Dry Patchy Skin

Dry patchy skin is surely a blot on the physical appearance. No matter how sharp your facial features are, how appealing your body shape is or how attractive your hair is, dry skin spoils them all. Actually, a healthy skin is the secret to beauty and charm. With a clean, well-conditioned and glowing skin, you can easily win hearts and be the center of discussion wherever you go. Thus, it is very important that you work towards getting a skin which is healthy from within and pleasant to look at. In order to get such a skin, you first need to know what causes dry patchy skin, and then how to get rid of it.

Causes of Dry Patchy Skin

The causes of dry patchy skin on legs, face, hands, or other parts of your body can literally be divided into three main categories. These are environmental, medical and living habits. Let's gather some information on each one of them.

Environment
You tend to develop dry skin when you expose yourself frequently to low-humidity environment. Both cold and hot air, low in humidity, are the prominent factors that causes skin dryness. Pollution is another environmental factor that leads to dry skin. This is because, smoke and dust present in the air absorb the moisture from the skin.

Centralized heating and air conditioning causes the humidity levels in the room to drop significantly. If you stay in such rooms for long hours, you may consider it as the reason behind the dry skin on back, legs, face, and other parts of the body. It is well-known that frequent sun exposure dries the skin. The ultraviolet rays present in the sunlight damages the dermis, which is present beneath the uppermost layer of the skin called the epidermis. This weakens the collagen and elastin fibers which break more quickly now.

Medical Conditions
There are some medical conditions which causes dry skin on legs, arms, face, chest and other body parts that come under their effect. The following is a list of such diseases and disorders.

• Ichthyosis
• Atopic Dermatitis
• Neurodermatitis
• Psoriasis
• Seborrheic eczema
• Nummular eczema
• Hypothyroidism
• Diabetes
• Kidney disease
• Sarcoidosis
• Myeloma
• Nutritional deficiency
• Cancer
• Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)

Lifestyle
Many-a-times, dryness of skin is simply the result of improper skin care. If you take hot water baths, spas, and swim in chlorinated water too often, you may develop shriveled dry skin over time. You tend to lose the natural oil content of your skin when you clean it too much without moisturizing it well. You tend to get dry patchy skin on face when you use too many cosmetics as their ingredients are irritating and quite harsh on skin.

Your dietary habits dictates the health of your skin. It is believed that following a diet which does not contain required amounts of vegetables, whole grains, fruits and fish lead to deficiency of vitamins required for good skin and causes your skin to become dry with time. Excessive consumption of caffeine, alcohol, processed vegetable oil and fried foods is another factor that results in skin dryness. Leading a sedentary life is another lifestyle factor that causes the appearance of dry patchy spots on skin as it deprives it from the benefits of good blood circulation. Your body tends to repair any damage caused to skin, including loss of moisture and oil, during sleep. In case, you suffer from any sort of sleeping disorder, you may have skin dryness as one of the consequences.

Treatment for Dry Patchy Skin

The best thing that you can do to restore the normal state of your skin is to avoid the factors that causes its dryness. You should minimize your exposure to the environmental factors mentioned in the beginning of this article. In case, you are suffering from any of the medical conditions responsible for dry skin, pay a visit to a dermatologist for necessary intervention. Take good care of your skin. Follow a healthy diet to improve the health of your skin. Stop using harsh soaps, shampoos and other toiletries. Also, restrict the use of cosmetics on the skin. You may try some home remedies to moisturize your skin. Their regular usage will cure the problems like dry patchy facial skin, dry flaky skin, etc. over time. The following is a list of a few most effective natural treatments for dry skin.

• Massage your skin with olive oil, grape seed oil, or almond oil evenly before bedtime.
• Follow a moderate but regular exercise regimen.
• Cut short on the intake of caffeine and alcohol.
• Apply aloe vera pulp all over your skin and leave it on for about half an hour. Wash it off well with water later on.
• Take milk bath twice a week to see fast improvement.
• Apply honey on the skin for about 10 minutes and rinse it off well with lukewarm water afterward.

The home remedies for dry skin given above have been observed to improve the condition of many sufferers. However, if you do not get the desired results, and notice worsening of the skin condition with more dryness, you need to see a dermatologist. The need to seek medical attention increases more when you experience itching, peeling and scaling of the skin. Get timely medical assistance to restore the normal state of your skin.