Natural Skin Care

Listen to your body! Your body has a very clever way to tell you about other medical complaints you may not be aware of.  Feet can tell us many things about ailments going on within the body. Dry skin on the feet could be a tell tale sign that you may have diabetes. You may find that the open wounds of the skin take longer than expected to heal, this is another sign of diabetes.

 

Dry Skin a sign of diabetes

 

Facts from the UK diabetes association (you can find lots of excellent free information on their website www.diabetes.org.uk)

 

 

• 1 person is diagnosed with diabetes every 3 minutes -FACT

• 2.6 million people in the UK are diagnosed with diabetes – FACT

• Up to 500,000 people in the UK have diabetes but don’t know it – FACT

• £1 million an hour of NHS budget is spent on diabetes – FACT

There is a link between dry skin and diabetes, so if you have dry skin don’t ignore it, look further into what may be causing it. Before we start to expose the dry skin condition lets look at why it is caused by diabetes and what is diabetes.

What is diabetes?

 

When we eat carbohydrates, the body has to break this down into sugar, this is done with a very complex process involving a gland in the body called the pancreas and its production of insulin.

 

If the pancreas doesn not produce enough insulin this results in the glucose levels (blood sugar levels) in the body are too  high, resulting in diabetes .

When insulin is produced by the pancreas, this allows the glucose to be able to enter the body’s cells, when there is insufficient insulin (insulin resistance) the glucose levels are then disrupted. Glucose is the body’s natural fuel for energy and with this disruption the whole body is affected, causing drowsiness, bad blood circulation, eye conditions (glaucoma) etc.

 

Glucose comes from digesting carbohydrate and is also produced by the liver. Carbohydrate comes from many different kinds of foods and drink, including starchy foods such as bread, potatoes and chapatis; fruit; some dairy products; sugar and other sweet foods.

 

People with diabetes experience fluctuations in blood sugar levels.

 

Symptoms of diabetes

 

Symptoms occur because some or all of the glucose stays in the blood and it isn’t being used as fuel for energy. The body tries to reduce blood glucose levels by flushing the excess glucose out of the body in the urine. Major loss of vital body fluids are experienced hence the severe dryness and flakiness of the skin.

The main symptoms of undiagnosed diabetes can include:

 

 

• Passing urine more often than usual, especially at night. (see www.incostress.com for more information about urinary conditions

• Increased thirst, the loss of body fluids cause the dryness of the mouth and internal organs leading to a unquenchable thirst

• Extreme tiredness – if you can not burn off the excess glucose this leads to you feeling sluggish and tired as the blood sugar builds up

• Unexplained weight loss

• Genital itching or regular episodes of thrush. The urine contains a high level of glucose causing an environment where it is easy for bacteria to thrive.

• Slow healing of cuts and wounds – again with a high level of glucose in the blood because it can not get into the cells is an ideal environment for bacteria to thrive causing open wounds to heal extremely slowly or not at all.

• Blurred vision – Due to the build up of glucose behind the lens.

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There are 2 types of diabetes

In Type 1 diabetes the signs and symptoms usually happen very quickly and can be diagnosed quickly. Quick reactions of these symptoms can bring type 1 diabetes under control easily, and can be diet controlled.

In Type 2 diabetes the signs and symptoms are more difficult to detect due to the slow development over a longer period of time. As you get older please try to get an annual check up with your doctor to make sure you are not a victim of type 2 diabetes.

As the blood sugar rises, vital body fluids are reduced dramatically which caused the skin cells to become dehydrated. Diabetes also is known to cause poor circulation of the blood .

 

Skin diseases can be particularly problematic for a person with diabetes, because the ability to renew and heal itself is suppressed by the bacteria growth in the blood.

 

Care for the skin in a diabetic condition

As the body fluids are reduced and the skin dries out, keeping the skin moisturised is vital to combat open wounds occurring. There are many commercial products on the market which promise all sorts of wonderful ‘cures’  but very few have the ability to keep the skin supple without causing further complications due to the chemicals used in these types of skin creams. Even the medical creams have side effects.

 

Ginseng paraben free creams are so gentle they can even be used on babies. We found the Ginseng Medicure Serum helped with the treatment of cracked skin and the healing process especially in diabetics.

 

Ginseng IncoSilk Serum  contains lactic and citric acids. The combination of the lactic and citric acids when applied to the skin formed a barrier which prevented bacteria to grow. Ginseng Medicure Serum also contains Hylauronic acid, a natural enzyme produced by the body.

Hylauronic acid promotes healthy growth of new skin cells from under the epidermis layer of the skin. All in all Ginseng IncoSilk Serum was found to be one of the best creams to keep skin moisturised for long periods of time.