How to Treat Dry Skin?
Do you often complain of itchiness, scaling and cracking on your skin? Does your skin feel tight and stretched most if not all of the time? Are there visible cracks on and around your hands? If the answers to these questions are in affirmation, you may certainly have dry skin. Dry skin is one of the most common skin types with others in line like Oily and Combination skin. A number of factors can cause your skin to get dry, such as weather, age or genetics! Lack of water content from the upper skin layer - the Epidermis causes dry skin. Males and females both are equally affected by this skin condition but it is more common in the elderly. As we age, the natural oil content from our skin diminishes leaving it dry (and scaly oftentimes). Environmental factors such as humidity and low temperatures also influence it. The water content in our skin gets lower than a certain level depleting moisture off our skin. Other factors include excessive hand and face washing. It causes the natural oils and moisture of your skin to evaporate leaving rough, itchy and scaly skin behind. Your skin can also get dry as a side effect to some medications.
What Causes Dry Skin?
There is no one cause to dry skin. Your skin can be prone to dryness due to the internal as well as external factors. Internal factors include underlying medical conditions which when diagnosed can be treated. Other internal factors include age, genetics, overall health, family history and such. These factors are difficult to treat as one can only temporarily get a solution to these. There are several external factors that cause your skin to lack their natural oils and moisture. These external factors include,
- Low Humidity Level
- Cold or Low Temperatures
- Overuse of Hand Wash and Face Wash
- Using Products with Harsh Compositional Elements, and such.
Taking bathe and showering adds in the water content of your skin, but when this water evaporates, it leaves the body skin tight. Excessive scrubbing and using harsh soaps on your skin can also result in your skin losing its lubricants and oils, and getting dry. Therefore, it is always advised to use mild soaps and exfoliators on to your skin else your skin will lose moisture and will get more prone to dryness.
Symptoms of Dry Skin
The symptoms that indicate if you have dry skin are quite easy to detect and identify, these include,
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Itching
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Red Patches and Rashes
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Scaly Skin
They will mostly appear on around your face, hands and the heels of your feet.
How to Get Rid of Dry Skin?
If you encounter dry skin occasionally, you can hopefully keep it in check and manage to treat it exercising straightforward lifestyle adjustments and readily available moisturizers. If you begin to notice a severe dry skin dilemma, schedule an appointment with your dermatologist at your earliest. Immediate remedy and treatment will aid you to feel content with and within your skin sooner. It will also lessen your risk of complexities, such as skin infections and, bruises and scars from frequent scratching. At home, you can keep your skin well treated by:
- avoiding using warm/hot water to take shower or to bathe
- taking showers at alternate days and keeping the shower time less than 15 minutes
- using a moisturizing bathing soap
- never rubbing your skin with the towel, always pat dry
- making it a habit to always apply moisturizer or lotion after taking a shower
- drinking lots and lots of water to make up for the lost water content
- Avoiding having to wear wool (or such material) clothing.
- Making a lifestyle change to wear cotton and natural fiber clothes.