Is Traveling Making My Skin Look Older?

We all know that traveling for vacation is not the same as traveling for work! 

Vacationing to detoxify the mind and body has many positive effects on our overall well being and is necessary for busy people in today’s world. For example, a yoga retreat to Hawaii can help a person connect with nature and help rejuvenate the body both internally and externally.

Travel for work is not the same due to many factors including flying, long work hours, meetings and unhealthy food and alcohol consumption that often occurs during business travel.

What are the effects of travel on our skin?

Airplane cabins are very dry and recirculating air can lead to skin, eyes and hair dehydration. Trains, buses, planes and public places with a large number of people also carry tons of bacteria. In a susceptible person, these bacteria can challenge the immune system and cause a variety of health problems such as colds, cough, congestion, and skin issues like acne, rash and dry skin.

Traveling through different time zones and jet lag also contribute to dehydration.
Lack of sleep leads to the dilation of blood vessels around the eyes giving us a tired and swollen look.

Food consumed during business travel is also often not very healthy and loaded with unhealthy salts, sugars and oils. Refined foods high in fat and can lead to inflammation and a dull, weary look to our skin. Alcohol can cause dilatation of blood vessels giving us puffy appearance. Drinking plenty of water can help mitigate some of the effects of dehydration. Infusing water with fresh berries, lemons, oranges and cucumber not only makes the water taste great but also provides antioxidants that are beneficial for your skin.

Stress during business travel has a very negative impact on our body. Some of the factors that can cause stress include delayed flights, security check at the airport, missed meetings due to delay in flights, luggage check, waiting for your bags to arrive at the conveyor belt, transportation to and from the hotel, as well as many other unknown factors that may come up unexpectedly such as sickness and accidents. Stress leads to overstimulation of our Autonomic Nervous System and activates the “fight or flight” response. Many skin conditions such as acne, rosacea, eczema, and psoriasis occur more frequently in the setting of chronic stress.

While sunlight is beneficial for vitamin-D conversion by our skin, excessive exposure can cause dehydration and skin damage from UV rays. That’s why it’s so critical to drink plenty of fluids, wear hats and sunglasses whenever possible and protect your face and body with SPF sunscreen.

While travel for both vacation and work is necessary, we can mitigate negative effects by drinking plenty of water, catching up on sleep whenever possible and incorporating healthy foods and skin care regimen using safe and effective products.

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