Signs, symptoms and causes of dehydrated skin
Your skin has insufficient or limited amount of moisture in its intracellular system if it’s dehydrated. This is a problem which is not seasonal but instead, exists all year round. However your skin is more prone to get dehydrated in the winter because of the dry and cold environmental factors.
It’s important that you don’t neglect your dehydrated skin and keep monitoring its signs and symptoms. This way you can treat it on time before things get out of hand. The main factors which have an impact on your skin condition are age, the amount of time you spend outdoors and location.
Causes
While your skin may get dehydrated for various reasons, the most common reason is environmental factors. This includes the use of heating during the winter months and air conditioning in the summer months.
Your skin needs humidity as it provides moisture to your skin. However when you use a furnace, it only ends up reducing the amount of moisture inside your home. Moreover, there is less humidity outdoors in the cold winter months. The other causes for skin dehydration are wind, pollution, saunas, smoking, illness and some medications.
Signs and symptoms of dehydrated skin
The symptoms of dehydrates skin is similar to the symptoms of a sunburn. You feel your skin is tight and even a burning sensation in the skin. The symptoms tend to get irritating, and will not heal easily.
You also find the skin growing flaky with dry lines. You notice that your skin gets rough, and is no longer smooth anymore. While redness is a common symptom of dehydrated skin, extreme itching is also very common and painful at times.
Even taking very hot showers and baths end up dehydrating your skin as it makes the lipids in the skin break down and lead to cracking. The chemicals found in soap products, deodorants and sanitizing products also rob the skin of essential moisture.
Psoriasis
Psoriasis is considered an extremely chronic condition of dehydrated skin which develops when there is a buildup of rough and dry and severely scaly skin on the dehydrated skin. If you suffer from such a condition, it’s essential that you consult your physician or dermatologist for the best treatment to take.
Treatment
Your skin tends to get more dehydrated as you age as your skin tends to produce less oil and there is not much shedding of dead skin cells. The treatment for your dehydrated skin is decided based on its severity and individual case.
Common treatments are washing the skin with a mild and non-foaming cleanser as it does not strip lipids from the skin, using a washcloth for a manual exfoliation and avoiding bar soaps. Also use a rich, oil-based moisturizer all day and when you go outside, protect your skin with a sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher.
