Xerosis, or dry skin, is a common condition that affects many people at some point in their lives.
While some causes are medical and should be addressed by a healthcare professional many of the most common reasons for dry skin are treatable simply by changing your habits and how you care for your epidermis.
Keep reading for 3 of the most common causes of dry skin and how to deal with them.
1. Dry Skin Due to Weather
Many people will notice their skin gets dry and cracked during frigid winter months. As humidity disappears and the weather turns colder, our skin loses moisture and is more affected by the elements.
The wind and constantly changing from cold, windy outside air to warm interior spaces can increase the winter effects on your skin.
Keeping as much of your skin as possible covered from exposure to cold wind and winter conditions will help reduce cracked and dry skin but where there is winter there are many suffering with skin issues.
Vitamin C can also help keep your skin healthy and feeling hydrated when dry skin is caused by winter weather.
2. Heat and Hot Water
Woodstoves, furnaces, space heaters, and fireplaces can add to skin damage. Central heating systems can draw the moisture out of the air causing not only the air in your home to be dry but can also wreak havoc on your skin.
Many people think that taking showers or baths every day will help moisturize the skin because there’s water cascading over it but hot showers can have the opposite effect.
Taking too many hot showers can lead to dry and itchy skin and cause rashes or skin conditions. Skin can tear more easily, especially in the elderly.
Keratinocytes, the cells of the epidermis, or outer layer of the skin, create a thin layer of oil to protect and hydrate the skin.
Long hot showers tend to remove this layer of oil and keratinocytes, also known as the stratum corneum, leaving your skin without moisture or defense from environmental factors that affect them.
3. Cleansers, Creams, Soaps, and Detergents
You may be harming your skin without even realizing it by using products that are causing damage. The wrong detergent with harsh chemicals or ingredients that you’re sensitive to can cause dryness, rashes, and other skin conditions.
If you are suffering from dry and itchy skin, you may want to try gentler detergents and see if trying a different facial cleanser and soap. Changing your detergents and soaps may make a world of difference.
Ensuring you use natural products with vitamins and nutrients like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin C, E, and A and retinol can help remoisturize your skin and keep it feeling and looking younger and healthier.
You Don’t Have to Suffer From Dry Skin
Dry skin can be more than a mild annoyance, it can affect how you feel physically and emotionally.
You don’t have to live with dry skin when there are products designed to help you have the healthiest skin possible.