skin including melasma and post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. UVA & UVB rays are known to increase pigmentation but urban populations have an increased exposure to blue light as well, which is emitted from computer and laptop screens.
3. Premature Ageing: Chronic exposure to environmental pollutants eventually leads to the breaking down of collagen. This further results in the first signs of ageing—like dull, saggy skin and fine lines—way before the natural time.
4. Damage to the Skin Barrier: The lipid layer of your skin is the one thing that protects the skin’s integrity. Daily exposure to heat, dust, and pollution eventually damages this barrier, making the skin an easier target for eczema and dry skin conditions to set in.
So, we know the problem. Now it’s time to take a look at a few of the skincare solutions for city life.
1. Lifestyle Changes: If relocating to a beach or the mountains with fresh air is not an option for you, try sleeping for six to seven hours unbroken, drinking more water, logging in those 10k steps on your smartwatch, exercising, eating clean, and wearing a scarf to cover the face whenever you are exposed to pollution.
2. Antioxidants: These wonder molecules scavenge the free radicals in our body and on our skin. Add all sorts of seasonal berries to your diet. You can also include a supplement like Astaxanthin if you want. Vitamin C and Glutathione are good topical antioxidants, which can be found in skin serums.
3. Sun Protection: 80% of the skin’s ageing is photoaging, which means you can control a huge percentage of the cause. Just apply SPF regularly, regardless of the season and occasion.
