Inflammation: Brain, Face, Body

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart because I still live with long post concussion symptoms from a car accident I had at the beginning of 2018. My concussion isn't the focus of this blog post, inflammation is the focus. The real point of this share is talking about one of the most incredible facials I've had in my life while in St Tropez this summer. 

Back to concussion and inflammation talk for a few minutes to paint a bit of context. When you endure a concussion you experience swelling (inflammation) to the brain, and when you fail to treat a concussion properly and sustain chronic inflammation, this is basically the same as enduring a second head injury. Now think of your skin and other parts of your body as they too, experience sustained inflammation. Long story short, inflammation causes a ripple effect throughout your body that compromises and weakens your cells, and damages your organs and entire body systems. Punchline: not good and also causes premature aging cellularly from the inside out. We want to reverse and improve cellular health, not beat it into the ground. There are a ton of things that cause inflammation to the body, brain and skin, and there's not enough space time to share all of them here. Over time perhaps. Aside from the obvious things that cause inflammation (injuries or poor nutrition) know that environmental stress (oxidative stress) is a big one that often gets overlooked because you've just gotten so used to tolerating it that you don't even notice it anymore. Risky business. 

The side effects of living with chronic inflammation are life changing in a debilitating way, so let's mitigate, manage and reverse all things inflammation, shall we? Over time I will share more and more with you of what I've done to reduce inflammation in my brain and body as the result of me self healing from post traumatic stress and long post concussion symptoms that have have me live in a different way since 2018. The little things are the big things and they all add up. I coach this in 100 Days and also 1:1. Shifting to positive language, inflammation, when managed, has the ability to promote longevity - and who doesn't want to live a long and healthy life? I really want to!

Inflammation does wildly horrible things for the body and your brain, and obviously your skin as well, since your skin is your largest organ. I bring this topic up because I didn't realize how much inflammation I was carrying in my face and how it impacted my brain UNTIL I had this facial. This may seem minor to the average person but to me, someone who lives with long post concussion symptoms and who has a heightened awareness to all of my body systems, this made a huge difference - hence why I'm sharing this with you. After this facial, the reduced inflammation in my face brought down the inflammation in my brain, I swear. And reduced inflammation in the brain instantly causes greater clarity. The clouds part. You think more clearly, be more clearly and act differently. 

Let's chat skin, facials and skincare for a moment - and yes, nutrition has a huge part to play in how our skin looks and feels. This isn't the blog post where we are chatting nutrition though. For all intents and purposes, we are going to say you are eating an inflammatory protocol and the below is still happening for you, because this is what I'm basing this share off of. 

Since 2012 (age 30) I was going for regular facials to keep my adult acne and rosacea at bay. I was going once every 6 weeks for a microderm or customized fruit acid peel and facial acupuncture at that time. As time went on and 2018 came into play I think I started going for facials more like once every 3 months, getting a combination of microderm or hydrafacial, fruit acid peel or microneedling. Cue 2020 when the world stopped and after that I started going for facial treatments really only once every 4 months until 2023 at which point I really dialled things back. Since moving to St Barth, I hadn't had a facial for 9 months and while my skin seemed fine I knew it wasn't. I could feel the congestion, and my skin just looked tirred and weathered. For context, my skin is oily and it can also be dehydrated. My skin loves humidity and does not love a dry climate. My skin has also taken a beating the past 10 months with sun, surf and just living. I do use great skincare, primarily natural ingredients, I eat whatever I want (nutrient dense and mostly anti-inflammatory although I do still eat sugar, wheat and dairy) and I do not use medical grade skincare. I used to use Osmosis for a longtime (among other brands the skincare world loves) and had loved what I was using, but honestly, those products caused inflammation to my skin type that I only noticed after I quit using it. This isn't a blog post in which I'm saying listen to me for your skincare needs and remedies, I'm just sharing my experience. We all have different bodies and skin on our face that require different care and different things. Also, for the record, I did botox from age 28 to age 40 and woke up one day and decided to stop. I was going once every 6 months when I was younger, and was going way too frequently towards the end. I'm botox free for almost 2 years now and I've never gotten filler. I'm not against these things - I'm not against anything, AND - I completely support each person doing whatever they wish in the name of feeling their best. 

Back to inflammation talk. 

I was BLOWN AWAY with the gentle yet effective treatment I had done. I was searching high and low for someone I trusted to touch my face and one morning with my eyes barely open on Instagram, I found her. We did a cleansing of the pores, peels with no down time, and extractions in a way I had not experienced before. The treatment was 2 hours and 15 minutes. I booked 90 minutes and was just lucky she didn't have anyone after me and wanted to keep going with my skin - which looked like glass by the time I left, and had my pores significantly reduced in size. The biggest takeaway: I just felt better. With the effects of being weathered and being stressed in general, all things built up - my skin had become inflamed (so has the rest of my body due to stress). With a few more sessions I know my skin would be back to a far more healthy state, but I'm leaving the area after being here for 10 weeks. One treatment was better than zero, however, and for this I am incredibly grateful! In case you can't tell, I'm a true advocate for professional skin treatments now and then. And when you come to St. Barth, I have an incredible facialist for you! His name is Nico. I'll get you in. 

Knowing what is going on with your body when you're going through it is a blessing because it lets you know how to respond. Just as awareness with your mind is so important, awareness with your body is, too. Your body is always talking to you. Back to inflammation talk. 

What are you doing on a daily basis to reduce inflammation? Do you even notice where and how your body, brain and skin is inflamed? If this is a topic you'd like me to dive deeper into, let me know. I'm happy to host a masterclass or informal Zoom evening training and conversation on it. Just email me at [email protected] with the word INFLAMMATION in the subject line. While this is just a skim of the surface on this topic I wanted to kick it off and thought why not start it off with chatting skin, because I know it's a topic many of us care deeply about.