Have you ever had rough, itchy, and flaky skin? This is due to less moisture in your skin and it affects people of all ages. The skin needs water and naturally occurring oils to maintain its softness, elasticity, and stretchiness in order to remain healthy and perform its function. The skin can become dry if it lacks oils and moisture. Dryness in the skin affects different parts of the body and dry patches on the skin can be found in different parts of the body in different people. Skin dryness can be caused by various reasons and some people naturally have dry skin but for some people, it might be caused for other reasons.
Dry Skin Symptoms
● Flaky skin
● Skin tightness
● Itchiness in the skin (pruritus)
● Skin that looks gray on brown and black skin and skin that looks reddish on white skin
● Cracks on the skin
● Visible fine lines
● Rough texture in the skin
● Skin gives a painful burning sensation or stings
● Slight to severe skin peeling
● Dry, red patches on the skin
What Are The Causes Of Dry Skin?
Using harsh deodorants, skin care products or cleaning products
Avoid deodorants and skin care products that are scented since fragrance tends to trigger or worsen existing skin dryness. Most of the cleaning products such as soap and shampoo are designed to remove the oils in the skin therefore it causes dry skin as well.
Dehydration
Skin dryness can be caused by more water being used by the body than the amount of water that is consumed. Water is an essential part of various vital processes in the body therefore water needs to be consumed in order to stay hydrated, and if not, the body may become dehydrated causing dry skin.
Medications
There are some medications that affect the fluid levels in the body and this causes dry skin. Medications such as diuretics, antacids, blood pressure medication, laxatives, and antihistamines and skin care products like retinol and acne treatments are causes of dry skin
Genetics
Research shows that skin can be inherited and dry skin could be passed down by genes. In these types of cases, the people passed down with this type of genes tend to have drier skin and could even suffer skin conditions such as eczema.
Hard Water
A lot of people use tap water these days and this water contains a higher percentage of minerals so it’s called hard water. When washed with this water, it will leave a thin layer of these minerals on the skin which would stop it from absorbing any moisture which becomes one of the causes of dry skin.
Dry Air
The air is dry when there is low humidity and when the skin is exposed to this dry air, it reduces the moisture from the upper layer of the skin therefore itchiness and skin peeling can result from the skin dryness. This can happen when you are in both indoor and outdoor environments.
Aging
As you grow older your skin loses the ability to produce the needed amount of oils and moisture to the skin due to losing the oil and sweat glands which will lead to itchy, dry, and flaky skin
Smoking
One of the other causes of dry skin is smoking. The toxic chemicals in cigarettes make your skin age more quickly and make it drier. You can reach out to Ranchlands Pharmacy if you ever need to quit smoking because the Smoking Cessation service is provided here to help you with that.
Medical Conditions
Medical conditions such as eczema, diabetes, thyroid disease, and kidney disease also cause the skin to dry out and there will be observable scaly patches on the skin, itchiness in the skin, and irritability due to your skin being dry from these medical conditions.
Vitamin Deficiency
If you have a Vitamin A deficiency, you are more prone to experiencing both dry skin and dry hair.
What You Can Do About Dry Skin
You can get the best moisturizer for dry skin, vitamins and lotions that would aid in getting rid of skin dryness and you can have access to these products at Ranchlands Pharmacy’s services where they would provide you with the opportunity to purchase them when you request refills for other products and supplies as well.