Dry skin

Treatment Plan Summary

A dry skin problem is uncomfortable and very irritating for dry skin sufferers. Your skin look dull and red or flaky; it might feel tight and even painful. Worst of all is usually the itchiness -- the sort of overwhelming itchiness that makes you feel like you're full of fleas.

Dry skin facts

Dry skin is a very common skin condition in Australia, particularly in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. It is often characterised by rough skin and scaling, with small white flakes as the dead skin cells comes off. It can appear all over the body but is more often seen on the legs, arms, face, buttocks and hands.

If untreated, dry skin can sometimes lead to dermatitis -- inflammation of the skin -- swelling, and in more severe cases infection. For extremely dry skin, doctors may recommend medications or topical antihistamines, among other remedies. More about dry skin

What causes the condition?

Normal, healthy skin is coated in a thin layer of natural lipids, or fatty substances. They keep in moisture, leaving the skin soft and supple. Loss of lipids will result in impairment of skin’s barrier and will cause a variety of skin conditions; one of them is extreme dry feel.

Many people confuse this with dehydration of the skin and increase their water intake. However, dry skin persists even for those that drink 2-2.5lt of water a day.

Environment also plays a large part but, for those suffering with this condition, the important thing is to realise that something happened that stripped your skin off the essential fatty acids and left your skin unprotected.

Less often, the cause is internal; a health condition or genetic predisposition can make your skin dry.

Skin care you use can also be blamed for the dry skin condition. Harsh ingredients in skin care, cold temperatures, poor nutrition, genetics, age, or underlying conditions can all play a role.

If you notice the onset of a problem after starting a medication, talk to your doctor. He or she may be able to help by changing the dose or switching the medication.

Dry skin often develops when people get older; this is especially true in females. Changes in hormone levels can also cause this problem as we go through puberty, pregnancies, menopause etc. As people get older, the sebaceous glands, which produce sebum that coats our skin, lose some of its activity. Also skin's ability to hold moisture is diminished.

The good news is that in just as most cases the causes of dry skin are external;
most cures for it can also be treated externally.

With careful care, you can usually solve the problem of dry patches on the skin or overall skin dryness.

Tackle the issue of dry skin

Simply add on to your skin care regime (provided you use correct skin care products to begin with)

1. Use a quality, hypoallergenic cleansing exfoliator to gently remove dead surface layer skin cells. Use it twice a week and in between salon skin peels.
2. Invest in quality masks to clarify, cool and calm inflamed skin.
3. A quality moisturiser may reduce Trans Epidermal Water Loss or TEWL (the evaporation of water that can cause dry skin). Using Hyalaronic Acid based product (natural humectant) will soothe and to rehydrate your skin.
4. Make sure you also invest into a nourishing antioxidant serum, rich in essential fatty acids to “feed” your skin cells
5. Use comprehensive approach to facial skin rejuvenation

Don’t apply moisturizer on dry skin. Put on your serum / moisturizer when your skin is still damp from the toner as it’ll become a “carrier” helping get the most out of your serum. For the slightly heavy-handed of us, you will also find you use much less of your precious serum or moisturizer it as it’ll spread much further when mixed with toner on your skin.