How To Care for Mature Skin

As your skin ages, the sebaceous glands produce less oil, and the skin loses elasticity. The result is dry, wrinkled skin – unless you take steps to prevent (or minimize) those effects.

Here’s what to do to stay one step ahead of Mother Nature:

• Shower or bathe with a mild soap or transparent glycerin soaps to prevent dry, flaky skin. Don’t use deodorant soaps on your face – they’re too harsh for sensitive facial skin.
• Avoid alcohol-based astringents, toners, or after-shave lotions, which dry the skin.
• Apply a moisturizing lotion immediately after showering or bathing. (Dry skin makes wrinkles more noticeable, so using a moisturizer makes wrinkles less noticeable.)
• Use a room or furnace humidifier during the winter months and protect your hands with rubber gloves.
• Apply sunscreen lotion with a sun protection factor (SPF) or 15 or higher whenever you go outdoors.

If you’re thinking about having a face lift, chemical peel, or collagen injection for wrinkles, contact your local medical society for the names of board-certified surgeons or dermatologists with experience in the procedure you’re considering.

Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com