Skin Care – Soothing Dry Skin

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Perhaps the most preventable skin condition is dry skin, which also happens to be the most common.

In addition to keeping your internal organs protected, the next most important function of your skin is helping your body retain its moisture. Your skin or epidermis has distinct layers. The outermost layer is known as the stratus corneum.

As you go about your normal daily activities, your body produces lipids. Lipids are an oily material that prevents water from entering or escaping the body. If your body doesn’t produce enough lipids, as is the case with eczema, the moisture will escape to the surface of your skin and evaporate away. As the skin continues to lose moisture it will start to dry up and form cracks, scales or in extreme conditions small surface cuts. This drying up triggers an itching sensation. As you scratch the surface of your skin you will make small cuts in the skins surface. These small cuts are very susceptible to infection from bacteria.

To keep your skin healthy and hydrated follow these helpful tips:

• Take shorter showers using warm, not hot water
• Don’t use abrasive soaps or other cleansers
• Use a moisturizer at least twice a day

Some other factors to consider are:

• The best time to moisturize is after a shower and before you go to sleep
• Changes in temperature cause your skin to dry out more quickly
• As you get older your body produces less new skin cells and will dry out quicker

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