Dry skin, winter skin, or Xerosis, the medical term, all mean the same thing. No matter what you call it, dry itchy winter skin is a bother. When dry, your skin becomes itchy, flaky and less healthy in general. This kind of dry skin is more prone to invasion by microbes with resultant infection.
Skin can be dry at any time of year, but the dry winter air and the heated indoor air are harsher on the skin. Forced air furnaces make the skin even drier.
At home, to help minimize dry skin:
• Avoid hot showers. The hot water rinses away the natural skin oils that protect you. Keep your showers to warm water if you can.
• Keep the showers or baths short. Bath only once a day. More often bathing removes the lipids from the skin, increasing dryness.
• Use mild soaps and if possible, limit its use to face, armpits, feet and genitals during the dry skin time of year, or use a good moisturizing soap. Antibacterial soaps are more drying.
• Dry your skin thoroughly. Pat your skin dry, try not to rub. Rubbing can irritate already dry skin.
• Use a humidifier in the home during the dry winter months.
Use bath oils and moisturizers daily. Water based lotions do little to maintain the hydration of the skin while oil based lotions and rubs are effective in keeping the moisture locked in the skin. Canyon Sun SkinCare suggests their Brown Sugar - Body Polish in the shower. This oil based scrub will gently exfoliate the dry skin, and leave a smooth non-greasy coat of healthy oil. This should be applied in the shower. After the shower, their whipped body butter will cover and hydrate large areas of skin, such as your legs or flank areas. For more stubborn areas, such as feet or hands, the Moisturizing Balm is excellent. Getting into the habit of using moisturizers now can prevent problems associated with dry skin later and is a habit you should develop that will pay dividends later in healthier skin.
Dr. Gurvis not only recommends these products, and carries them in the office for sale, he and his family use them daily themselves.
