Winter Skin Care Blog

It starts around November. Winds pick up, temperatures creep down. Furnaces kick on making the inside of our homes crackle with dry air.

That’s when the itching begins. Some people live with dry, scratchy skin all winter, until spring when the furnace clicks off. For others, it’s a year-round penance of living in a desert.

“Dry skin is worse in winter. Here, (there’s) no humidity,” said Dr. Julia Ai of Bella Dermatology in Sparks. “It’s worse in winter here because homes have dry heat.”

Itching and dryness are exacerbated by daily bathing or showering and sun damage — a skin worry that many people forget about during the winter.

Skin creams, moisturizing soaps, changes in bathing habits and the prodigeous use of sunscreens all can help take the itch and scratch out of a cold, dry, windy winter, local dermatologists say.

Americans have developed the habit of showering or bathing every day, Ai said. In winter, she said, it’s best to limit that daily exposure of skin to soap and water to just the “stinky parts” — feet, underarms, private parts.

And when you do shower or bathe, take precautions and shop around for skin products.

Use warm, not hot, water, Ai said. Hot water dries skin. Use a moisturizing soap. Liquid soaps and body washes often contain perfumes or sudsing ingredients that can be harsh, Ai said.

“Keep it simple,” she said. “Use a moisturizing bar soap, like Dove.”

After bathing, pat the skin dry, Ai said. Don’t rub. Leave the skin a little damp and apply a moisturizing cream right away.

Winter-dry skin can demand even more care. For very dry skin, Dr. Cindy Lamerson of the Nevada Center for Dermatology suggested a regimen of mineral or baby oil applied immediately after showering or bathing, while still in the shower or tub, being careful not to slip.

“Put it on when still wet in the shower, get out and, while you’re still a little wet, put moisturizer on top,” Lamerson said.

Use something heavy-duty, such as Eucerin cream or DML Forte cream, she said.

Winter itch and dry skin are exceedingly common in this area, Lamerson said, with probably 75 percent of the population suffering from them.

Once the itching is under control, Lamerson said, it’s OK to drop the mineral oil part of the regimen, but keep up the moisture cream use, she said.

Lamerson also prefers moisturizing creams to thinner lotions.

“You can notice the difference between moisturizers,” Ai said. “Do one on each arm. See how thick, goopy moisturizer (seals in moisture) better.”

A heavier cream takes more effort to rub into the skin, Ai said, but it seals in moisture well.

Men typically don’t like greasy creams on their skin, Lamerson said. If they suffer with dry, itchy skin, they should try different products to find one that feels comfortable on their skin.

Once a body is bathed and moisturized, there’s more work to do to ward off winter skin troubles.

In the winter, outdoor activity puts people out in the sunlight, and if there’s snow, about 80 percent of the sun’s ultraviolet rays reflect off that snow, Lamerson said.

“You’re getting almost two-fold (sunlight),” she said. “That’s where the huge blistering sunburns on the ski slopes come in.

“Also protect you face,” she said. “Wearing one of those little neoprene masks physically protects you from the sun.”

Ai also suggested using a humidifier in the bedroom.

Cindy Ainsworth of Reno follows a skin regimen all year long. She moisturizes regularly, deals with dry skin patches as they crop up, washes with a liquid moisturizing soap and drinks lots of water.

“Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. It makes a difference,” she said. “We don’t drink as much water in winter. We forget to drink as much and I think drinking water really helps.”

Ainsworth, of the Historic Reno Preservation Society, also remembers to pack the sunblock for winter outdoor activities.

“You really have to use sunblock all year round,” she said. “Any (skin) products you use, make sure they have sunblock.”

Kathy Berry, a Truckee Meadows Community College publicist, is a big moisturizer advocate. She first applies baby oil, then follows it with a lotion.

“I tend to use more night cream in the winter on my face,” she said. “And I can’t live without lip balm.”

By: Susan Skuropa
Source: rgj.com