When choosing any dry skin lotion for dry skin treatment, some basic things should be borne in mind. One should remember that the products should be chosen with care to help provide maximum relief from dry skin and should be based on a thorough research rather than trying one product after the other.

The first and foremost thing to remember while choosing any dry skin lotion is to avoid any product that contains synthetic ingredients in them or contains ingredients like alcohol, paraben, petrolatum, fragrances, etc as these ingredients are harmful to the skin and will cause more harm than good. These ingredients are generally present in the product to help improve the shelf life of the product rather than to do any good to the skin.

While choosing a dry skin lotion, it is best to stick to products that contain natural ingredients in them. But, one such ingredient that is passed off as natural is mineral oils. These are also toxic to the skin and will not help in alleviating dry skin rather it increases the problem.

Some of the natural ingredients that you can look out for while choosing a dry skin lotion would be ones that contain a rich concentration of vitamins such as vitamin E and vitamin A. Also, you can look out for ingredients like Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), hyaluronic acid, and keratin as these have beneficial actions in providing your skin with moisturizing effects and help in retaining the moisture in the skin.

While it is essential to choose a dry skin lotion with natural and active ingredients, you should also know what lotions you need to use to help effectively counter dry skin problems.

The most basic of all lotions that one can use is a moisturizer to help the skin retain moisture in it. These lotions should be used immediately after a bath to help the skin retain moisture before it gets dried out. Another dry skin product that is commonly used is a sunscreen. This will help prevent damage to the skin caused by overexposure to the sun. Another dry skin lotion that can be used is a combination of a moisturizer and a sunscreen.

If the symptoms of dry skin are more severe and involves symptoms like itching, flaking, cracking, redness, inflamed skin, etc then basic dry skin lotions will not be very helpful in reducing the symptoms. Instead, a dry skin lotion that contains an emollient should be used. The emollients will help in healing of the skin and in alleviating the symptoms of dry skin.

If these dry skin lotions are not helpful in reducing your symptoms, it is best to consult a qualified medical professional for help at the earliest as early intervention will help prevent worsening of symptoms and causing the problem to become more chronic.

The reason for this limited success is due to one small problem that they fail to address – the cause for dry skin. Yes, unless the cause to any problem is not eliminated no matte what remedy or product is used, the problem will not go away and will only be occurring periodically as and when the opportunity arises.

So, if you are suffering from chronic dry skin or want to prevent chronic occurrence of dry skin, then you should approach dry skin therapy with some difference. First and foremost, it is essential not to just use one product after the other to try and overcome dry skin. It is essential to first identify what factors are contributing to the occurrence of dry skin and eliminate these causes and then use the appropriate dry skin products to help you reduce the symptoms as well as avoid recurrence of the condition.
 
Dry skin can be attributed to a variety of causes that we encounter in our day to day lives. Some such causes can include:

• Taking long hot water baths. Usage of very hot water or taking bath for a long time can induce drying of the skin and these should be avoided.

• Use of harsh soaps and aromatic bath oils. These should be replaced with the use of mild cleansers or soaps.

• Too much exposure to the sun. Avoid direct exposure to the sun and use a sunscreen when going out.

• Harsh dry or cold climate. These have a tendency to dry out the skin and eliminate moisture content of the skin. Use appropriate moisturizers right after taking a bath to eliminate drying of the skin.

• Use of air conditioners or heating systems. These have a tendency to cause dryness of the skin. Avoid the use of air conditioners as much as possible. If a heating system is used, then it is best to also use a humidifier or a vaporizer in the room to help retain skin moisture.

• Synthetic clothing can also help contribute to dry skin problems. These should be replaced by the use of cotton clothing to allow the skin to breathe and remain soft and supple.

• As we have seen, many lifestyle causes are attributed to the occurrence of dry skin. Instead of just using some products blindly to eliminate dry skin, it is first essential to think and analyze as to what is causing dry skin. When these causes are eliminated or corrected, it will go a long way in dry skin therapy and eliminate the problem and reduce the chances of the condition becoming chronic.

If products need to be used for dry skin therapy, it is best to stick to basic natural products to help alleviate the problem. It is best to avoid products that contain synthetic ingredients or ingredients like alcohol, petrolatum, paraben, etc as these have a tendency to dry out the skin more and will cause more harm than good.

Remember, dry skin therapy is not just the use of some or the other product that is available to you. It is the correction of many lifestyle habits and the use of natural products to help alleviate the symptoms, reducing recurrence and avoiding the condition from becoming a chronic problem.

