I have suffered from dry, irritated skin for years. My skin is flaky, red and very itchy. How did that happen? And how do I get rid of it?
Nadia
Dick van Gerwen, dermatologist
There are several factors that cause dry skin. The most common cause of dry skin today is excessive showering.
Showering is something that only became customary forty to fifty years ago. Before that, it was the most natural thing in the world to bathe only once a week. Often a zinc tub was used, which the relatives entered one by one. They were careful with water, because the water was not refreshed in between.
Showering is of course much easier and more pleasant. That is why the weekly washing in the basin has now been replaced by daily showering. For some people, even showering twice a day is the most natural thing in the world.
However, all that showering is very bad for the skin. Warm water, especially running warm water, dissolves grease. Just look at what happens when you run a frying pan with some congealed cooking fat under the tap. Not much happens with cold water, with warm water you can see the fat melt away.
The same thing happens to your skin when you shower. Your skin is covered by a layer of fat that offers protection and retains the moisture in the skin. This fat layer dissolves in the warm shower water and disappears from your skin. Then when you step out of the shower, your skin is warm. And because your protective layer has disappeared, a lot of water evaporates from the skin. After showering, the skin will feel tight and itchy. This itchy feeling is because so much moisture evaporates from the skin that small cracks pop up in the skin, like a drying river.
Fortunately, for most people, the protective layer recovers quickly, but showering every day for years can lead to permanently dry, irritated skin. There can even be severe eczema spots. The eczema then shows dry, red spots. And if you look closely, you can see the cracks in the skin. We call that crackle eczema.
For good skin care, and especially dry skin, it is therefore important to avoid contact with warm water as much as possible. Do not shower every day, but for example every other day. If you still want to shower every day, you can shower less long and less hot. After showering, if the skin is still slightly damp, you can apply a body lotion. Preferably hypo-allergenic and especially for dry skin. Showering less is not only good for the skin: it is also good for the environment. You can easily save as much as 75 percent (!) water and energy if you shower half less often and half less.
Do you also have a health question? Click here and ask your question to an expert!
