My skin is very dry and flaky, and sometimes itchy. What should I do?

How to prevent and improve dry and itchy skin caused by dry and cold weather? In fact, the most important thing for dry and itchy skin caused by seasonal changes is prevention, because prevention beforehand is often more effective than treatment afterwards. That is to say, effective measures should be taken in time before symptoms appear to avoid skin problems. Problems arise. The key to preventing dry and itchy skin is to maintain skin moisture, reduce the loss of water and oil in the stratum corneum, and protect sebum function. It is recommended to start from the following aspects: 1) When taking a bath, you should choose a mild, preferably weakly acidic shower gel, and avoid using alkaline soaps that are too strong in cleaning power, because even neutral shower gels are relatively different from the human body. It is also alkaline for the skin. You should also avoid using water that is too hot for bathing. It is best to use water with a temperature similar to your body temperature (not exceeding 40 degrees). And it is necessary to appropriately reduce the number of baths and shorten the bath time to avoid excessive loss of water and fat due to heat. Do not scrub hard when bathing, because overheated water and vigorous scrubbing will wash away the protective layer of sebum and cutin on the skin, which can easily damage the skin and even cause local inflammation of the skin, making the nerves more excited and aggravating itching. 2) After bathing, apply moisturizing body lotion immediately before the skin is completely dry, especially on particularly dry areas such as limbs. This can help the skin restore its water-oil balance and form a thin film on the skin to prevent water evaporation, and Because the pores are still slightly open when you just take a shower, skin care products are easier to absorb and penetrate. After applying the skin care lotion, you should put on clothes and socks as soon as possible. This will not only keep you warm, but also prevent the epidermis from losing water and sebum, helping to improve the effect of dry skin. After the skin is effectively moisturized, dryness and itchiness can be effectively reduced. If your skin feels dry, you should always use lotion at any time to moisturize the dry skin in time. The focus is on the calves and arms. The front part of the calf has the least sebaceous glands in the body, so itching and dandruff are most likely to occur, and the arms often Exposure to air is also the most likely to cause drying. 3) There have been many discussions on the topic of body lotion in the forum. I would like to recommend a few lotions with relatively mild ingredients. La Roche-Posay Body Lotion: In addition to commonly used moisturizers such as glycerin, its ingredients mainly contain the extract of the plant "avocado"; avocado is rich in glyceric acid, protein and vitamins, which is moisturizing but not greasy. Because it is closest to the human body's sebum film, it can not only soften and moisturize the skin, keep the skin soft and elastic, but also accelerate the healing of skin lesions, and has a skin care effect similar to the natural "epidermal lipid film" of human skin. As long as you apply a thin layer on dry skin, it can effectively moisturize the skin and relieve itching. Neutrogena Body Lotion Neutrogena body lotion: rich in glycerin (Glycerin) and natural sesame oil ingredients, it can quickly moisturize dry skin and prevent moisture loss. It has excellent moisturizing ability and can provide moisture to the skin for more than 8 hours. L'Occitane Shea Butter Body Lotion: Contains 15% shea butter, natural honey and apricot oil. It contains essential fats and vitamins for the skin. It can maintain the skin's natural moisturizing level and has a light and soft texture. , easy to absorb, after use, the skin will remain soft and shiny all day long, bringing efficient nourishment, moisturizing and protective effects. It is suitable for use on any skin, even sensitive skin, in dry seasons or times. In particular, shea butter is rich in non-saponifiable ingredients and has deep moisturizing effects. It can not only prevent dryness and cracking, but also further restore and maintain the skin's natural elasticity. Biotherm Body Moisturizing Lotion: Contains pure natural mineral water ingredients, rich in minerals. Its unique ingredient PERTARE can fully absorb the moisturizing molecules into the skin, effectively nourishing the skin while replenishing water, so that the skin no longer feels dry and tight. 