Dehydrated

Dehy­drated skin is a con­di­tion caused by a lack of water, brought on by var­i­ous fac­tors, includ­ing the envi­ron­ment, med­ica­tions, top­i­cal agents, aging, smok­ing and/​or nutri­tion. The upper lay­ers of the skin are hydrated from within, as fresh, hydrated cells make their way to the skin’s sur­face. The skin’s out­er­most lay­ers form a pro­tec­tive bar­rier against chem­i­cals, irri­tants and micro-​organisms. When the waters and oils that form part of this bar­rier are out of bal­ance, skin dehy­dra­tion occurs.

Dehy­dra­tion can affect all skin types, and comes and goes depend­ing upon exter­nal and inter­nal circumstances.

Char­ac­ter­is­tics of Dehy­drated Skin

• Skin feels uncom­fort­able, tight and rough
• Fine lines appear
• Itch­ing occurs
• Skin tone appears dull and/​or red
• Loss of elas­tic­ity
• Flak­ing and scal­ing occurs

Rea­sons Dehy­drated Skin Occurs

• Envi­ron­men­tal fac­tors such as expo­sure to sun, wind, air con­di­tion­ing or heat­ing, hot, cold or dry cli­mates and pro­longed expo­sure to water pro­mote mois­ture evap­o­ra­tion.
• Med­ica­tions like diuret­ics, cold/​flu reme­dies and cor­ti­sone inter­nally affect the pro­duc­tion process of the pro­tec­tive bar­rier.
• Top­i­cal agents like soaps, cleansers, scrubs and alcohol-​based prod­ucts can either strip the skin of its oils or clog the pores, thereby destroy­ing the bal­ance needed to main­tain mois­ture.
• Aging reduces skin’s abil­ity to hold water and pro­duce oils.
• Smok­ing con­stricts blood flow, which is detri­men­tal to the flow of mois­ture and nutri­tion to the cells.
• Nutri­tional fac­tors such as inad­e­quate water or healthy fats in the diet, and too much salt, cof­fee or alco­hol can all cause dehydration.

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