You may not have dry skin the rest of the year, but during winter your skin may tend to act up in uncomfortable ways. However, you don’t have to suffer through it switching from one skin care lotion or cream to the next without finding satisfaction. Instead, you’ll have better luck treating that new irritating condition by buying the correct product for that particular problem first. Hence, let me show you how to decipher what your troubled skin is trying to say so you can end that dry skin during winter misery once and for all.
As an example, your skin could suddenly be flaking with dandruff, itching or be developing red areas to greasy white patches of skin that also can crust over and flake. If you start noticing any of that, especially in areas that were typically oily such as nose, back, eyebrows, scalp or your chest, this could be seborrheic dermatitis that is caused by a fungus. Though this condition is a common dry skin issue during winter, it also can spring up from stress, illness or hormonal changes.
Sometimes, seborrheic dermatitis can go away on its own. Nevertheless, you might want to pick up a gentle pyrithione zinc cleanser with a 2-percent concentration for the face, hands and body. Afterwards, apply a fragrance-free moisturizer and try to get more sleep also helps give the problem a chance to better heal. Depending on the severity, you also may need to visit your doctor for medication.
Itchy, dry skin during winter may also be attributed to eczema that can appear basically all over the body. Usually, this irritated red or brownish slightly bumpy rash locates in creases of the elbows, knees, feet, ankles, chest, neck or the face. This skin can also burn and eventually darken when it finally subsides. Unlike seborrheic dermatitis, eczema at this time of year is allergy related instead being helped along from a yeast type of fungus.
What else can cause your skin grief is a case of severe chapped hands and cracks on the skin that bleed. The reason this type of dry skin during winter problem happens so often is because of insufficient moisture. Although it may be humid outside, inside the air tends to be drier due to indoor heating. The matter becomes worse because you might be washing your hands more frequently since it is cold and flu season, not to mention more frequent washing tying to stay safe during this pandemic, removing even more skin oil to leave that dry skin drier.
The reason this irritant contact dermatitis also known as hand eczema happens is because of the soaps you may be using during winter could be responsible to dry skin more than normally and trigger an allergic reaction. I’m not just talking about hand soaps, but dish detergents to hand sanitizers can also be to blame.
Relief from this particular dry skin during winter plight can come from switching to a milder, glycerine soap followed immediately by some heavy duty lubrication. Wearing rubber gloves while washing dishes can help. Washing dishes with rubber gloves may be bulky during winter, but it offers protection from the hot water that you need to use that also unfairly targets dry skin.
Switching to another brand of dish detergent that is dye-free, no phosphates, no phthalates, fragrance-free, and hypoallergenic can also be beneficial. Seeing the word for “sensitive skin” is no guarantee there are not other irritants in the formula so read your label because ingredients like phosphates hurt the lipid layer, which is the outermost layer of the epidermis of the skin and target the immune system.
Chapped lips are just as painful since you lack oil glands in that area. You can compound the problem if you lick your lip and go outside in the cold, don’t drink enough water or forget to apply lip balm, lipstick or lip gloss for some form of protection.
Dry skin during winter is easily remedied. Hopefully, this post will help you find the proper relief.
