I have always found my skin is better in summer than winter. So now understanding what is happening better.
Healing Our Skin Naturally
Those who have been following me will know there are two main "Not enough" in my life:- Not enough sleep
- Not enough sun
I have found out that the two are intertwined. When you expose your skin to sunlight, vitamin D is generated and it is thought the brain releases a hormone called serotonin., which is supposed to be responsible for helping a person feel sleepy and go to sleep.If you have low sunlight exposure (such as in Winter), a person’s serotonin levels and vitamin D productions can dip low.
I thought by boosting my cod liver oil and vitamin D, and being in well lit areas would help me. It might have done some minor help but the significant player here is sunlight. Have certainly found am sleeping better with more sunlight.
When we deep sleep we produce healing chemicals (growth hormones) that reduce the inflammation in our bodies and heal our skin. That is why when you have actually slept well your inflammed skin can feel rested. I take a 1/4 of an anti-histamine now if am being disturbed by itchiness to "get into" sleep.
Reducing the Inflammation
Sure there are a number of external factors that really don't help us. For me it is a dusty environment, wearing certain fabrics like wool, and stuff that does not allow my skin to breathe.Trash the Plastic
I used to use panty liners and pads. These have a plastic liner, it's like wearing a nappy. Now I understand why babies suffer nappy rash. Our skin needs to breathe. I've stopped using them, and "down below" (groin area) is no longer as embarrassingly itchy as it used to be. My doc had just given me steroids as per normal to control that itch.
For those with babies, try Elimination Communication and ditch the nappies! You can then also boast that you're helping the planet as you will never ever have to use a nappy and your child will be naturally using the potty far sooner (1 +) rather than having an incontinence issue!
For women wondering what else they can use. If you are a "pad" user try reusable pads, or menstrual cups instead of tampons. Here is a nice article about it: https://www.hongkongfp.com/2017/05/28/flowing-pride-two-women-fighting-menstrual-taboo-hong-kong/
Again you can boast your eco-consciousness to reducing the amount of plastic trashed that takes hundreds of years to decompose.
Inflammation & What We Eat
Currently I believe I have an auto-immune disorder on the left side of me. The left side of my face starts feeling like it is burning, swells and then the skin dries and it looks like eczema. The fingers on the left hand have been feeling arthritic. Having looked up these symptoms and feel it is an auto-immune disorder, I found on the web different ways to heal the disorder and it looks like the marketing ads that started 20 years ago have made us think certain foods are the right foods.
Most of us have been eating food that "inflame" our bodies all the time. Hence you can expect our bodies will have responses to this like eczema and other inflammatory disorders.
Here is an article from the NHS about sugars:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/sugars.aspx
Here is an article about diet and inflammation:
http://thatsugarfilm.com/blog/2016/03/27/diet-and-inflammation/
From what I have seen in most people's shopping baskets we have too many foods that cause inflammation. Let's start with processed sugars. Next time look at the ingredients and remove all the foods that contain processed sugar and find replacements for example I eat bread without sugar and only eat processed food when am out and about and am hungry!
Plus we receive sugars in our fruits and honey. If you're really craving to make cakes, look at using natural sweetners like Stevia. Do remember that an ingredient with an "ose" at the end is probably a sugar like lactose, fructose, glucose. (I don't drink milk either).
For those who think this is too much effort, and "what's the point of living if you cannot eat or drink your favourite whatever" then you're not ready to heal yourself. Go live do whatever, use pharmaceutical medicines and then come back here when you're ready to change yourself.
So I've got my foods under control. Just the sleeping and sunlight to improve. My skin is hugely better than when I first started this blog. But this time am going for the full heal instead of an intermittent skin healing. The buck stops here.
Let you know when that happens. In the mean time may your skin healing journeys also progress forward :)
