Wear Rubber Gloves.
Always wear rubber gloves up to the elbows or mid
forearms while working with detergents and ordinary soaps. At times due
to occlusive nature of rubber gloves, the hands sweat and itching increases on
wearing gloves. If this is the case, wear a pair of thin cotton gloves under
the rubber gloves.
Shampoos are harmful to the skin
In people with dry skin, contact of the hands with
shampoos is harmful and gloves should be worn while applying shampoo on the scalp.
Wash
Careful use of Ordinary Soaps
Daily, repeated use of ordinary bathing soaps may also
increase dryness of the skin. For dry skin use a gentle, milder, oily soap
preferably on alternate days. A general rule of thumb in choosing a suitable
soap & Shampoo for your skin/scalp is that the skin should feel soft and
smooth instead of being dry, rough & tight after using the soap/shampoo. Oily
chemical free soaps are the best to use if your skin is extremely dry or people
with dry skin want to take bath on daily basis with soaps. While washing your
clothes, try to use detergents without dyes or perfumes, both of which
can irritate your skin.
Avoid Taking bath with too warm/hot water
Taking bath with too warm/hot water for longer than 10
minutes washes away the natural oil from the skin. Therefore, take a
bath/shower with luke warm water and that too for 5-10 minutes and never for
more than 15 minutes. Taking bath with very cold water especially in winters is
not helpful at all.
Skin Oiling after Bath
Apply a little oil on wet skin after a bath/shower,
followed by gently pat drying the skin with a towel to wipe away excess oil.
Choose fabrics your skin loves
Natural fibers such as cotton and silk feel wonderful and
allow your skin to breathe, therefore prefer wearing clothes made from these fabrics.
The wool, pashmina and cashmere may irritate your skin; however, wearing a cotton
underlay with such clothes might be helpful.
Keep your skin well moisturized
Keeping the skin well moisturized with regular,
frequent and liberal use of moisturizers is the key to prevent and treat dry
skin related problems.
How to Use Different Moisturizers?
There are three types of moisturizers.
a. Oils/Ointments like olive oil, coconut oil,
sarsoon oil, Vaseline and petroleum jelly. These are the most effective
moisturizers and once applied on the skin; their effect lasts for nearly 8-12
hours depending upon the amount applied. However, these are greasy and many
people may not like to use them during the day time.
b. Creams: These have less moisturizing
capability than the oils and ointments.
However, these are less greasy and have better
cosmetic acceptance. In people with very dry skin, cream based moisturizers may
not be sufficient alone and have to be applied once every few hours to be
effective.
c. Lotions: Although cosmetically best, the
lotions have least moisturizing effects but might be helpful in people with
mildly dry skin or in summers when it is difficult to apply oily stuff on the
skin. However lotions have better moisturizing capability and can be used if
you don’t like greasy stuff on your skin.
d. The best practice is to use an oily/ointment
based moisturizer at night time and a cream/lotion based moisturizer applied
frequently during the day time.
How frequently one should apply the moisturizers This may
range from twice daily to many times in a day depending upon the intensity of
the dryness of the skin. The golden rule is that apply as many times as is
required. Whenever, one feels the skin getting tight, rough and itchy, reapply
the moisturizer.