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Five Easy Ways to Improve Your Complexion

Woman with glowing, clear skin follows these five tips for a healthy complexion from plastic surgeon Dr. Karen Szymanski

It’s one of our most noticeable traits – the quality of our skin’s appearance. However, many of us have developed habits that actively work against the youthfulness of our skin. Oftentimes, we marvel at other people and how they’ve taken care of themselves, while lamenting the fact that our skin simply does not look like what it used to. However, there are a few ways to improve our skin almost immediately and keep it younger and fresher looking for the long term.

  1. Diet. It’s important to look at your dietary habits and understand if they may be compromising the youthful look of your skin. When we were in our 20s and even 30s, we could get away with eating processed foods, but as we approach our 40s and older, what we eat is reflected outwardly. A youthful glow can be achieved by eliminating processed foods, removing sodas and other highly sugared products from our diet. Start introducing healthy saturated fats including olive oil, nuts, legumes, and fatty fish as well as transitioning to lean proteins instead of red meat.
  2. Reduce your alcohol consumption and stop smoking. Enough said.
  3. Moisturize every day. Some of us may even do well with moisturizing twice daily. This is especially important during the winter months where the weather can be drying. A light moisturizer during the day and a heavier overnight mask can do wonders to fight off the drying effects of the cold wind. Try to find a daily moisturizer that includes sunscreen, which is very important in winter as well. While the sun is not as strong in the winter months, still wreak havoc on your skin.
  4. It’s truly amazing what stress can do to the body, releasing hormones that can do terrible things to our skin. Long-term stress can reduce our immune defenses and generally make us look tired and weary. Figure out what your triggers may be and start working to achieve a less stressful life.
  5. Our bodies are made up, mostly, of water and that is no different for the skin. We have layer upon layer of skin that thrives on hydration. While we can hydrate as much as we want from the outside with moisturizer, we also need to hydrate from the inside by drinking plenty of water. At a minimum, you should drink 64 ounces of water, which comes out to about eight regular cups, each day. You will need more on particularly hot or dry days or when you work out.
  6. Bonus! Speak to Dr. Szymanski about a prescription-based skin care program. We have options that can help you reduce the effects of aging and improve your skills appearance. However, these treatments must be pursued under the supervision of a qualified physician!

Of course, some of us may be approaching skin care a bit too late. However, you shouldn’t give up hope. There are several options, before you consider a facelift, to improve the look of your skin. This can include skin resurfacing, Botox and more.

Most importantly, we encourage you to seek out the health of a trained qualified physician such as Dr. Szymanski to make sure you receive the best possible skin care.

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