Ph of the skin: What is it and its Importance
Skin is our biggest defense organ against harmful microorganism present in environment. Skin protects our internal organs from external factors and acts as a barrier. Skin also regulates our body temperature; when we work hard or have fever, we tend to sweat and body temperature lowers. Our skin prevents harmful substances to enter the body and eliminates toxins. Skin also has breathing mechanism and it also filters out wastes derived from body’s metabolism.
Ph of Skin:
Our skin pores are made up of sweat and oil and oil glands. It keeps skin elastic and healthy. Excessive production of sebum occurs in teenage because of increased hormonal activity. When sebum and sweat production are in proper balance, PH of skin is 5.5.
PH means acid and alkali balance on the skin. Our skin is slightly acidic.
PH stands for potential of hydrogen. Ph is the measure of hydrogen ion concentration in technical terms.
Acidic Mantle: Our Skin
Upper layer of our skin is slightly acidic and is called acidic mantle. This serves as first defense mechanism of our body. It fights against bacteria attacking it and does not provide favorable condition for bacterial growth.
PH of Skin and Age:
PH of skin is different in different ages. PH of skin of healthy and normal person may vary between 4.5 and 6. Newly born infants have Skin PH close 7 which changes with environment and becomes acidic.
Small children are prone to various viral infections, fungal infections and other diseases due to absence of this mantle. It usually develops at puberty. PH of skin of children is close to be neutral that is 7. Skin surface of teenager’s skin is different from that of a child. Hair growth on teenager’s skin causes change in skin’s PH.
Till we reach age of 20 and later, our acid mantle is fully developed. Skin in this age is most powerful to fight against infection and for warding off bacteria. It can take care of itself when it gets injured. But as we grow older, skin’s defense mechanism weakens because PH of our skin starts increasing. Its reduced acidity makes it prone to bacterial infections.
PH and Acne:
It is important to maintain, skin’s acidic PH which 5.5. Skin’s PH value plays highly critical role in defining acne and other skin problems. There is a bacterium called Propionibacterium acnes which lives on skin of every individual normally even if there is no acne.
If a person gets acne that means there is increase in number of P. acne. Growth of these bacteria is dependent on PH value of the skin. When skin’s PH is 5.5, bacterial growth is at minimum. This bacteria gets better environment for growth even with little shift towards alkaline PH.
Factors Influencing PH of the skin:
A big factor, influencing skin’s PH, is use of soaps. Soaps, which are used commonly, are highly alkaline. Most of the commercially available soaps have their PH between 9 and 11. When you use these soaps on your skin, they raise skin PH to be more alkaline.
One important aspect of skin that helps to balance the PH of skin is presence of micro flora on your skin. Fatty acids are breakdown by the help of Staphylococcus epidermis and it also contributes to the acidic PH of skin. Besides making the skin alkaline by removing acid mantle, soaps also kills these bacteria and which adds to skin’s woes.
To maintain a proper PH balance of skin, it is important to have an effective skin care regime. Whenever you wash your skin with soap, adjust the PH balance of skin by applying toner or freshener. Toners restore the PH balance of skin.
Instead of using soap, go for skin cleansers which leave the skin PH as it is. It saves your skin from loss of moisture and growth of bacteria. Before purchasing any skin care product, check its label for right ingredients. Always apply skin care products which meant for your skin type. Whatever skin care you do, applies to skin of whole body, not just face.
You should eat foods which contain alpha-hydroxy acids. These kinds of foods are best for keeping right PH for skin. You can eat apples, any citrus fruit, tomatoes, blackberries and many more.
The best foods to eat to keep skin pH at the right level are those that contain so called alpha-hydroxy acids. Foods in this category include foods like apples, blackberries, any citrus food at all, and also tomatoes are a good source.
