Keeping Your Skin Healthy When You Are Sick
November 22, 2024
Maintain Your Skin’s Radiance Even With Health Hiccups!
These past 4 weeks have been rough – my family has been sick, seemingly forever. And I guess I am lucky (or not, depending on how you look at it) because we haven’t all been sick at the same time for the most part. This unwelcome crud seems to hop from one person to another – and the second someone starts to feel better, BAM! I hear another kid start to cough. It is enough to send chills down my spine at this point.
But then the other day, something even worse happened. Two people got sick at the same time. It was my turn to share the crud (it got me…ugh) with my youngest babe who is 6 years old. And when I tell you that parenting a sick child while feeling like absolute death is the worst thing possible, many of you might agree. What was worse is that I was considerably sicker than she was and she truly should not have stayed home at all, which I realized an hour too late. Things really got bad when I was laying on the couch under a blanket and I heard “Mommy, mommy, MOMMY!” I looked up to see her doing cartwheels in front of my face and demanding my full attention and applause.
It was exhausting.
I am exhausted just thinking about it.
This went on all day. By the time my other kids and husband got home, I was a wreck. I pitifully crawled into bed and didn’t emerge until the following day. I didn’t eat. I didn’t shower and one thing I definitely didn’t do in those miserable 36 hours was wash my face.
By the time I got up late the next afternoon and took a look at myself, I was pretty shocked. My skin looked pale, dry and splotchy. And of course I could feel a new pimple popping up right under my mouth..it was clear I was unhealthy.
Being sick isn’t just in your head. Or your chest. Your skin feels the repercussions of illness as well.
Generally speaking, being sick leads to dehydration because we just don’t feel like drinking our daily allotment of liquids. Our throats are sore, noses clogged and we are just tired! Systemic dehydration can make your skin dry and dull. Here are some tips to keep in mind for your skincare routine while recuperating.
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- Showers: It might sound so nice to just sit in the shower and turn it as hot as you can possibly stand – letting the hot water run over you for a prolonged time. But it isn’t the best thing for dry, sensitive skin. Instead, attempt to have moderately warm water and limit the time to a max of 10 minutes.
- After you bathe, make sure you apply body lotion to keep your skin moist External hydration is key during those pivotal rough days.
- It goes without saying to stay hydrated. Drink water and herbal teas and maybe even some electrolyte drinks to stay hydrated. Water helps keep your skin looking healthy even if you aren’t feeling the best.
- The nose area- this one hits hard for me now after a week of blowing my nose constantly. The skin under my nose is red and raw. I have religiously been applying pure Vaseline petroleum jelly (good news it won’t clog your skin!) in order to repair the damaged skin. My Rudolph days are thankfully coming to an end!
- Increase the humidity in your house and room. The winter air is more dry which allows the smaller viral aerosols to float in the air for longer periods of time. By increasing the humidity, the viruses float for shorter period of time, which can decrease the spread of airborne viruses. Pro tip: make sure you clean the humidifier before you use it to reduce the chances of emitting more viruses into the air.
- Ditch exfoliatiants. In such a dry environment, it is best to let your skin’s natural oils replenish the moisture to your skin. Once you are back to heath and hydration, you can start to mix in your exfoliation to slough off dead skin cells but for the days you are sick, just do your basic skin care routine.
- Add a heavy hand cream into your regimen. With all that coughing and nose-blowing, I am sure there is a lot of hand washing as well. This makes it oh so important to add a heavy hand cream into the mix. I rely on mine multiple times a day and my 15 year old even gave me a compliment yesterday, exclaiming how soft my hands are!
So on that note, stay healthy my friends. It’s rough out there and sadly, cold and flu season is only just beginning. I’m hoping this last month will have given me and mine just a little immunity for the rest of winter!
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