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This topic is restricted to mild or moderate dryness. Roughly 80% of the body's epidermal cells are made of keratinocytes, composed of soft protein keratin. As these cells rise toward the outer layer, they undergo many changes, including the increase in the amount of keratin they produce. This is what happens when the skin becomes dry. When the water content of your skin drops below ten percent, it gets rough, chaps, and scales.
When there's too little water in the outermost layer, it loses flexibility, itches and may crack. In order to keep this from happening, a way must be found to keep water trapped in the skin, keeping the keratin healthy. These habits can strip your skin of the scanty amounts of moisture and oil that it has. Here are some steps to take, which can restore moisture and suppleness to your skin:- Cut back on baths and showers, even facial cleansing.
- Scale back showers or baths to at least every other day or less. In between, you can perform sponge baths on odor-causing parts of your body.
- Where the face is concerned, dry skin sufferers should wash with a cleanser only once a day, preferably in the evening. In the morning, just splash cool water or use a moisturizing toner and apply moisturizer. Because cleansers can strip away sebum and natural moisturizing factors from your skin, washing at night gives your skin time to replenish itself, before you need to face outside elements, such as wind, cold, and sunlight. Morning scrubs don't give your dry skin time to recover its defenses before you go outside.
- Rinse off thoroughly. Soap can leave a film on your skin that is drying. Wash off all residues of soap carefully. Some doctors recommend that you rinse your face carefully-from fifteen to twenty-five splashes-to remove all soap.
- When drying off, pat your skin - rubbing can irritate dry skin.
- Avoid using astringents and clarifying lotions on your face. These products contain alcohol and can irritate dry skin.
- Overheated houses are one of the main reasons dry skin seems to occur more often in the winter. The less hot air that circulates, the better chance you have of keeping some humidity in the air. Frequent warming and cooling can also contribute to skin dryness. Use a humidifier in dry areas, or add more plants, which perform much the same job as a humidifier, keeping more moisture in the air.
- Saunas and steam baths can make you sweat, and sweat can leach out natural moisturizing factors in your skin, leaving your skin drier than it was before.
- Protect your hands by wearing gloves. Chapped and irritated dry skin on the hands is a common problem for people with dry skin. Try rubber gloves to protect them from hot water and detergents. If you are allergy-prone, wear a cotton pair underneath. You could develop contact dermatitis from the rubber in the gloves.
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