Six Simple Tips to Alleviate Dry, Winter Skin

By Linda Georgedes, CME

As you weather the cold-weather dry skin storm, try these six simple tips for dewy, youthful skin all winter.

1. Don’t overheat.  
Keep heat no higher than 68 degrees during the day. For those prone to super dry skin, use a humidifier.  It’s a great way to add extra moisture to the air.  And finally, be sure to keep showers short (and not too hot) and opt for wet steam baths over dry saunas whenever possible.   

2. Stay hydrated.  
Increase water intake dramatically. 
Proper liquid hydration is directly linked to your skin’s ability to exfoliate properly.  Without proper hydration, you’ll end up with wrinkled skin and dead skin – a double whammy! Drink one extra cup for each serving of coffee, tea and alcoholic beverage. Herbal teas and flavored sparkling water qualify as part of you water intake. Be sure to triple your water intake when you are taking any cold and allergy medicines, sleep aids and/or antibiotics. 

3. Exfoliate by shaving.  
Yes, you heard right: shave! The process leading to the loss of dead skin is termed desquamation.  In healthy skin it is an orderly and essentially invisible process.  As we get older sometimes the process needs a little help.   The rub is that exfoliating too aggressively causes more harm than good.  This is why I prefer shaving. Shaving the face exfoliates those dead cells by removing several layers of skin, which allows moisturizers to deeply penetrate the skin and also aid in forestalling the aging process. It is a myth that the rate of hair growth or the color or length of your hair with increase.  Believe it and try it!

4. Change your cleanser.  
Cease the gels and switch to a milder cream-based version.  Combining your creamy cleanser with Niacin will add a definite plus to your program. One of my favorite items for the dry season is the Clarisonic skin brush.  It is unbelievably non-irritating while providing a very high level of desquamation to the epidermis.  

5. Moisturize. 
Use three times of amount of moisturizer you used in the summer months.  
The goal of a moisturizer is to increase skin water content, improve skin smoothness and decrease symptoms of itching, stinging, and burning. There is however, very little medical evidence that would prove that one moisturizer is particular more beneficial than another.  Some have added ingredients that promote better skin health but the price tag can be staggering.  Physicians agree that protecting the skin from transepidermal water loss is a key component in this process and believe it or not PLAIN PETROLEUM, applied in a thin coat works wonders to stop the water loss and protect dry and fragile skin in any inclement weather conditions.  USE IT! 

6. Get Professional Help.   
Dead skin build-up combined with oiliness is a chronic condition that is often part of the sensitive dry skin profile, which worsens in cold weather and when you are under stress.   For severe conditions, make an appointment with the clinic as soon as possible. You will probably need at-home usage of an enzyme peel.  But for severe build-up (hyperkeratosis), you may need prescription medications to help dissolve stubborn dead skin cells.  For severe redness, swelling or inflammation that can sometimes accompany this disorder, we may prescribe oxygen mist, vitamin C solution or zinc to speed healing.

While you weather the winter dry skin storm, remember these suggestions and you will look and feel great.  Exfoliating, hydrating and protecting your skin from water loss are the key components to a glowing, youthful complexion.

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