Dry skin is a condition that is developed when the skin lacks moisture and becomes rough, with fine scales or flakes and sometimes it has small cracks.
It is always everybody’s pleasure to have soft and smooth hands. But what do you think makes some people have dry and rough hands? Below is a discussion on causes and what to do to get rid or prevent this problem.
Now, you should understand that your environment plays a very important role and contributes to your dry hands. Again our hands are always the busiest parts of our bodies, so when they get rough and dry, we can’t just sit back and relax.
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Overview
Before we continue to causes we have credible facts to enable you to understand and know what dry skin is all about.
A normal skin is always coated with a thin layer of lipids or fatty substances (natural oils). They will always help to keep its moisture making it be soft and smooth. Actually, the dryness will be therefore due to stripping away of the fatty oils leaving your hand skin unprotected.
Having dry skin is a condition that can be embarrassing. This is because the flakes of the skin may look grey hence leading to bad impressions of the victims. But what is good about dryness is the fact that its most causes are external and therefore can be treated externally
We should be able to understand a dry skin on hands can be seen in people of any gender, race, and age. But it is also true that the incidence is the most common condition to those above 60 years. “The incidence of dry skin increases with age”. [skinsight.com].
Signs
Sometimes, developing dry skin (medically known as xerosis) on hands may be a sign of eczema. The term eczema is used to define different types of dermatitis ( inflammation). The symptoms may include itchy, reddened, dry skin. The believed related cause of eczema are allergies, stress, irritants and genetic factors. So people with eczema in their hands may also develop some symptoms like asthma, food allergies or fever.
In addition, these signs and symptoms may not be limited to the skin on the back of hands but also other areas where they normally occur.
Causes
What makes your skin to dry out? Having already looked at signs and conditions associated with the drying, it is time to focus on causes. So here are some outlined causes:
- One of the more common causes is due to exposure to sun, dirt, dry winds, and steamy-showers. These factors are always known to sap moisture out of the hands particularly when done frequently and without any remedy to keep in moisture.
- Secondly, when you do wash them frequently or keep them immersed in water for a long time may lead to dryness. This is due to the fact that water may take away some natural oils that moisturize them. A similar instance is when one habitually go swimming in chlorinated pools. He/she can also suffer the same condition.
- Handling harmful chemicals with bare hands could be another reason. These chemicals can rob its moisture making the outer layer to be dry and damaged. For this reason, the remaining layer will be left vulnerable to all sort of problems.
- Again some medical conditions such as Diabetes, down syndrome, hypothyroidism, liver or kidney disease, malnutrition, lymphoma, ichthyosis and atopic dermatitis has a potential to this problem.
- Some skin conditions for example eczema or psoriasis may lead to hand dryness.
- When you don’t properly care for your hand for instance you don’t get time to adequately moisturize them.
- Use of harsh soap bars to wash your hand may trigger hand dryness. Old-fashioned soap bars with chemical ingredients are drying agents for the skin. And today, many of our commercial cleaners and hand soaps sometimes disrupts the normal condition by lowering the natural process through which skin repairs hence leading to this problem.
- We also have allergies that will affect your hands leading dryness.
- Cold and dry weather may also contribute to this problem.
Dry and Rough skin on hand remedies
This problem is something that we can avoid and also cure with various available remedies. But in trying to cure such conditions, we may sometimes be required to clearly establish the root causes of the dryness. This will help us to define the extent of dryness and how best we can address the situation.
So here are some of the treatments and remedies we have for you in case you have this problem:
Exfoliation
Normally, many people always exfoliate their faces but they don’t really find time to think about their hands as well. Exfoliation them will get rid of the old, dry, rough and dull skin cells, this will then open a way for new and fresh skin cells to find their way as a way of replacing the lost ones. Remember if the new and fresh cells are not well taken care of, they will still dry out and become rough too.
Exfoliation can be done by scrubbing them using a pumice stone especially the palms. Moreover, there are various skin care products such as exfoliation creams, gels, hand lotions or solutions meant for the same. Some are available as (non-prescription) Over-The-Counter products which are safe to use. However, ify they are severely dry, you should go for prescription strength products. Note that this category of products must be applied as per your doctor’s instructions.
