Treats dry and often chapped skin in the cold season
Why is skin dry?
Every day our skin needs a certain amount of water to keep the skin and organ tissue layers plump and not dry. The body always loses water from the inside through the skin. In cold winter, dry weather, or when staying in an air-conditioned room for a long time, this water loss increases even more. Therefore, the skin is often dry and easily cracked, especially for young children and the elderly, and can even cause lip and mouth ulcers.
The colder it is, the drier the skin becomes. This is due to increased water loss through the epidermis when it’s cold. Moreover, because it is cold, everyone is afraid to drink water, often waiting to be thirsty to drink, so the amount of water supplied to the skin is also low, which is why the skin is more susceptible to chapped skin.
Image of dry skin due to chapped skin
For children, because their skin does not yet have a sebum layer and the skin’s elasticity is poor due to the immature collagen fiber system, the ability to withstand all harmful effects is many times lower than that of adults. The above characteristics make baby’s skin easily affected by the weather, and chapping in children is often more severe. When the skin is dry and chapped, the top layer of the epidermis becomes rough and wrinkled, sometimes layers of dead skin cells fall off, looking like moldy skin, and in many cases the skin looks rough.
When dry and cracked, patients usually immediately think about what medicine to use to treat the chapped skin, but there is a very effective way to increase the amount of water in the skin through the diet. Every day you should eat lots of fruits and vegetables, drink fresh fruit juice and drink lots of filtered water to provide enough water for your skin, and your skin will be less dry. When it’s cold, the body’s need for water is still very high, so you still have to drink water regularly.
On days with high humidity and dry weather, you need to drink more water. 2-3 times a day, use a damp towel to cover your face for about 2 minutes to reduce skin dryness and tightness. You should use cucumbers, tomatoes, and jicama to wash and slice and apply as a mask before going to bed. When going outdoors, you should wear a mask to limit your skin’s exposure to sunlight and dust, making it more susceptible to chapping. You can use vaseline to moisturize your body and areas that are often chapped and dry. , the exposed area, in direct contact with the environment. With dry, chapped skin, paying attention to keeping chapped areas clean is very important. You need to wash your face gently 2-3 times a day with moderately warm water, do not use hot water as it will cause the skin to lose more water. Do not overuse facial cleansers and soaps because their active cleansing ingredients remove sebum from the skin faster, making the skin drier.
After washing your face, you can apply moisturizing and softening products. Creams contain ingredients that hydrate and moisturize the skin, avoiding dry, cracked skin. Creams containing ingredients such as almond oil, olive oil, rice bran extract… are often used as anti-aging skin care products and moisturize the skin to prevent symptoms such as dryness and wrinkles. .
Especially for young children, to treat chapped children, parents should wipe the baby’s skin with warm water (not hot water) and then apply a thin layer of cetaphil to the baby’s skin, forming a thin layer to prevent the baby’s skin from becoming dehydrated or dehydrated. Choose moisturizers specifically for children. You should avoid products with fragrance and alcohol because they can dry out your skin and pose a risk of allergies.
Some ways to care for dry and chapped skin
– Bathe or wash gently with warm or cool water, do not bathe with too hot water as it can easily dry out the skin and quickly age the skin;
– Use skin-softening shower gels or shower gels for children. You can also bathe with diluted lemon juice (squeeze 1 lemon into 1-2 liters of water);
– Facial cleansers should choose mild ones for dry skin or just wash with 0.9% NaCl physiological saline;
– Do not use soaps, shower gels that contain a lot of soap or strong facial cleansers that contain exfoliating ingredients that increase skin dryness;
– Do not bathe for too long or use too much shower gel;
Regarding diet, you should drink plenty of water to compensate for the amount of water lost through the skin in winter. You should practice the habit of drinking lots of water, drinking 1.5-2 liters of water/day. In the winter diet, in addition to increasing calories to fight the cold, we should add green vegetables and fresh fruits to provide more vitamins, especially oranges, lemons, grapefruit, bananas.
