Lore relates that Hippocrates, the father of Western medicine said, “Give me the power to create a fever, and I shall cure any disease.” Whether he was the first to notice or not, it is now widely accepted that increasing the body’s temperature offers superior health benefits. Steaming the face offers these benefits, albeit on a localized level.
Perspiration
There are two types of sweat glands in the human body. The eccrine sweat glands cover the entire body but are most prevalent on the soles of the feet, the palms of the hands and on the forehead. They secrete sweat that is mostly water, but contains small amounts of salt, as well. The apocrine sweat glands are larger and located mainly in the armpits and genital area.
Dr. Patricia K. Farris, Clinical Assistant Professor at Tulane University, describes the sweat glands as, “long, coiled hollow tubes of cells” whose main function is to cool the body, eliminate toxins, hydrate skin and maintain the protective acid mantle on the skin.
During the steam phase of a facial, skin begins to sweat. As perspiration rises to the skin’s surface, it carries with it dirt, debris, bacterial matter, organic compounds and sloughed-off skin cells. This cleansing effect helps to keep skin clean.
Plug Softening
The average square inch of skin contains approximately 650 sweat glands, reports Free Science. HighBeam Research notes that approximately 65 hair follicles and 97 sebaceous glands reside in that same area.
The sebaceous glands, which empty into hair follicles, produce a waxy oil called sebum. Sebum lubricates hair as it grows from a root in the follicle and pushes its way out a pore. Sebum also lubricates skin and, along with perspiration, makes up the acid mantle that protects skin from outside aggressors, such as bacterial and viral invaders. According to Farris, a healthy acid mantle has a pH of between 4.5 and 6.5. This slightly acidic barrier keeps moisture from evaporating too quickly from skin and helps form the “cement” that keeps a layer of dry, dead skin cells fused to the surface of skin. This layer, while it begins to look gray and dull as you mature, has a protective function.
As skin ages, its turnover rate slows considerably. In a healthy, young adult, cells slough off after about 28 days, keeping skin young and fresh looking. As you age, that rate increases up to about 50 days. Regardless of turnover rate, however, dead cells left on the surface of skin can bind with sebum, dirt, bacteria and other debris to form a plug in a pore’s opening. The plugs cause sebum to back up within the hair follicles, causing what we know as blackheads and whiteheads. Steam softens the plugs, making extraction easier and less likely to cause damage.
Circulation
The heat from a steamer increases the skin’s temperature. When that happens, the tiny blood vessels within skin begin to dilate, which allows more blood to flow to the surface of skin. Because blood carries nutrients, steaming the skin brings more of these youth-preserving, skin-enhancing properties to your skin.
