f urban life takes a toll on the mind and the body, then living in New York City is probably as bad as it gets.

Smoke from the crosstown bus fills your lungs the minute you walk out the door; single-digit winter temperatures and triple-digit summer ones make your skin parch and sweat alternately; the general racket of traffic never abates, and public transportation, the only known antidote to the stress of alternate parking, has made anti-bacterial wipes the new staple of the urban purse.

Sigh. So what can you do to fend off the Big Apple?

Anti-pollution moisturizers. "Stressed-hair" conditioners. Water filters. Humidifiers. White noise headsets. Soundproof windows. Air purifiers.

Some of us have become desperate to keep the city out—out of our hair, out of our pores, out of our homes and, most of all, out of our minds.

"The sun and cigarette smoke are the skin's biggest foes," said Dr. Karen Burke, a specialist in dermatology who has written several articles on the effects of urban environment on the skin.

Her number one recommendation is to apply sunscreen all year long, even in the car, because ultraviolet A rays go through windows, and they're the ones that really cause aging. Sun-starved New Yorkers must be especially cautious, because when summer comes, they often can't wait to show off a nice tan and will sometimes bypass the sunblock.

PHOTO: Aude Lagorce

You'd better give that up to get rid of your skin's ashen look.

The skin's second biggest ennemy is cigarette smoke, which causes damage both in active and passive smokers. Smokers get more wrinkles and often suffer from blood vessel constriction, which explains their skin's dull, ashen look.

People tend to worry more about outdoor pollution. But "outdoor pollution in New York isn't so bad because it's an island, so there's a lot of wind," Burke explains. "Indoor pollution is actually much worse."

In closed environments, like office buildings or airplanes, where the same air is constantly recycled, people can get rashes or acne.

Burke also warns that cleaning products can be terrible for the skin. She recommends washing one's hands often. "We touch our face much more often than we realize, and some people get allergies from cleaning products used to polish their desk for instance." There are also pollutants in our carpets, dry-cleaning products, nail polish, etc.

New Yorkers have it rough. Their air is not as highly polluted as they think but it is dry in the winter and incredibly humid in the summer. Air conditioning in the summer and too much heat in the winter make everything worse by creating artificial dryness, which can only be counterbalanced by the use of a humidifier. In other words, you now have two more machines buzzing in your bedroom.

Should the airconditioning perturb you, you can always put on a pair of noise-cancelling headsets. They are mostly used for travel, but can also be worn around the house to create an atmosphere of near complete silence. But the Bose set, considered the most efficient on the market, will still cost you about $300.

PHOTO: Bose

Keep the decibels low with the Bose set.

Or you can adopt a more radical solution and turn to City Proof Windows, a specialty store which has been installing "double-windows" all over the city since 1960. It won't rid you of inside noise, but depending on the thickness of the glass you pick, it can reduce external noise up to 95 percent, according to Paul Smith, manager of City Proof. Some of the windows manufactured by the store also multitask: they reduce pollution in the house by limiting air penetration.

Still, there are times when all the city-proof windows in the world won't do the job and one just needs to escape the city. Options then include the spa, the gym and finally, for the more ambitious, getaway weekends.

Spas are so popular in the city that About.com has a whole column of rankings devoted to them. Best romantic. Best orchid pedicure. Best package deal. Best eyebrow sculpting. Best edible facial. Best waxing. Best ambiance. But that's not all. There are also spa restaurants, spa recipes, spa books and spa training centers. The list is endless.

To well-off New Yorkers, spas have become just another commodity. One has a dry cleaner, a grocer, a pediatrician, a bank and— a spa. Tough competition has spurred many of the spas to add services to the traditional manicure, pedicure, facial and waxing usually available at beauty parlors. Specific massages have been added to the list to lure the stressed urban dweller.

The Spa at Chelsea Piers, for instance, offers the Hot Rock massage, where "heat from silky, smooth lava stones act as catalyst in loosening muscles and joints while cool stones create a counteraction that helps pump out the body's toxins." For $130, you will "emerge centered in body, mind and soul".

Most luxury spas also offer reflexology, Shiatsu and mud wrappings. Some seek to make you forget your urban environment by creating an exotic setting. At Juvenex Spa, on 32nd Street, you will find a "jade igloo" made of 20 tons of semiprecious stones, an herbal glass steam room and Japanese-style soaking ponds filled with sake or ginseng.

Green spaces might be scarce in the city, but you're still in New York, so you can practice almost any sport you wish. At Chelsea Piers, there is rock climbing, golf and water polo, but the sports club's most original offer remains kayaking. No need for much experience; after the basic lesson, just make sure you're wearing a swimsuit, sun glasses and fast drying shorts and you're off to paddle the waters surrounding Manhattan.

For the less adventurous, just know that you can golf on Randall's Island, horse ride in Central Park, luge in the Bronx and scuba dive at Chelsea Piers.

Finally, for those whose thirst for green spaces will not be slaked by the thronged meadows of Central Park, there is one last solution. Leave.