Helping Your Skin Defend You

Your skin is much more than an outer surface for the world to see — it’s the largest organ of your body! It has a number of amazing responsibilities that you probably don’t think about on a daily basis:
Protects your internal organs from injury and infection.

  • Helps detoxify wastes through perspiration.
  • Provides an important line of immune defense against infections — your healthy skin creates a barrier to viruses and bacteria.
  • Protects you against extreme changes in temperature, through its thermoregulatory effect of controlling heat flow between you and your environment.
  • Produces and stores vitamin D, which is important to your immune system.
  • Rich in receptors, it allows you to sense conditions around you — like hard/soft and hot/cold — and send information to your brain so you can react to it for self-preservation.
  • Protects your body from sunburns.
  • Protects you from dehydration.

The loss of any of these functions will compromise your best health — and can accelerate signs of normal aging. Put simply, your skin plays a major role in your health.

It functions as an organ that can absorb and excrete both nutrients and toxins through its pores. The condition of your skin is a powerful reflection of just how healthy you are on the inside. Because your skin has the ability to absorb whatever you put on it, careful choices are critical. You want to give your skin the same thoughtful care you give your internal organs.

In Oriental Medicine (OM) the skin has some interesting functions and connections. Over 2500 years ago OM described the environment (including human beings, health, and relationship of people within nature). In Oriental Medical theory, the skin is thought to be connected with the lungs and respiratory system. The autumn is the time of year particularly connected with the lungs and skin. Here’s why: During the heat of summer, the opening of the pores of the skin allows us to keep cool and radiate the excess heat out through the surface. This process is also a natural detoxification system. In the autumn, the pores of the skin will have a tendency to close to help retain body heat as the weather cools. However, there needs to be an appropriate amount of surface warmth to balance that cold air. This radiated energy can be thought of as a line of defense, quite similar to an aspect of your immune system. (Don’t forget the skin-vitamin D production-immune system connection!) When this defensive energy is low, people will feel cold—and may catch a cold. Don’t believe it? Follow the links.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2005/11/14/colds051114.html
http://www.cnn.com/2005/HEALTH/11/14/cold.chill/index.html

Other people generate too much heat and the skin does a poor job of radiating that heat out. This will lead to skin conditions, problems of the sinuses and nose, such as rhinitis or sinusitis, and chronic cough.
So in our acupuncture clinic, we often work on the skin when patients suffer from frequent colds and flues, respiratory problems, or skin diseases. In fact, skin needling and skin warming moxibustion will improve the function of your immune system. It will also help children and adults who suffer from frequent colds, asthma sufferers, those with chronic cough, and of course patients with skin conditions.

So here’s the skin-ny once again. When you skin is functioning properly, it will:

  • Keep you warm and boost your immune system.
  • Protect against colds and flues, and other disease.
  • Release toxins from your body.
  • Help you recover from respiratory problems.

Things you can do for your skin and lungs:

  • Keep warm and bundled up.
  • Rub, scratch, and stimulate the skin.
  • Exercise moderately and regularly to cause a light sweat.
  • Drink ginger tea with honey.
  • Come in for skin needling treatment and skin warming moxibustion.

If you, a family member, or friend, suffers from skin conditions or respiratory problems such as cough or asthma, the autumn is definitely the time to work on them.

If you would like to learn more, please contact John for a consultation, or look for one of our informative monthly talks. The December talk will be on improving Respiratory System and Skin Function.