Have you heard about this new thing that people are raving about? It is called hyaluronic acid. It naturally occurs in our bodies can be found in the connecting tissues and mostly in the joints and your eyes. It has been approved by the government to be used during various eye surgeries as it helps to maintain the hydration of our eyes. If you want to learn more about hyaluronic acid and its various benefits for our skin then continue reading.
What Is Hyaluronic Acid?
Before we go any further, we need to first learn something more about hyaluronic acid or hyaluronan. It can be identified as a clear and gel-like substance that is produced by your body and its main job is to keep connective tissues, eyes, and skin lubricated and moist. Recently, people have recognized its benefits for the skin and it can be found in a lot of products like sheet masks, serums, etc.
If we go deeper into the science of how hyaluronic acid works then it is a sugar-based substance that takes care of retaining the moisture of your skin and helps your joints move and work with ease. Hyaluronic acid not just helps with the smooth working of your joints and the glow and plumpness of your skin but also it makes sure that this moisture doesn’t leave your body.
It is very essential for our body but as we age this magical product just like collagen depreciates. Don’t you worry, this is natural but there are still a lot of ways you can slow down this process?
Some of the Ways you can do that are
- A diet that is rich in anti-inflammatory properties
- Drinking water
- Exercise
So, if you check the labels of some of your favorite creams or lotions you will spot that it has hyaluronic acid in them. This helps to bring the internal moisture to the surface making your skin look healthy and moisturized.
Benefits Of Hyaluronic Acid
There are several benefits of hyaluronic acid whether it is used on its own or in the combination with other acids, peels, and retinol.
1. Helpful for Dry Skin
Just like it helps to hydrate our joints and skin internally, using hyaluronic acid on the outside helps to fight against dryness. Sometimes, the dry skin is a result of the decrease of the hyaluronic acid so the best way to get it back is external, there are a lot of creams and lotions that will do the job for you. Next time you go skincare shopping, just check the label for this acid and you will be all set.
2. For Arthritis
Most often when there is a lack of Hyaluronic acid in your body, your joints are the worst affected. The absence of the fluid that aids the smooth working of your joints, causes joint pains and muscle aches in extreme cases it can even cause arthritis. So, doctors often inject the acid into their joints to make up for the loss. However, you need to consult your doctor about this. There are also alternatives for this that can be consumed orally.
3. Used for Eye Operations
Doctors use hyaluronic acid when they are treating someone’s eyes. The reason behind this is that during surgery the eyes aren’t able to produce the moisture naturally and the lack of it can result in irritation and more production of tears. So, to compensate for this loss, doctors use this acid which is naturally produced by our eyes.
4. Helps with Post-Cardiac Attack Shoulder Pain
Often after a heart attack, people suffer from major shoulder pain that is sometimes unbearable for people. This can happen due to the loss of the acid in the shoulder joint. So, doctors use this to ease the pain.
5. Aids Foot Sores
People who have diabetes often complain about getting foot sores. This happens naturally but can be very painful. Sometimes using products that have hyaluronic acid works better than various other treatments.
6. Helpful with Sinuses
People who have a sinus infection are advised to use a nasal wash that has hyaluronic acid, this helps to clear out the swelling or any kind of scarring or crusting caused by the sinus infection.
7. Wrinkled Skin
People start getting wrinkles when the natural ability of the body to produce collagen and elasticity reduces. Doctors use hyaluronic acid to inject it in the areas that have started sagging to lift the skin and make it look healthier and plumper and in turn reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
8. Healing Wounds
One of the best ways to use hyaluronic acid is on burns and wounds as it works like magic to repair the skin around the wound and also reduces scarring.
9. Effective for Dry Eyes
Dry eyes are an issue that is very common in pregnant women and people who spend a lot of their time in front of a screen. As a result of which the eyes’ tendency to make fluid that moisturizes and hydrates the eye reduces resulting in dry eyes. Research has shown that using eye drops that have hyaluronic acid in them helps with this problem.
Another area where it is beneficial is
- Oral sores
- Kidney and bladder infections
- Vaginal atrophy
- Ear infection
- Kashin-beck disease
- Sore muscles
Hyaluronic Acid Injections
You must have heard about fillers; well, you’d be surprised to know that they also have hyaluronic acid in them in a kind of gel-like form this helps to smooth out the fine lines and lift the sunken areas on your face. These are safe to use with some observable side effects for some time like swelling and redness. This is very popular these days and has proven effective for many.
Takeaway
While using hyaluronic acid for your skin and the aforementioned uses are safe it is advised to always consult your doctor before using them directly onto your skin. When you are looking for a product that has hyaluronic acid as one of its ingredients should be safe for you to use.
Also read- Natural Sources of Hyaluronic Acid