People try out a variety of home remedies to counter dry skin. The response that one gets to such dry skin treatments is also different for people of differing ages with older people less likely to gain benefits that a younger person gets.

Let us now see why aging has an influence in increasing the occurrence of dry skin and why older people suffer more from this common condition.

The skin of people contains important glands like the sebaceous glands and the sweat glands. The sebaceous glands produce an oily substance called sebum. This sebum is responsible for holding the moisture within the skin and making it soft and supple. The sweat glands as most of us know produce sweat that helps in regulating body temperature and removing harmful toxins from the body. It is also helpful in preventing the multiplication of harmful bacteria on the skin surface.

As age advances, the activity of the sebaceous glands and the sweat glands gradually reduces. This rate of reduced activity is seen to be higher among women than in men. As these glands play a role in maintaining the moisture content of the skin, their reduced activity is responsible for the formation of dry skin.

Also, as age advances, the response of the skin to lifestyle issues responsible for dry skin formation also becomes higher. For example, the skin becomes more sensitive to chemicals present in harsh soaps or hand sanitizers causing the occurrence of dry skin.

As the response to stimuli is exaggerated, even the dry skin treatment in the elderly will have some amount of variation than the treatment that is undertaken for correcting dry skin in a younger person.

While lifestyle changes like avoiding long baths or showers, avoiding the use of harsh soaps, avoiding the use of air conditioners and humidifiers, avoiding too much exposure to direct sunlight, etc are commonly advocated both in the elderly and the young to counter dry skin, some important precautions need to be exercised while providing dry skin treatment in the elderly.

Important among them is the increased care that needs to be taken while using any products for dry skin treatment. The sensitivity of the skin to these products is greatly increased in the elderly and might cause more harm than good. So, if products are used, they should be used with caution.

Mild soaps or cleansers are the best when it comes to dry skin treatment in the elderly. These have the quality of avoiding unnecessary irritation to the skin while being safe to use even while cleansing the sensitive dry skin of the elderly person.

Emollients to soothe chapped or flaky areas of dry skin is also advocated but with the necessary care and caution. If there is any sensitivity seen, the product is immediately stopped and necessary medical care is sought at the earliest. Instead, natural products like coconut oil can also be used to soothe the skin and to provide some lubrication and softness to the skin and helping the skin to retain the moisture.

If any of the home remedies that you are trying for dry skin treatment in the elderly do not have the desired effects and the symptoms are continuing to worsen, it is best to seek medical help at the earliest.

Why my skin changes during pregnancy?

Women experiencing massive changes in certain hormones production during pregnancy, and this are common condition. The most stimulated one is Progesterone hormone. Even though this is a very usual happen during pregnancy, many women becomes unaware with this natural change and get sick of it symptoms.

One amongst physical symptoms caused by the increased production of progesterone is changes of skin’s metabolism system stability. And its effects on the skin may vary depending on many factors such as diet, skin type, etc. Skin might becomes oily, dry, flaky, and even itchy because of instability of oil secretion, or the moisture level of skin deteriorates a lot.  Face’s skin tends to gets dryer and flaky because of pigmentation, and makes it looks darker and dryer than usual. Other unavoidable change as skin problem during pregnancy is stretched marks around hips, butt, and thighs.

In fact these changes were relatively unavoidable, and the only thing we can do about it is just minimized the effects as much as possible. There are many products (which is should be oil based) available on drugs and health stores that helps a lot in minimizing these effects.

Can it be prevent?

Here is the good news for women. The dry skin problem during pregnancy can be prevented to keep it at minimum level.  Listed below are several prevention steps can be taken during the early pregnancy period so that the changes of skin during pregnancy to be minimum?

•  Decrease the frequency of travel, or any other activity that may caused our skin dehydrated

•  Consuming healthy diet especially fruits.

• Avoid of bathing using hot water, because this might causes our skin’s moisture level decreases significantly.

• Uses only oil based skin care products.

• Decrease the frequency of using any chemicals material on skins, and the non fragrance products should be preferred.

• Directly apply moisturizer on skin after usage of skin cleansing soap or gel.

• Drinking plenty of water would also keep our skin out of dehydration.

With these steps, you can keep your skin moisture and the most important its elasticity, therefore when the pregnancy age comes older, your skin changes can be much more less than not doing these.

How to further solve the dry skin problem during pregnancy?

When the pregnancy passed age of a trimester, skin tends to becomes itchier than before. At this situation don’t directly using anti itchy lotion. Try to gently apply more moisturizer with soft massage move on skin surface, to get rid the itch.