Skin Health SOS with Consultant Dermatologist Dr Nicola Ralph

It’s the body’s largest organ, but how much do we really know about our skin? Chances are, most of you have had some type skin concern, be it acne or rosace or a mole that didn’t look quite right. On this week’s show I’m joined by Consultant Dermatologist, Professor Nicola Ralph to discuss skin health as well as some of the most common skin concerns people have. Acne for example affects millions of people around the world. Professor Ralph says when chronic, it can have a negative impact on an individual’s life: “If you do somebody’s quality of life index, it’s basically a questionnaire of seeing how much the skin condition impacts on [a person]. It’s [acne] just as significant as having diabetes or asthma or epilepsy.” We also talk about what people can expect when getting a mole checked, what it really means for your skin’s health when you tan and how much SPF we should be wearing. Dr Ralph says we should be wearing SPF every day of the year. If we’re on holidays or even on a sunny day in Ireland, we need to be topping up every two hours: “Most of us underuse sunscreen. We tend to bring that one bottle [of SPF] on holidays and it seems to go on everyone, and we still bring that same bottle home. But really a full shot glass is what an application should be for the full body and that should be reapplied every two hours or so.” For more episodes, tips and advice from the show just go to: independent.ie/podcasts/the-re…health-podcast. And you can get in touch - I’m @KarlHenryPT on Instagram and realhealth@independent.ie.  Don’t forget to rate, review and subscribe on Apple and Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from.  The Real Health podcast is in association with Laya Healthcare.