Use Humidifier during winter and dry weathers
During adverse climatic conditions for instance during extreme winter and summer seasons, the use of a humidifier can be a good Idea to protect skin moisture loss. The most appropriate place to have it is in your bedroom so that it can protect it while you sleep.
As a home remedy, use of humidifiers will raise up air moisture content, therefore, prevent further dryness.
Avoid harsh soap bars
It will be a good idea if you can avoid washing your hands using formulas containing preservatives, sulfates, and synthetic fragrances. These items will aid the drying up. Another thing you need to note is that foaming and antibacterial types can also interfere with natural oils their skin. So when you want to be on the safer side of the road then you can opt for moisturizing cleansers.
Moisturize them
After carrying some duties for example after washing clothes, digging, driving among others, you should thereafter moisturize your hands because you might have got involved in an activity that interfered with the fats and oils. So it would be a good idea to carry with you moisturizer so that after you are through with your actions then you can do your hands a favor of moisturizing. A good example of moisturizer is the coconut oil. You can try it out.
Use of pure coconut oil
Coconut oils always have unique combinations of fatty acids that make it a magic remedy. So you will apply it directly to your hands and the wear clothes for the coconut oil to function effectively.
Soak your hand in oats
Cooked or raw oats can be helpful too. You can add it to water in or mix it with some warm olive or jojoba oil or olive oil in a trough. Soak for approximately 15 minutes. You can always repeat the process as many times as you will until you get your desired results.
This could be a general remedy but can also be quite effective after you are through with washing.
Use aloe vera
Going on, sometimes your hands may be extremely dry to an extent that they will start to crack and even bleeding. Now, in that case, aloe vera will be very appropriate to help in the process of healing and even to provide moisture.
Wear Gloves
This is also another good remedy to help you prevent your dryness. When carrying out some activities like washing clothes, digging or even washing utensils, wearing gloves will help you protect it from any possible damage.
Remember there are some gloves that may also lead to dryness of your hands so please always use the gloves made of cotton or leather. Of course be careful what type of hand gloves to use.
Another idea you can try is wearing gloves together with some moisturizers inside when you go to sleep. You will also try to place some Ziploc bags around your wrists to prevent the moisture from escaping from the gloves. You then rinse them off in the morning.
Treatment and Drugs
Getting rid of chronic dry skin on hands is quite difficult troublesome and costly. Most of the time, this problem will respond to the home remedies mentioned above. But sometimes remedies fail, then we recommend you see your doctor for further treatment. For chronic or very dry and scaly ones, your doctor may advise you to use over-the-counter products such as cream that contain lactic acid, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and urea.
Sometimes this issue may be severe leading to dermatitis which sometimes causes red, itchy skin. Now, for these situations, your doctor may recommend you treatments including hydrocortisone containing lotions. When it has cracked open, then your medical service provider may prescribe for you wet dressing to aid the prevention of infection.
Avoid hot dryers
In the processes of using such dryers, the risk of getting them dried is very high. But most of the time you will find many people opting for them because they save money and even the environment. But if you can afford to do without them then try to use some remedies we have seen..
Having balanced diet
Having foods rich in fats and oils can be a remedy as well. But we should bear in mind that a lot of fats and oils can lead to high blood pressure. So we recommend only small amount of these nutrients.
Remember, in many times your doctors will tend to recommend the home remedies mentioned but only in severe conditions shall he/she recommend alternative advanced treatment for you. Like for example if the doctor discovers you’re your dry hand skin is due to certain medical condition, the best thing is to treat the medical condition first.
To be able to prevent your hands from drying out, you have to first establish the root causes of this condition and then find the appropriate remedy for it.
Our Reference
- http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=41632
- http://www.vaseline.us/skin-health-care/how-to-heal-dry-cracked-hands.html
- http://www.annmariegianni.com/10-solutions-rough-overworked-dry-hands-male-female/
- http://www.rapidhomeremedies.com/remedies-for-dry-and-rough-hands.html
- http://www.wikihow.com/Treat-Dry-Hands
- http://www.webmd.boots.com/healthy-skin/guide/causes-dry-skin
- http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dry-skin/basics/treatment/con-20030009
- http://www.medicinenet.com/dry_skin/article.htm