• Do you know the facts about your skin?
• How do you protect your skin from the sun?
• How do you restore damaged skin?

Considered to be the "third lung" in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

Has 2 layers. Outer layer epidermis is water-proof while the inner layer, dermis contains oil (sebaceous) glands, sweat glands, nerves, blood vessels & hair follicles.

Helps get rid of toxins.

Maintains body temperature at 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees Fahrenheit). When you're feeling hot, sweat glands release sweat & as sweat evaporates, you'll feel cooler. If you're feeling cold, blood vessels shrink to reduce heat loss & you might shiver which causes the muscles to release heat.

A layer of fat below the dermis also helps to regulate heat & cold.

Light skin has a higher tendency to wrinkle compared to dark skin.

The color & thickness of skin varies over different parts of the body.

An ideal position to give rest to the body & a line-free face is to lie on the back with the knees elevated by placing a pillow or cushion beneath.

The single most important thing you can do for your skin is to wear sun block every day.

All ultraviolet (UV) rays damage the skin. Tanning is a treatment for animal skins that makes leather tough, colored, and suitable for clothing, saddles, and gloves. Sun-tanning will eventually make your skin thickened and tough, with irregular brown areas, wrinkles, and dilated blood vessels. Tanning beds work the same way, and should not be used. Tanning can also cause skin cancers (basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma) that will need to be removed surgically, leaving small or extensive scars. The melanoma form of skin cancer can kill you.

A good sun block will prevent damage from the full range of UVA and UVB rays. You should apply it to all normally exposed areas of the face, neck and hands every morning. When you are involved in activities that expose you to especially high doses of solar radiation, such as skiing or water sports, a complete sun block in the most vulnerable areas is essential, and should be re-applied throughout the day. It is incredibly easy to suffer a second-degree radiation burn while skiing, resulting in blistering and a dramatically increased risk of skin cancer.

Wrinkles are caused by environmental damage, mainly radiation from the sun.

Wrinkles are not caused by dry skin, but by environmental damage, mainly radiation from the sun.

This damage is cumulative, meaning that the total dose you have received over your lifetime determines how much damage has been done. If you tanned heavily as a child and teen, that damage is still present, so it is especially important to avoid adding insult to injury by continuing to lie in the sun or burning your skin when at a high altitude or when spring skiing.

Daily treatment with Tretinoin® (vitamin A acid) for a prolonged period, in the right dose, will improve the skin by repairing some of the old damage. It should be applied every night, and will result in a more even skin texture and more even pigmentation. Small wrinkles will also improve.

All you need to prevent dry skin is a water-based emollient (skin softener) that does not block pores.

In the winter, expect the skin on your body to be dry.

In the winter, expect the skin on your body to be dry. Your legs and torso have far fewer oil glands than your face, so these areas are more likely to be dry. Dry skin itches because the main function of skin is to be a barrier to the outside world, and dry skin is a less effective barrier.

Soap, water and heat will more easily irritate the small nerve endings in the skin, and frequent showers and chemicals in deodorant soaps will only make matters worse.

Furnaces also dry out the air. Relatively moist air from outside loses its moisture as it is heated by a furnace to "room temperature." Therefore, try to humidify your home to the right level, about 50%. Use a simple moisturizer after your shower, while your skin is still damp.

Finally, if you smoke, quit. Smoke is as damaging to the skin as it is to other parts of the body.