Dry Skin
FIVE FRIENDLY TIPS for improving skin moisture.
Hey, all. Today I’m going to give you some tips about skin care. It’s technically still winter where I am so let’s talk dry skin tips. Here we go!
1. COOL is COOL
Water temperature matters. Taking very hot showers strips your skin of moisture and causes excess dryness. If your hands, face, or feet are drying out, stick to cool, refreshing water.
Click Dry Skin Tip #1
2. DAMP = DEWY
If you want dewy skin, get your moisturizer applied within 1 minute of washing face, hands, feet, or wherever you apply it. Timing matters.
3. SOAP is SOMETIMES a NOPE.
First, let me clarify, parts of your body that come into contact with germs (such as hands and bum) as well as dirt always need to be washed with soap. This advice concerns basic daily washing up/showering/bathing for normal people who are typically sedentary. For a typical non-manual laborer, sometimes soap is a NOPE. It has to do with where and WHY we get stinky and dirty and where we don’t.
This picture shows glands that make us stink and where they are located on your body. It didn’t include the feet, so I circled those for you—but it’s really just the bottoms of your feet which have the many sweat glands, not the more delicate skin on top. These circles show the areas of your body where you produce ODOR that will need SOAP to remove. See that little pac-man shape that says “normal flora?” I made him big for you so you can find him in the picture:
This Normal Flora image is describing the bacteria who like to live in our sweaty bits, skin creases, and valleys. We need these little guys. They are the good guys. They keep worse bacteria from growing on our skin. However, these little guys poop, which causes our odor. Their poop needs to be washed away with soap. Sometimes their poop clings to long hairs in our sweaty areas. Trimming those hairs to manageable lengths can help reduce strong odors which won’t wash away with soap. A little (cough) hedge trimming and armpit hair clipping can be a good thing for odor control. (This is PRACTICAL substack after all. Sorry to embarrass anyone).
4. USE A PLAIN TERRY CLOTH WASHCLOTH WITHOUT SOAP ON THE SKIN PLAINS
I am going to refer to your sweat gland areas as skin CREASES and VALLEYS and the broad surfaces of your skin (like legs, chest, arms, tops of feet) as PLAINS like in geography. If the PLAINS of your skin are DRY, wash them FIRST, WITHOUT SOAP, and WITH a wet washcloth only. I repeat—no soap on dry plains of your skin. Just a clean, wet washcloth. This may only apply to the dry winter months, so use this advice when you need it.
After the PLAINS of your skin are washed, THEN ADD SOAP TO THE WASHCLOTH AND WASH THE CREASES AND VALLEYS. Those are the areas in the picture above with the circles on them. It includes between your toes. Your body may have creases and valleys that other bodies don’t. If you have any skin fold or crease, use soap on it, and dry it well. Save the private parts of your groin area—front and back— for last. Frontside, and then backside LAST. PLEASE don’t forget the private parts and any skin folds around or near them. SAVING your groin area (frontside and then backside) for last should help prevent your poop related germs from growing on your lower body or giving you urinary tract infections (UTIs). In medicine, we have an expression called “fecal fallout.” It describes how your lower body gets sometimes invisible amounts of your own poop living on it. Feces means your poop. Fecal means “about poop.” Fecal fall-out means your poop is falling out of your bum and landing on your bottom half. Again, I’m trying to give PRACTICAL information. PLEASE save the Family Jewels and Stools for the last thing you wash. Remember, if you can see dirt or poop, or know you have been in contact with disease causing germs, use soap everywhere. I hope I made that sufficiently clear.
Isn’t this a delightful conversation? Sigh.
5. A FINAL WORD ON SOAPS
Soaps matter a lot. Almost all my patients with severely dry skin are using soaps that strip their natural oils. Not to disparage a specific brand, but if you’re thinking of a soap representing a country with leprechauns, you don’t want to use that soap on vast acres of your body if you have dry skin issues. Those types of soaps will dry your skin in any season. Instead look for soaps with Shea Butter as an ingredient if your skin is dry. I will personally recommend both Dove and Oil of Olay with Shea Butter. If you have a spray tan, shea butter will wipe it off, but we do not live in a perfect world. You do NOT need antibacterial soap unless you have a problem with bacterial overgrowth as I addressed in this episode:
CONCLUSION:
I hope you have learned something today. And please remember, this column is not a substitute for a diagnosis and treatment plan for a dry skin condition or disease. This is general information and not medical advice. Please consult a doctor if you have skin issues or think you have a skin disease or disorder. Thank you again for being curious!
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