Treating Dry Skin

Weather can be one of your skin's worst enemies, especially during the winter season. As we go through this dilemma, we should remember that there are numerous factors aside from the one mentioned above which put your skin to the normal condition of wear and tear.

Effective skin care and treatment are ways of keeping your skin younger-looking, supple and full of moisture. The purpose of putting yourself on an effective skin regimen is to minimize the incorrect habits of skin treatment and the factors that injure the skin and cause irreversible damage.

Xerosis

Dermatologists use the term "xerosis" to describe dry skin. In more severe cases, skin moisture is nearly absent thereby resulting to characteristic cracking, scaling and itching called pruritus.

The above conditions are brought about when skin lacks the required moisture to prevent the aforementioned results. Skin needs a relative amount of moisture to maintain smooth or suppleness, flexibility and protection.

If not sufficiently moisturized, harmful UV rays get into the skin easily and travel all the way down the delicate subcutaneous tissue making your skin vulnerable to damage.

Causes of Dry Skin

In order to avoid the many activities that jeopardize your skin's health, it is important to identify the many factors which result in the unwanted condition.

· Avoid Using Soaps with Harsh Ingredients - Regular soaps such as anti-bacterial and deodorant soaps, which are non-moisturizing, dehydrate the skin and rob your integument with essential oils which locks moisture from your body.

Products containing alcohols also dissolve skin lipids and cause the skin's moisture to evaporate resulting to skin dryness. Water and oil-based products are perfect for your skin. Use Dove, Olay and other soap substitutes available at your local drugstore.

· Washing with Hot Water - Although water is an effective moisturizing agent, it also strips your skin with valuable oils or lipids which are responsible for retaining moisture from your skin.

Frequent bathing, especially with hot water, removes valuable oils and exposes your skin to infections by destroying your body's first main line of defense.

Once this is lost, your skin will become more prone to organic attacks by pathogens and sometimes cause irreversible damage to your skin.

If you are used to bathing with hot water and cannot resist the temptation, try replacing it with lukewarm water to lessen the effect of skin dryness.

· Frequent Washing - Frequent washing and bathing, usually more than once a day depletes your body with moisture and natural oils. Also, limit your bathing time to 15 minutes.

· Weather - Winter is one major factor in the development of a dry skin. The use of a humidifier, in most cases, solves the problem of the effect of the climate. It compensates for the insufficient humidity needed for the preservation of skin moisture.

This is because cold air cannot afford to hold an adequate amount of water to serve skin's moisture demands. Warm air on the other hand holds enough humidity to keep the skin moisturized at a certain level.

·  Patients under medication - People taking diuretic drugs remove water from a patient's body because the kidney will less likely reabsorb the water filtered through it.  In this case, frequent intake of water is needed. Do NOT change your medication without approval from your GP.

· Genetic Disease - People afflicted with a rare genetic disease called ichthyosis are likely to develop dry skin. This genetic disease has no cure and the goal of treatment is to secure the symptoms that manifest along the way.

Effective Treatment

The skin deserves much attention for it manifests your overall health or state of well-being. It provides you with valuable clues as to how you take care of yourself and how much attention your skin gets in your daily physical management.

One way to maintain that youthful glow is to subscribe to a skin treatment regimen that will help your skin restore moisture when it's needed.

Most reasons for dryness are bacterial and fungal infections, which do not go away until proper prescription drug treatment is administered. But products available on the market will help you achieve that goal and maintain a skin that is envied by everyone.

· Alpha hydroxyacid lotions are best for dry skin. Oil-based are more effective than water based lotions for they "lock-in" the moisture stored in the skin.

· Effective moisturizers are dependent on your immediate and long-term needs. If you want to relieve itching caused by dry skin, ordinary moisturizers will serve your purpose.

Humectants such as lotions containing glycerin, propylene glycol promotes moisture retention and allantoin and urea are effective for promoting healing and stripping damaged cells on top of the skin.

· Barrier creams are effective for people who are in a habit of washing their hands frequently. For individuals with advanced dry skin condition (pruritus), anti-pruritic agents such as oatmeal and tar-based pine oil are beneficial.

· Balanced-diet and exercise cause your skin to produce more oil and maintain a relative amount of oil that keeps moisture in your skin. Drinking plenty of water is also important.

If these and other treatments are not effective in alleviating all the symptoms of drying skin, it is best that you consult a professional dermatologist so they can closely monitor the cause of dryness.