Smoking Ages You

We all know smoking is bad for our health; there is no hiding from the fact any more with cigarette packets carrying shocking images and smoking being banned from advertising. But the fact that smoking ages you will be a lurking demon in many people’s minds.The beauty industry is worth billions of pounds, but the most effective product available to help your skin remain youthful is stopping smoking.

“For smokers, middle age starts in the early 30′s as the tell tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-ageing face creams if they continue to smoke,” says Amanda Sandford from Action on Smoking Health.

Smoking ages women more than men, a fact supported by many years of research by reputable medical bodies. The ageing effects of smoking on the skin are worse for women, who are much more likely to develop“smoker’s face” than male smokers. For women smoking and ageing are inextricably linked. Smoking is also linked to early onset of menopause.

Remember, when you look at your skin some of the damage caused by smoking won’t appear until ten to twenty years after you began to smoke. So if you haven’t been smoking that long and you don’t see much damage yet – don’t assume it won’t happen.

“Smoking exerts such a noticeable effect on the skin that it’s often possible to detect whether or not a person is a smoker simply by looking at his or her face. Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a greyish pallor compared to non-smokers,”says Professor Young, Head of Dermatology at Guy’s School of Medicine, London.

So just how does smoking affect the skin in both men and women?

• Smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skin’ssurface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin
• Smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’sstructure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity; it decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process
• Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage
• Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health
• Smokers’continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth –classic signs of ‘smoker’s face’

Smoking statistics will clearly tell you the risk of death and disease from your smoking habit. This is frightening enough but the fact that it ages us too is something we should be aware of.

This is what you might expect your skin to look like if you continue to smoke:

• Dull appearance to the skin – loss of skin glow and vitality
• Discolored skin (an ashy look on white skins)
• Deeper wrinkles around the mouth and eyes
• Loss of tone and elasticity above and beyond the normal ageing process

The damage done from smoking cannot be completely reversed, but the sooner you stop and begin to look after your skin and diet then you can begin to get back your youthful skin and body.

Take the first steps today to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way. Your commitment and a one-off Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session is all it takes. Hypnosis makes it 10 times more likely that you will quit smoking for good. During the session we will look at all your smoking triggers and make sure you have the coping mechanisms, motivation and determination to become and remain a non-smoker. Why wait until the damage of smoking is showing on your skin and in your body. Take control today, call Erika see how you can take the first steps to becoming smoke-free today.

“I haven't touched a cigarette!! Today is my 16th day as a non-smoker - I'm so proud of myself but don't want to get complacent. The first few days were really tough, but since then it has got easier and I think about it less and less. I've even been out with people at work or pub and have just stood with them whilst they smoke and it’s actually been fine . I'm starting to feel better in myself, have a bit more energy and plan to start jogging next week. So thank you very much! I'm still taking it one day at a time but those days are getting easier.” Lisa, London who had a one-off Stop Smoking treatment with Erika at EKTherapies.

© EKTherapies

Smoking Ages You

We all know smoking is bad for our health; there is no hiding from the fact any more with cigarette packets carrying shocking images and smoking being banned from advertising. But the fact that smoking ages you will be a lurking demon in many people’s minds.The beauty industry is worth billions of pounds, but the most effective product available to help your skin remain youthful is stopping smoking.

“For smokers, middle age starts in the early 30′s as the tell tale wrinkles around the mouth and eyes begin to appear. Young female smokers are likely to be wasting their money on anti-ageing face creams if they continue to smoke,” says Amanda Sandford from Action on Smoking Health.

Smoking ages women more than men, a fact supported by many years of research by reputable medical bodies. The ageing effects of smoking on the skin are worse for women, who are much more likely to develop“smoker’s face” than male smokers. For women smoking and ageing are inextricably linked. Smoking is also linked to early onset of menopause.

Remember, when you look at your skin some of the damage caused by smoking won’t appear until ten to twenty years after you began to smoke. So if you haven’t been smoking that long and you don’t see much damage yet – don’t assume it won’t happen.

“Smoking exerts such a noticeable effect on the skin that it’s often possible to detect whether or not a person is a smoker simply by looking at his or her face. Smokers have more wrinkles and their skin tends to have a greyish pallor compared to non-smokers,”says Professor Young, Head of Dermatology at Guy’s School of Medicine, London.

So just how does smoking affect the skin in both men and women?

