Skin dryness or dry skin, in medical term xerosis cutanea, is one of the dermatological problems affecting an increasing number of people and at the same time it is a difficult problem to solve.
The best known form of dryness or xerosis of the skin is in the elderly, and as the length of life has increased, more and more elderly individuals need treatments for dry skin.
The causes of dry skin
Lifestyle can contribute to dry skin situations such as frequent washing, use of harsh detergents, prolonged sun exposure resulting in photoaging, certain outdoor work activities or playing sports where you are exposed to sun and wind, and so on in many other situations.
Another very common cause of dry skin is facial cosmetics. Daily makeup and make-up removal inevitably cause a state of dryness with accentuation of facial wrinkles and a sense of draught.
Examples of causes of dry skin
- Atmospheric agents such as Cold and Wind
- Excessive washing as for Sportsmen
- Use of drugs such as Diuretics, Chemotherapeutics
- Physical therapies such as radiotherapy
- Dermatitis such as Atopy, Ichthyosis
- Disease states such as Diabetes or during renal dialysis
- Senescence
- Excess Daily Cosmetics
Skin dryness in diseases
- Pathological dry skin is defined as that extreme form of dryness whereby the stratum corneum appears flaky , fissured, inflamed. Roughness is appreciated to the touch and the subject feels itching and/or pulling sensation. Then there are chronic diseases and medications that contribute to dry skin. Diabetes and kidney dialysis are examples of pathological dryness while the use of diuretics or statins, to lower blood cholesterol, are examples of medications that induce dry skin.
Skin dryness in cancer treatments
- Some of the modern cancer therapies with Biologic Drugs as well as the more traditional chemotherapies induce pathological states of dryness that are difficult to treat. Main pathological causes that induce skin xerosis:
- Cardiovascular decompensation
- Peripheral atherosclerosis
- Venous stasis
- Lymphatic stasis
- Hypoproteinemia
- Prolonged febrile state
- Diabetes
- Hyperthyroidism
- Renal failure
- Intestinal malabsorption
- Malnutrition
- Cachectic states
Dry skin: what happens in the stratum corneum
The water leakage
Skin dryness or Xerosis is basically due to the fact that the stratum corneum loses its water content. In fact, water is needed to keep the stratum corneum soft, elastic, and flexible.
Water is retained by the lipids and proteins that make up this layer.
Under certain conditions, such as those mentioned earlier, water is lost and the skin becomes dry.
So having dry skin means that water is not retained by the structures of the stratum corneum but it does not mean that it is lacking therefore it is wrong to do commonly suggested i.e. drink more or apply moisturizing creams: these measures do not change skin dryness.
Remedies for dry skin
Skin dryness remedies are related to the causes. For example, if the dryness is mainly caused by the use of a medication and the medication can be discontinued the dryness regresses spontaneously. If the dryness is due to over-washing or washing with harsh detergents just correct the wrong behaviors and the dryness disappears. Unfortunately, in many cases it is not possible to act on the causes.
If the skin dryness is mild, simply correct the wrong behaviour, use a mild cleanser such as Eudermic Cleansing Cream for washing and, after drying, apply a rich, nourishing cream such as Essenziale for the face and Mosturiser for the body.
If skin dryness has reached extreme values all this may not be enough.
The concept of Self-Hydration
Considering that skin dryness is caused by the failure to retain water in the stratum corneum and not by the lack of water, to correct dryness it is necessary to apply to the skin a product that can draw water from the deep layers and retain it in the stratum corneum such as Extreme Emollient Ointment. In this way, the stratum corneum becomes elastic and soft and flexible again.
MOST Extreme Emollient Ointment
Extreme Emollient Ointment is the self moisturizing ointment from MOST that contains no water or preservatives but draws water from deep layers because it is rich in plant Polyglycerols.