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Salarymen and -women spend more than half the day in the office, an environment that can wreak havoc with their skin¡¯s health. In an online survey of 1,504 salaried people, 88.5 percent answered that their skin condition got worse since they started working. The survey was conducted by the Korean Dermatological Association, the Chosun Ilbo, and cosmetics companies L¡¯Oreal and Vichy. Respondents said their skin dried out due to the lack of moisture and complained of pimples and other skin problems.
¢º 9 a.m.
Air conditioners or heaters start to steal moisture from the skin as soon as you arrive at work. The room is unaired because windows are shut all day long. Naturally, the skin dries and loses resilience. People with sensitive skin feel it contract and turn red. Some people develop problems like atopy. Long-time exposure to such an environment increases wrinkles and decreases skin resilience, making people look older. To slow down the aging of the skin, office workers should drink more than one liter of water a day (for smokers, more than 1.5 l) and use plenty of moisturizing cream. Don¡¯t forget to moisturize your body after a bath and use a humidifier at work.
¢º 9:30 a.m.
The computer and telephone on your desk also attack your skin. A study by a research team at the University of Arizona shows that the number of germs on the desk is 400 times greater than that on a toilet bowl. Germs cause skin trouble from the dust-layered desk, computer keyboard, mouse, telephone, copier and printer. For healthy skin, you need to frequently clean your work environment. The telephone is a good place for germs to breed, causing and aggravating acne: wipe it frequently. You may not directly feel the hot air from the copier and computer, but it has an effect on your skin. A carpeted office can cause skin allergy to workers with asthma and nasal inflammation. Don¡¯t scratch ? you¡¯ll only get abrasions.
¢º 1 p.m.
Offices are no sanctuary from ultraviolet rays. They come through the windows and cause freckles and wrinkles. Use sunscreen if your desk is near a window, or drop the shades to block sunlight. Don¡¯t forget to use sunscreen, a parasol or a hat when you go out of the office.
¢º 3 p.m.
Smoking cigarettes to ease stress is also bad for your skin health, since it cause pimples and freckles by affecting the hormone-controlling nervous system to promote excessive secretion of sebum. It also causes hair loss in women as well as men. Smoking cigarettes reduces the supply of oxygen to the body and stimulates the creation of harmful active oxygen, which is a cause of skin aging. Smoking women are more likely to develop wrinkles than non-smoking women. Eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible. If you can¡¯t, take vitamin pills instead. The best thing is to find something to occupy you and relieve stress other than smoking.
¢º 7 p.m.
You may have to go to a social gathering with your colleagues after work. Working late and drinking frequently directly leads to a shortage of sleep; and if you don¡¯t get enough sleep, the skin moisture level decreases by 15 percent while the level of oil increases by up to 20 percent the next day. If you can, go to bed at 10 p.m., as skin blood vessels expand and the division of skin cells begins at night. When you sleep, rest on a pillow with your face upward to avoid sleep lines, the main culprit for eye wrinkles.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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