Try these easy strategies to maintain dry, cracking skin at bay during cold weather.
Cracked, dry, chapped, and flaky…winter could be hard in your skin. With cold air and a scarcity of humidity, your skin fights to retain moisture through the winter months, not to say heading off cold-weather staples like scratchy fleeces and raging wood fires.
1. What is probably the most common winter skin problem for girls?
For most ladies, it's dry skin and itching, Dr. Gilchrist says. You can blame cold air and low humidity for stripping water out of your skin's surface. Instead of lying flat and smooth after which falling inconspicuously off the surface, dead skin cells from the various layers of skin that make up our protective skin barrier form small but visible partially connected clumps that you just The skin feels dry and rough. “Older women have very dry and itchy legs. Sometimes it can even disrupt sleep, so it's more than just cosmetic,” says Dr. Gilchrist.
Eczema craquelé is one other problem to observe for within the winter months. It is largely an extreme manifestation of dry skin, which normally occurs on the lower legs. With this condition, dandruff actually causes cracks in the highest layer of the skin, called the stratum corneum. These cracks allow blood to pool up under the skin, appearing as red streaks, giving the skin a mottled appearance. Some women experience itching and stinging on this condition.
Also take note that your face and limbs aren't the one parts of your body that may experience dry skin. Your scalp may turn into dry through the winter months, which may result in dandruff, which luckily is straightforward to repair with a dandruff shampoo.
2. How are you able to prevent dry skin through the winter months?
Combating the issue starts with keeping your house environment moist. Use a humidifier if possible. But probably the most effective strategy is to make use of skin moisturizers, which reduce dehydration and physically smooth the skin, making it feel less rough, says Dr. Gilhurst.
3. Do you've gotten any suggestions for selecting a moisturizer?
Choose the heaviest moisturizer that's comfortable to wear, and use more in your lower legs and hands, that are most susceptible to dryness. After showering or bathing, pat skin dry and apply moisturizer immediately. Reapply as needed throughout the day, says Dr. Gilchrist.
4. What about dry lips? Any suggestions for treating and stopping chipping?
Lip balms, which you possibly can buy at any drugstore or supermarket, work well to treat and stop dry lips through the winter months.
5. Is it possible that your lips turn into depending on balms and dry out more quickly while you don't wear them?
Although you will have heard it prior to now, your skin doesn't rely on these products. “I've never seen any data to support that,” says Dr. Gilchrist. However, if you happen to're used to feeling these products in your lips and suddenly go without, your lips may feel particularly dry consequently.
6. Do expensive, brand-name moisturizers work higher than lower-cost options?
“It's not expensive to do,” says Dr. Gilhurst. “To my knowledge, although there are some very expensive moisturizers, there are none that are magically better.” But if you happen to can, she says, search for moisturizers with alpha hydroxy acids, also generally known as fruit acids, akin to lactic acid or glycolic acid. Creams with alpha hydroxy acids retain moisture within the skin longer than other moisturizers. She says you possibly can get plenty of them. Use small amounts until your skin gets used to them, so you possibly can apply them without stinging.
7. What concerning the fragrance within the moisturizer? Should you avoid them?
Fragrance-free just isn't at all times needed. “Unless you've had a reaction to a particular moisturizer with fragrance in the past, there's no real reason not to use a moisturizer with fragrance if you like it,” says Dr. Gilchrist. Allergic reactions are very unusual, she says, except in individuals with severe allergies.
Any other winter skin suggestions you possibly can offer?
Keeping the skin's outer barrier well hydrated is critical. Also, keep skin covered in cold temperatures, and don't forget to wear gloves while you're outside, says Dr. Gilchrist. For individuals with Raynaud's syndrome, where the blood vessels within the fingers are more reactive to cold temperatures, gloves will help prevent the fingers from becoming painful and turning white – which is more common in winter. Keeping hands warm may ensure healthy nail growth through the colder months, she says.
Also, as comfortable because it is, it's best to avoid sitting near a hearth or radiator all day, as any such direct heat can damage your skin. Avoid very popular baths because of this, says Dr. Gilchrist. Whenever possible, attempt to wear soft clothes. Wool is warm, but it could possibly scratch and itch the skin. If you wear wool while you exit, make certain to remove it as soon as you get in or put it on soft clothes.
With somewhat extra care, you'll have the option to guard your skin from the results of the winter chill.
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