Dry skin

Dry skin is a very common condition that affects both males and females but tends to affect older people a lot more than it does younger people. It is a condition that can cause your skin to flake, crack or have dry patches.
Normally, the skin is protected with fatty oils but when someone has dry skin, this signifies that the skin is being starved of these oils for external or internal reasons. External causes of dry skin can be due to the weather (dry or cold temperatures), allergies or over use of certain soaps, low humidity and even the material of clothes can affect it. The most common problem is using certain or harsh soaps as each time you use them to wash your skin, you are removing the essential, fatty oils that it needs. Internal causes of dry skin include age, family history and if there has been a history of atopic dermatitis.

SYMPTOMS OF DRY SKIN

The most common and most irritating symptom of this condition is itchiness. The most common places you are likely to be itchy are the arms, legs or hands. Your skin may start to flake or crack and sometimes, the skin cracking can result in it bleeding. The skin may begin to feel tight and it will start feeling and looking rough.

Treatments

Most of the time dry skin can be treated at home with a couple of easy to follow steps and self-care. It might be that your doctor recommends over-the-counter creams. Be aware that dry skin can lead to more serious skin diseases such as dermatitis, ichthyosis and psoriasis.

Medication

Over-the-counter creams — your doctor might recommend the use of a cream that you can get over-the-counter. These creams contain lactic acid with or without urea.
Emollients — these creams have a substance that stops the evaporation of water which can be a cause of dry skin.
Light moisturizing lotions — these are used for milder dry skin and include cetaphil lotion, lubridern lotion, and curel lotion.
High moisturizing lotions — these are used for severer case of dry skin and include Vaseline and Aquaphor.
Topical corticosteroid creams — these are stronger creams to help relieve and heal skin. They include hydrocortisone, Pramosone, triamcinolone and fluocinonide each with varying strength. Use milder corticosteroids for face, underarm, and groin areas.
Oral antihistamines — these can reduce itching in dry skin and can help you to sleep better. This include diphenhydramine (Benadryl), hydroxyzine (Vistaril, Atarax), and cetirizine (Zyrtec).

Things to do at Home

It’s important to prevent dry skin or to treat it as soon as possible before it develops into something worse. Most often than not you can treat it at home with some of these steps:

Moisturize — this is the most important one to prevent dry skin. Keeping your skin hydrated and creating a seal over your skin stop water from escaping. You should apply moisturizer several times a day, especially after bathing. Look at thicker moisturizers which work better such as Eucerin and Cetaphil which can be found over-the-counter. Also consider using make-up that contains moisturizers especially if your skin is extremely dry. Petroleum jelly is also a great option, you can find it in Vaseline or Aquaphor but can be oily so you may only want to use them at night.
Avoid harsh soaps — use cleansing creams or gentle cleansers and gels with additional moisturizers rather than rough, drying soaps. If you prefer soap use mild ones which have added fats and oils.
Warm water and limited bathing — if you have long showers or baths it can strip the natural oils from your skin leaving it dry. Bath for ten minutes and use warm rather than hot water. Apply moisturizer straight afterwards.

Related Forums

Related Videos