Friday, September 7, 2007

About Dry Skin

Climate can be one of the worst enemies for a dry skin, especially during the winter season. Effective dry skin care and treatment are way to keeping your skin younger-looking, supple and full of moisture.

The reason of putting yourself to an efficient dry skin care regime is to minimize the incorrect habits of skin treatment and the factors that injure the skin and causes irreversible damage.


Xerosis


xerosis is the word used to describe dry skin by dermatologists. In more severe cases, skin moisture is nearly not present thereby resulting to characteristic scaling, cracking and itching called pruritus.

Lack of skin moisture is the reason for these conditions. The skin needs a relative amount of moisture to maintain smooth or suppleness, flexibility and protection.

The harmful UV rays get into the skin easily and travel all the way down the delicate subcutaneous tissue and subsequently make you skin vulnerable to damage, if the skin is a not sufficiently moisturized.

Causes Of Dry Skin

It is important to identify the many factors, which results to the unwanted condition, in order to avoid the many activities that jeopardize your skin’s health.

Avoid Using Soaps with Harsh IngredientsDry skin is dehydrated wit regular soaps such as anti-bacterial and deodorant soaps, which are non-moisturizing and rob your integument with essential oils, which locks moisture from your body.

Using products containing alcohols also dissolves the skin lipids. This result in evaporation of moisturize, which indeed 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.

Weather

One of the factors that are responsible for developing dry skin is winter. In most cases, the problem of the effect of the climate can be solved with the use of humidifier. It balances the insufficient humidity needed for the skin moisture preservation.

Washing with Hot Water

Although one of the efficient moisturizing agents is water, it also strips your skin with valuable oils or lipids, which are responsible for retaining moisture from your skin.

Frequent Washinglimit

your bathing time within 15 minutes. Frequent washing and bathing, usually more than once a day depletes your body with moisture and natural oils.

Frequent Bathing

The valuable oils will be removed and your skin will get exposed to infections by destroying your body’s first main line of defense with frequent bathing, especially with hot water.

Once this is lost, your dry skin will become more prone to organic attacks by pathogens and sometimes cause permanent damage to your skin. Replace the hot water with lukewarm water to lessen the effect of skin dryness, if you are used to bathing with hot water and cannot resist the temptation.

Patients under medication

Medication removes 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.

Genetic Disease

Dry skin, is developed by the people who are afflicted with a rare genetic disease called ichthyosis. This genetic disease has no cure and the goal of skin care treatment is to secure the symptoms that manifest along the way.

Dry Skin Treatment

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

Bacterial and fungal infections are the most common reasons for dry skin, which do not go away until proper prescription drug treatment is administered. But in reasons not tied up above, products available in the market will help you achieve that goal and maintain a skin that is envied by everyone.

* 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.

* 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.

* 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.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.

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