• Smoking restricts blood flow through the capillaries (tiny veins near the skin’ssurface) preventing oxygen and nutrients getting to the skin
• Smoking increases production of an enzyme which breaks down the supply of collagen to the skin’sstructure. Collagen supply is vital to the skin’s elasticity; it decreases with age but smoking cigarettes accelerates this process
• Smoking reduces the body’s store of vitamin A which provides protection from skin damage
• Smoking gets in the way of absorption of vitamin C – a vital antioxidant for skin protection and health
• Smokers’continual puckering from drawing on a cigarette and squinting in reaction to the cigarette smoke results in deeply wrinkled skin around the eyes and mouth –classic signs of ‘smoker’s face’

Smoking statistics will clearly tell you the risk of death and disease from your smoking habit. This is frightening enough but the fact that it ages us too is something we should be aware of.

This is what you might expect your skin to look like if you continue to smoke:

• Dull appearance to the skin – loss of skin glow and vitality
• Discolored skin (an ashy look on white skins)
• Deeper wrinkles around the mouth and eyes
• Loss of tone and elasticity above and beyond the normal ageing process

The damage done from smoking cannot be completely reversed, but the sooner you stop and begin to look after your skin and diet then you can begin to get back your youthful skin and body.

Take the first steps today to becoming a non-smoker in a positive and focused way. Your commitment and a one-off Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP session is all it takes. Hypnosis makes it 10 times more likely that you will quit smoking for good. During the session we will look at all your smoking triggers and make sure you have the coping mechanisms, motivation and determination to become and remain a non-smoker. Why wait until the damage of smoking is showing on your skin and in your body. Take control today, call Erika see how you can take the first steps to becoming smoke-free today.

“I haven't touched a cigarette!! Today is my 16th day as a non-smoker - I'm so proud of myself but don't want to get complacent. The first few days were really tough, but since then it has got easier and I think about it less andless. I've even been out with people at work or pub and have just stood with them whilst they smoke and it’s actually been fine . I'm starting to feel better in myself, have a bit more energy and plan to start jogging next week. So thank you very much! I'm still taking it one day at a time but those days are getting easier.” Lisa, London who had a one-off Stop Smoking treatment with Erika at EKTherapies.

© EKTherapies

Can a Good Night’s Sleep Make us Look Younger and Slimmer?

We all know that sleep is a vital part of our bodies' health but can a lack of a good nights uninterrupted sleep have a bigger effect on our health then we realise?

This year's Mental Health Awareness Week focussed on sleep as being vital to our ability to stay mentally healthy. Up to one third of us may suffer from insomnia. This can affect mood, energy, concentration levels, our relationships and our ability to function during the day. Sleeping poorly increases the risk of having poor mental health.

“While energetic twenty-somethings might not show any ill-effects of repeated late nights, as we age insufficient rest has a dramatic effect on our looks, too.

Brad Pitt recently admitted that six children means virtually no sleep - and it’s clear from his exhausted appearance that he wasn’t joking. But the ever-glowing J-Lo (below) claims to get at least eight hours a night, which may explain why she appears ten years younger than her real age.

Dr Shahrad Taheri, a consultant endocrinologist at Birmingham Heartlands Hospital has done a series of studies looking at weight and sleep, and studying the metabolic rate. He says: ‘We discovered that people who sleep for significantly less than seven hours a night often end up being obese.’

It also seems that people who sleep for fewer than four hours a night are 73 per cent more likely to gain excess weight, while restricting sleep can lead to cravings for up to 900 extra calories a day.

Recent research discovered that sleep deprivation has a similar hormonal effect to the aging process and may even increase the likelihood of age-related diseases. Eve Van Cauter, the scientist who led the study, says: ‘We suspect sleep loss may not only hasten the onset, but could also increase the severity of ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity and memory loss.’

Other studies have shown that sleep deprivation produces a stress reaction in the body, raising levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and glucose, which can indicate a higher risk of heart disease and strokes. Interrupted sleep can also affect blood pressure (which usually falls during the night) and leave us vulnerable to colds and flu.

During deep sleep, new skin cells are produced. The reason so many of us feel and look ten years younger after a holiday is because, for once, we’ve had enough sleep.

‘One of the major functions of sleep is to allow the brain to repair itself,’ says professor Jim Horne, director of the Sleep Research Centre at Loughborough University.

‘During deep sleep, the cortex [the largest part of the brain, governing higher function such as thought and action] goes into recovery mode. Without that period of rest, you may wake up irritable, moody, forgetful and unable to focus on tasks.’ ” Click here for full article.

Hypnotherapy, CBT & NLP can help you to understand your stressors and find out why you are struggling to sleep. You will leave the sessions with the tools you need to have a good night’s sleep, waking up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. Our bodies and minds are amazing resourceful things that can put up with a lot of the pressure we put on them, but they need support from us to maintain their health, allowing us to feel full of energy, younger and fitter ready for what life has to offer us.