Dry skin is often a temporary condition and problem for people. It is often contributed to the winter weather due to the dryness of that season. The areas mostly affected by dryness are the arms, lower legs, and sides of the abdomen. The areas differ in each person and vary in severity. The signs and symptoms of dry skin differ from the age of the person, the health status, the region the person lives, and the amount of time the person’s skin is exposure to the outside elements.
For people who have dry skin, they likely experience some of the following issues:
Skin appears shrunken or dehydrated especially after bathing or swimming.
The texture of the skin appears to be rough. Severe or constant itching.
Flakey, scaly, or peeling skin.
Fine lines or cracks in the skin. Redness.
Bleeding sores due to the dryness of the skin.
It is important to see a doctor when changing the lifestyle and using home skin care procedures do not help or improve the dry skin. Other reasons include if the skin has redness. Caused itching and affects the sleep. Open sores or infections from scratching. Large areas of skin is scaling or peeling.
The most common areas for dry skin are on the front of legs in the shin region, arms, trunk especially in the areas of the bottom rib and hip region, and back of the hands.
The lesser stages of dry skin make the skin appear dull and rough with fine scales easily falling off the body. More advanced dry skin, include the skin cracking and inflammation leaving pink or red patches on the area.
Dry skin does not always have visible symptoms. There are cases known as asymptomatic where the skin ranges from being mildly itchy to extremely itchy. It is an uncomfortable experience for any suffers of dry skin since the itching can lead to scratching the skin surface and causing further possible damage and health issues.
Remedies for dry skin include healthy bathing habits.
Take a bath or shower only once a day. Taking baths and showers, more reduces the skins ability to remain hydrated naturally. Use lukewarm water, not hot water. Limit the exposure to the water to 15 minutes.
Avoid harsh deodorants soaps and limit using them on the armpits, groin, and feet regions. Use cleansers that do not contain soap products. After bathing, pat, not rub the skin. Apply moisturizers immediately after the exposure to water while the skin is still damp to increase the absorption of the moisturizers. Use moisturizers that are oil-based so the skin will retain the moisturizers.
Try using petroleum jelly, fragrance free creams, and ointments. Use items with alpha-hydroxy acids such as glycolic acid or lactic acid, and urea. Use cortisone cream on the itchy areas.
When there are cuts or scraps on the skin, apply immediately an antibiotic cream to avoid any possible infection. Use a humidifier in the home during the periods of the year the weather is colder and dryer.