Why Your Skin Gets Dry and How to Replenish it Naturally

Dry skin can happen at any time of year and can make your hands, elbows, and face feel rough, irritated, and inflamed. If you’re plagued by dry skin, there are natural ways to keep your first layer of defense soft, smooth, and supple, none of which require expensive products or procedures.

What Skin Does For You

Did you know your skin is actually it’s own organ? It’s the largest in the body and one that protects the rest of you from the external environment. In addition, your skin carries blood vessels and nerve endings that both enable you to feel pain when you touch a hot stove and ticklish delight when someone pokes you in the belly.

Causes of Dry Skin

When your skin becomes dry, it is a signal that your body is having difficulty holding in the naturally produced water and oil that keeps it moist. This can be caused both by external factors like cold, dry weather, as well as internal imbalances in the body. Some common causes include:

• Genetic predisposition to dry skin, caused by inherited hormonal factors.
• Age: As we age, the skin produces less oil, which means you do not hold fluid in your skin as well as you once did.
• Low humidity, caused by both weather or your home’s heating and air conditioning.
• Hot showers or baths, which remove vital oils that would otherwise help your body retain moisture. The same goes for hot tubs, a wintertime favorite that will heat you up, but also dry you out.
• Harsh cleaners, detergents, and soaps.

Does your skin need help? A naturopathic physician works with you to treat the whole person, with solutions to soothe both the symptoms and the causes of dry skin. They may treat the internal causes of dry skin with the following:

• Strengthen the immune system to decrease vulnerability to external factors, which may include nutritional counseling.
• Use acupuncture and herbal formulas to balance the internal harmony of the body and remove Qi (energy) blockages that may be causing your dry, inflamed, or itchy skin.
• Help you to release toxins from the skin.
• Enhance your production of healthy skin oils by supplementing with fish, krill, flax, or other nutritional oils.

3 Natural Remedies for Dry Skin to Try At Home

For natural remedies to treat your stubbornest dry skin, try these easy remedies:

• Add olive oil: Dribble olive oil into your bath and onto your meals to lock in moisture and nourish your skin with vitamins and minerals.
• Drink 64 oz of water per day to stay hydrated; more if you exercise.
• Avocado Hand-Moisturizing Machine recipe from Crunchy Betty (great for rough elbows and scaly patches anywhere on the body).

Still feeling dry or experiencing red, inflamed, or otherwise uncomfortable skin? Contact the specialists at Water’s Edge Natural Medicine for a luxurious, deeply-moisturizing facial and nutritional consultation to treat your skin ailments at the root and leave you feeling healed and pampered.