What Are Broken Capillaries?!
Noticed any small, spidery red splotches underneath your skin? Maybe more so on your cheeks and around your nose?
These pesky little veins actually are broken capillaries! Which sounds a whole lot worse than they actually are (trust us!).
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So what exactly are broken capillaries?
Under our skin lie delicate veins that are responsible for circulation within our faces. Sometimes their walls can break, causing the veins to become dilated or our blood vessels to enlarge just beneath the surface of the skin, causing those tiny red veins to become more visible.
You may have noticed your skin has started to translate to having little red splotches that just don't seem to go away - maybe more noticeably around your nose, cheeks and chin.
How Do Broken Capillaries Happen?
So what causes these broken blood vessels?
Well there's 2 considerable factors to note.
The first is our genetics... those who have fair, dry, sensitive skin or who suffer from rosacea, are more susceptible to these redness bombs due to have more delicate and fragile cell walls.
The second is an affect from external factors to the skin. Windburn, extreme temperature changes, excessive drinking or smoking, UV damage and trauma to the skin (even popping a pimple too forcefully!) can result in broken capillaries.
The most important thing to remember with the concern of broken capillaries is to prevent them from forming. As once they appear, it's hard to erase them.
Preventing Broken Capillaries:
Some of the causal factors can be pretty difficult to avoid, especially if you have a predisposition.
What is important is to avoid the factors we CAN control... picking at our pores, exposing ourselves to UV damage... it's all about prevention.
We've prepared a short list of activities to AVOID to ensure you are preventing your skin the right way:
Avoid using harsh scrubs and exfoliants on sensitive areas of your skin, as they can exasperate the condition.
Avoid using overly hot water on the skin - instead use room temperature as to not increase redness and inflammation.
Ditch any facial treatments that use hot steamers - and opt for treatments with warm towels instead
Avoid heavy consumption of acidic foods in the diet, and to increase your intake of alkaline foods (acidity breeds infection - alkaline environments reverse and prevent infection). Common acidic foods that trigger inflammation are: sugar, alcohol, caffeine, processed foods, meat and dairy, refined starches
Receive adequate and restful sleep
Avoid excessive sun exposure (and if you already have broken capillaries, be very mindful of your quantity in the sun at all)
What Treatments May Soothe Broken Capillaries
Due to the nature of broken capillaries, harsh or deeply exfoliating treatments may not be wise as a first choice to sooth your affected skin, however there are many facial treatments that can help to reduce the ruddy redness caused by broken capillaries.
Treatments that are beneficial are those that reduce redness, soothe the skin and provide protection from environmental stressors.
We recommend our LED light therapy to gently soothe and heal the skin on a cellular level, and also various cooling masks that are packed with hydrating and brightening benefits.
Talk to Sally for more information about your skin, and receive a tailor made treatment plan to reduce the redness in your skin, and prevent further broken capillaries from occurring!