Dry skin occurs when the skin barrier, which is made up of oils, becomes too thin. This allows the moisture, which should be retained by your skin, to escape. Your water balance is disturbed and your skin dries out.
What are the causes of dry skin?
According to The American Academy of Dermatolog, when skin loses water too quickly, it becomes dry. This can happen for many reasons.
Everyday things, such as using deodorant soaps and harsh cleaning products, can strip oils and fats from our skin. Taking long, hot showers can also dry your skin. Living in a cold, dry place dries the skin, too.
You can often heal dry skin by making some changes, which includes medical hydrating cream several times a day.
When the skin continues to lose water and cannot heal itself, skin can become excessively dry. Age, certain medications, and disease can also cause skin to become excessively dry.
Tips to prevent and treat dry skin
Preventing dry skin on the face is easy by adding these simple steps to your daily skin care regimen:
Use gentle cleansers
Soap is harsh and drying to the skin, so a simple way to help prevent dry, flaky skin is to use a gentle, moisturizing cleanser specifically formulated for dry skin. But any cleanser with added moisturizers will do as long as there is no fragrance in the products, says Sandra Marchese Johnson, MD, a dermatologist with Johnson Dermatology.
Consider limiting shower frequency
There are some dermatologists who feel you should limit your bathing,” says Johnson, while others say it’s fine to bathe twice a day. If you bathe with a rich bath oil, it will help lock in the water and keep your skin moisturized.
Think warm, not hot
What’s even more important for preventing dry skin than frequency is how you’re washing your skin and the water temperature you’re using. “The prevailing thought is try not to take too hot or too long” a shower, says Johnson.
So keep your bath or shower short, and make sure the water is only lukewarm or even slightly cool. Gently pat your skin dry with a towel after you bathe and rub in your moisturizer as soon as you get out of the shower.
Protect against dry air
Cold, dry air can suck the moisture right out of your skin, leaving it chapped, flaky, and even cracked if it’s severely dry. To protect your skin from the elements, “keep your barrier intact,” says Johnson.
That often means managing health problems that can remove fats from the skin, which makes it more susceptible to dryness and vulnerable to dry air. Using a humidifier in your home will add moisture to the air.
Drink water to moisturize skin from within
If you’re healthy inside, you’ll look healthy outside – and that includes having supple, moisturized skin. “A healthy lifestyle is important,” says Johnson. Drink water, eat well, exercise, and lower stress levels to keep your mind, body, and skin healthy.
Think about your skin, and how everything that you do, expose it to, and apply to it affects how healthy it is. Just a little extra TLC each day can protect skin from dryness and help it glow.
The best part: using ALHYDRAN
Fortunately, you can give your skin a helping hand to restore its moisture balance. You now know that two things are important for your water balance: moisture – and its retention (by your skin barrier).
Many people apply preparations in order to restore skin moisture. These are unfortunately not a complete solution. Most preparations introduce moisture, but do not restore your skin barrier. In other words: the moisture disappears as quickly as it is applied.
What is needed is a single product which both introduces moisture and seals the skin, so that the moisture is retained.
ALHYDRAN is such a product. It is the only cream proven, in independent scientific studies, to work in this way. ALHYDRAN hydrates, seals the skin and has a long-term effect.