Your skin is not just a surface. It is the biggest organ in your body. Therefore, taking care of it is absolutely crucial. However, many people are actually oblivious to what it does and how it works. As a result, they end up damaging their barrier.
What is the barrier? The skin barrier is like a shield that protects your more vulnerable layers. However, it also has a snapping limit. In short, abrasive topicals and skincare regimen tend to aggressively resurface the layer and make it more prone to overstimulation.
Therefore, having a detailed knowledge about barrier dysfunction and the ways you fix it is essential for the long run.
What Is Skin Barrier?
The human skin has seven layers that contain fats, water, and proteins. Dermatologically speaking, the outermost layer, the Stratum Corneum, is called the barrier. The primary function of a barrier is simple: protect the other layers of the skin. It not only protects the skin from external factors but also regulates pH levels to keep it healthy.
This is why taking care of your skin barrier is essential. Otherwise, you could face serious repercussions. In fact, chronic skin barrier damage can increase toxin deposition to an unprecedented level. Therefore, protecting the barrier is not just for aesthetic purposes, but also for health concerns.
How Can It Get Damaged?
The outermost layer of your skin is one of the most durable of the seven layers. Still, it is not impermeable. Things such as hot showers, abrasive cleansers, over-exfoliation, heavy-metal-induced topicals, lack of sleep, stress, UV rays, etc. In short, the list is long.
In short, you can damage your skin barrier in a myriad of ways. Anything that disrupts the natural state of your skin barrier is likely to damage it. Established expert Ravali Yalamanchili, MD DVL, Chief Dermatologist at Neya Dermatology, states that much of this can be attributed to modern lifestyle and seasonal changes.
Hence, you cannot put a single pin on a cause as ‘this is one of the primary skin barrier damage causes’. Hence, the solution is to be more conscious and use active ingredients, such as skin-identical ingredients or ceramides.
Symptoms You Need To Know
The foremost step towards skin barrier repair is to know and understand the symptoms. Here is how you can spot skin barrier dysfunction:
- Makeup sitting at the top of the skin without blending. Therefore, creating a caking effect where the makeup looks caked or waxy.
- A sensation of itchiness or overstimulation during weather changes.
- A glazed look that makes the skin look shiny.
- Breakouts that look raw and take longer to heal.
- Redness and burning sensation around the nose and cheeks.
- Overstimulated skin that feels sore to touch.
- Rough texture and flakiness near the corners of the nose or lips.
- Tightness or dryness right after a deep cleaning.
A single symptom can be written off as a blip in the matrix. However, cumulative signs generally suggest that something is wrong with the barrier. Therefore, this requires specialized addressing.
| How long Does Barrier Repair take? Skin barrier damage is not permanent and can be repaired with the right skincare kits, such as the 4-Piece Essential Kit by Cosmedix. You can expect to see serious changes in about a week. However, it also depends upon your lifestyle, extent of the damage and the regimen you are following. |
How To Prevent & Heal?
Fixing the barrier of the skin involves both subtraction and addition. In short, you first identify the stressors and then systematically remove them.
On the other hand, you need to feed the skin with the nutrients it needs to maintain healthy skin. Here is a brisk rundown of how you can address the causes of skin barrier damage at the very root.
Let’s go!
Wash With Warm Water
Hot water is great and has many benefits, but scalding hot water is a big NO. Scalding hot water not only burns your skin but also melts lipids and spikes transepidermal water loss (TEWL). As a result, accelerating skin barrier damage.
On the other hand, cold water does not offer effective cleansing. Therefore, always go for lukewarm water. Lukewarm water does not remove nutrients but maintains the balance. Still, try to keep the shower time under 10 minutes and avoid letting the water blast your face.
Soap-Free cleanser
Soaps are essentially alkaline in nature. As a result, they can interfere with the skin’s natural pH balance. Therefore, it is ideal to cleanse your facial skin without soap. As a result, opt for a soap-free, low-foaming, pH-balanced cleanser labeled “fragrance-free” or “for sensitive skin,” such as the Purity Solution by Cosmedix.
This is important since over-the-counter treatments often offer a half-baked solution for all. However, the Cosmedix DIY kit tends to adapt to your skin’s needs and address the root causes of your pain points. As a result, repairing and adding value to your skin.
Exfoliate
Always remember that exfoliation is a tool, and not the entire personality of your skin. Exfoliation is great for removing stubborn gunk and dirt, but overdoing it can harm your skin. Overusing components such as AHAs, BHAs, enzymes, scrubs, toners, pads, or a cleansing brush can feel like sandpaper on your skin.
Therefore, we would suggest that you scale back on your exfoliation. Once a week, exfoliation is enough for regular skin types. However, if you see signs like overstimulation by water, redness, coarseness, etc., please stop. You have already started digging into the healthy layer of your skin.
Can Skin Barriers Be Permanently Damaged?
Your skin has the property to heal itself. However, keep damaging it, and you will see that this capability of your skin has its bandwidth. In other words, if you keep damaging your skin through overexfoliation and UV exposure, you could develop permanent problems. Therefore, even though it is not permanent, but persistent damage can lead to serious health concerns.
