Right now there are about a thousand different organisms on your face. You cannot see them, but they are there. It is okay that they are there as they are actually helping keep your body safe. These organisms (mostly bacteria) are benefiting you much like a beaver making a dam helps the environment around it. This phenomenon is called a microbiome that resides on each person’s skin.

The bacteria in the microbiome work hand in hand with your body’s skin cells to explain their needs. Some of the bacteria help with protecting the skin from UV damage, while others help communicate your body’s needs to your immune system and much more. The skin’s microbiome prefers to be at a pH of around 5, which actually deters most sickness-causing pathogens to stay off of your skin. Here are some things that we do that can either help or hurt our skin’s microbiome:

1) Eat healthy and stay hydrated. 

2) Stay away from foods that you notice your skin becoming irritated after you eat them.

3) Minimize your use of hand sanitizers and soap. 

Eating healthy and staying hydrated overall helps your whole body fight diseases and maintain a healthy body. Due to the fact that the coronavirus is out there, everyone has been using a lot more hand sanitizer and soap than before. To some degree, this is good because there is a chance that this could help prevent the virus from spreading faster. Yet to some degree, it also could be harming your skin by disturbing your body’s natural microbiome. This happens because the soaps and hand sanitizers make your skin’s pH levels increase to the point where it destroys the whole microbiome. This would be like cutting down every single tree in a forest. None of the animals were touched although their home was. Overuse of soaps and hand sanitizers can cause skin damage and diseases. This is actually a really good reason to stay at home as much as possible during this time as you do not have to wash your hands as much usually. Another great way to help your skin’s microbiome is to keep moisture within it. You can easily do this by using your appropriate moisturizer for your face and using a lotion, such as Multi Cream, on your hands in order to help them retain moisture. 

Even right now as you finish reading this blog, your microbiome is taking care of you. It is helping make sure your immune system is good and that you are too. So please take care of it and yourself. 

Xoxo,

Dermaesthetics Beverly Hills