The Potential of Exercise on Lifestyle and Skin Function: Narrative Review

BACKGROUND

The skin is an important organ of the human body and has moisturizing and barrier functions. Factors such as sunlight and lifestyle significantly affect these skin functions, with sunlight being extremely damaging. The effects of lifestyle habits such as smoking, diet, and sleep have been studied extensively. It has been found that smoking increases the risk of wrinkles, while excessive fat and sugar intake leads to skin aging. Lack of sleep and stress are also dangerous for the skin's barrier function. In recent years, the impact of exercise habits on skin function has been a focus of study. Regular exercise is associated with increased blood flow to the skin, elevated skin temperature, and improved skin moisture. Furthermore, it has been shown to improve skin structure and rejuvenate its appearance, possibly through promoting mitochondrial biosynthesis and affecting hormone secretion. Further research is needed to understand the effects of different amounts and content of exercise on the skin.

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to briefly summarize the relationship between lifestyle and skin function and the mechanisms that have been elucidated so far and introduce the expected effects of exercise on skin function.

METHODS

We conducted a review of the literature using PubMed and Google Scholar repositories for relevant literature published between 2000 and 2022 with the following keywords: exercise, skin, and life habits.

RESULTS

Exercise augments the total spectrum power density of cutaneous blood perfusion by a factor of approximately 8, and vasodilation demonstrates an enhancement of approximately 1.5-fold. Regular exercise can also mitigate age-related skin changes by promoting mitochondrial biosynthesis. However, not all exercise impacts are positive; for instance, swimming in chlorinated pools may harm the skin barrier function. Hence, the exercise environment should be considered for its potential effects on the skin.

CONCLUSIONS

This review demonstrates that exercise can potentially enhance skin function retention.

Effects of regular exercise on skin moisturizing function in adults

Among lifestyle habits, the effect of exercise on skin moisturizing function has not been studied. Therefore, we aimed to clarify the effect of regular exercise on skin moisturizing function. The participants were 30-64 years old with no history of skin diseases and no exercise habits at the start of the study. The intervention group (n=9) continued to exercise at least 600 Mets/week for 8 weeks, while the control group (n=28) followed conventional lifestyle habits for 8 weeks. Questionnaires regarding lifestyle habits were administered at the beginning and after 8 weeks, and skin moisturizing function (stratum corneum hydration: SC hydration, Trans-Epidermal Water Loss: TEWL) was measured. Analysis of covariance was performed using sex, age, and measurements at the start of the study as covariates. Analysis of covariance showed that after 8 weeks of "moderate" or "higher" exercise, there was a trend toward higher SC hydration in the intervention group compared to that in the control group (p=0.083, η2=0.10). There was no difference in TEWL after 8 weeks (p=0.864, η2=0.00). These results suggest that regular exercise may help maintain and improve skin moisturizing function.