Tips to avoid winter itch
Bonfire Night has come and gone, so we are now well and truly heading into winter. And this is an important time to look after your skin.
In the summer most people make some attempt to look after their skin with sunscreens and moisturisers, but when winter comes along they stop taking care of their skin. This is possibly why a lot of people experience drier, itchier skin in the winter and even find that they get scaly skin with a tendency to crack. They are probably experiencing asteatosis, or winter itch.
This comes about when you stop using moisturisers, take more hot baths and showers and use more soap. The main cause of this problem is lack of moisture in the skin. Air temperature and air humidity both play a part. As the outside temperature drops we increase the heating inside the home. The inside air becomes drier as a result and, when the relative humidity inside drops below 60 per cent, your skin begins to lose moisture. When this happens, the skin gets dry, it may crack and it very often becomes itchy. When the skin dries out, the top dead layer becomes stiff and cracks are likely. The cracks can then become inflamed, irritated and itchy.
Some people get round patches of scaling skin, especially on the legs, arms and hands. Others get it around the mouth as well. Basically, it tends to affect those parts of the skin that have relatively few oil glands. The oil glands naturally lubricate the skin.
It can affect people of all ages, depending upon their skin type. Having said that, the incidence does tend to increase with age, and almost everyone older than 60 will have it to some degree. If you have underlying eczema or psoriasis then you may be more susceptible.
So what can you do about it? Well, you can start by limiting baths to one a day. In days gone by, when people only had one or two baths a week the problem rarer. Effectively, bodies re-accumulated natural oils between washings.
When bathing, practice 'the three gets.' This means, 'get in, get clean, get out.' Don't use too much soap and limit it to the face, armpits, genital area and feet. The trunk, arms and legs don't need soap every day. Dab water off the skin, don't rub it vigorously.
When having a bath it is a good idea to use an emollient bath oil, but do not stay in the bath for too long at a time. Ten minutes should be the longest time. My rule of thumb is to get out before you produce wrinkling of the fingers or toes. Then moisturise the skin with a lotion or cream containing petroleum, mineral oil, linoleic acid, or glycerine. For the best results apply them within three minutes of a lukewarm bath or shower in order to trap the water in the upper skin layers.
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Weather for Wakefield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: North
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 12 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North east
