Ring in some changes to protect your skin

YOU can’t do without it — yet your lifeline to friends, family and Facebook could be really damaging your skin.

The mobile phone is still a relatively new phenomenon, and, although we’re not yet sure what its overall long-term effects will be, it’s already becoming obvious that using it can increase the risk of spots and wrinkles.

“We need to outsmart the smart phone and avoid ageing our skin,” warns head tutor at the Bronywn Conroy Beauty School, Emma Kinsella.

The Problem: Pressing your phone against your face can introduce toxic bacteria and clog your pores.

“Your phone can be on your desk, a seat, a restaurant table or in your hands. You’re basically transferring bacteria from a surface to your face via your phone,” says Kinsella.

By holding your phone to your face you’re also helping to press make-up deeper into the pores, which can clog, resulting in spots and blackheads.

Kinsella says she’s often noticed some people sporting a noticeably stronger crop of pimples and blackheads on one side of the face: “That’s the phone,” she says simply.

Solution: Use hands-free or Bluetooth. Clean your phone with a tissue sprayed with disinfectant at least once a day, more if you wear heavy make-up or are in an environment like a hospital where there may be a risk of bacteria.

* Cleanse your face thoroughly, especially in the evenings, to remove make-up or dirt.

Exfoliation is very important, it lifts all the dead skin cells which can contribute to blocked pores.

* Use non-comedogenic make-up which does not clog pores and cause blackheads and spots.

The problem: Unwanted heat to your face which can age your skin.

“We tend to be predominantly right-sided or left-sided, so the phone will always be held on one side of your face,” says Careena Galligan, director/owner of Galligan Beauty Group Dublin. “Any kind of continuous heat can contribute to ageing of the skin and dehydration. “If you’re predominantly holding the phone to, for example, your right side on a long-term basis, it may be causing more ageing to the skin than you would expect.”

Solution: Use headphones when possible, she says, and if you feel you have skin that could be vulnerable to this kind of ageing use a good moisturiser. Think about using an anti-ageing cream with collagen, for example.

The problem: Squinting to read small text can cause wrinkles and text neck.

Kinsella points to a new phenomenon identified by the American Society of Aesthetics and Plastic Surgery — premature ageing of facial skin. Wrinkles around the eyes, and in the forehead and neck can result from the repetitive movements required of the facial and neck muscles by squinting or frowning to read small text or by constantly tilting your head down to see your phone, warns Kinsella.

Text neck, wrinkles and sagging, ageing skin on the neck can be caused by constant downward gazing at the phone.

Solution: Dubbed the ‘Blackberry Botox,’ this treatment, which helps smooth away wrinkles around the eyes and in the forehead is becoming increasingly popular, while for really deep lines caused by the frequent relaxation and contraction of muscles, dermal fillers are being used to remove wrinkles around the eye and the cheek area, says Kinsella.

* Try to stop tilting your head as frequently.

* Use neck firming and moisturising creams applied in an upward motion.

“The skin on the neck is very fragile and thin and it can be very hard to keep it youthful,” says Kinsella. “Once the damage is done it can be difficult to reverse, although you might be able to minimise it with firming creams and also UV protection.”

The problem: Using your shoulder to hold your phone in place.

Constantly holding your phone in place with your shoulder, may result in the development of lines and wrinkles on your neck, warns Careena Galligan.

Solution: In this case it would help to:

* Use headphones

* Try to balance things by using phone on both sides of your face

* Include your neck in your skincare routine.

The problem: The blue light on a screen can disrupt your beauty sleep.

The blue light on the screen of an iPad, laptop or even the small screen of a mobile phone can be disruptive if you’re looking at it before you go to bed, says Dr Catherine Crowe, consultant in sleep disorder medicine at the Mater Private Hospital. It’s all to do with the hormones, she explains.

Spending a long time looking at a screen before bedtime can delay the production of melatonin, a natural hormone secreted in the dark which is required to begin sleeping.

“Strong blue light will delay its onset. Melatonin sends messages to al parts of your body and brain signalling the onset of sleep so when melanin production is delayed this delays the onset of sleep,” says Crowe.

A 2011 study carried out amongst Japanese teenagers who used phones at night after lights-out suggested an association between the use of mobile phones and sleep disturbance.

Research published following a study on 1,656 teenagers in Belgium and looking at mobile phone use after lights out also found mobile phone usage related to increased levels of tiredness.

Not good for your beauty sleep.

Solution: Turn off your screen about two hours before bed to allow the normal production of melatonin.