4) Reduce the frequency of use of exfoliating products to prevent excessive exfoliation from damaging the skin's protective film. Skin care products should also be adjusted and updated in time as the seasons change. If your current skin care products make your skin tingling or even red and itchy after use, it is time to replace them immediately. You should choose low-irritation, high-moisturizing skin care lotions/creams, which should strengthen moisturizing functions. It is recommended to use moisturizing creams or cream emulsions containing hyaluronic acid, collagen and other moisturizing ingredients to lock in water and moisturize. 5) You should pay attention to sun protection during the day. Although the sunshine in autumn does not seem as powerful as in summer, the power of ultraviolet rays in autumn cannot be underestimated. Because the concentration of the ion layer in the atmosphere is thinner in autumn than in summer, the amount of ultraviolet rays absorbed is less than in summer. Therefore, ultraviolet rays are still quite strong. It can be said that the skin is more susceptible to ultraviolet damage during this period, and ultraviolet rays are also one of the culprits of dry skin. Therefore, after applying moisturizing lotion during the day, don’t forget to still use sunscreen for protection. Skin, protecting the skin from damage by ultraviolet and visible light in various bands. 6) In order to avoid the evaporation of skin moisture caused by dry indoor air, you should try to increase the indoor humidity. It is usually more appropriate to keep the humidity at around 50 degrees.

If you stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, it is recommended to use equipment such as an air humidifier indoors; or you can also take economical measures, such as placing several basins of water indoors, or placing several fish tanks and aquatic plants. A good choice to maintain indoor air humidity and help keep skin hydrated. You can also put a small basin of water next to the bed every night before going to bed, which can also have a certain humidification effect. 7) Close-fitting clothing should be loose-fitting cotton, preferably sweat-absorbent and breathable, to avoid contact friction or itchy skin caused by hot sweating. At the same time, you should also avoid wearing sweaters, nylon, and chemical fiber materials close to the body to avoid irritating the skin and causing allergies. Especially some people like to wear thermal underwear when the weather is cold, but be careful that some thermal underwear is made of composite sandwich materials, which is an extra layer of fluffy chemical fiber sandwiched between two layers of ordinary cotton fabric to achieve the purpose of keeping warm. When this kind of chemical fiber component is worn on the human body, it is easy to cause friction and generate static electricity. These static electricity can produce a large number of cations around the human body, which will irritate the skin, reduce the moisture of the human skin, increase dandruff, and also cause skin itching, so the skin People who are prone to allergies should try to wear underwear that is not likely to generate static electricity, such as pure cotton or silk. 8) In addition to choosing the right skin care products, internal conditioning is also very important. Pay attention to rest and appropriate psychological stress regulation. In terms of diet adjustment, you should pay more attention to drinking more water to replenish the water lost by the body and increase the moisture supply to the skin. Pay attention to balanced nutrition and eat more water-rich foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables and milk and soy milk. You can also eat sesame oil, soybeans, peanuts and other foods regularly. They contain unsaturated fatty acids, such as linoleic acid. However, if the human body lacks linoleic acid, the skin will become dry and the scales will thicken. Vitamin intake is also important for preventing and treating skin itching, especially vitamins A, B2, B6, etc. When the human body lacks vitamin A, the skin will become dry, scales will appear, and even spinous papules will appear on the skin. Therefore, you should eat more foods rich in vitamin A, such as animal liver, carrots, rape, celery, eggs, Cod liver oil, etc. Vitamin B plays a vital role in the metabolic function of the human body. A lack of vitamin B will cause metabolism disorders in the body, affect cell function, and easily lead to skin problems such as dermatitis and acne. Foods containing vitamin B6 include: wheat bran, potatoes, peas, cabbage, beef liver, kidney, bananas, etc.; foods containing vitamin B2 include: soybeans, yeast, animal liver, mushrooms, etc. At the same time, patients with itchy skin should avoid spicy, greasy, seafood, coffee, cigarettes, alcohol and other irritating foods, because such foods are irritating to the human body and skin and may aggravate the condition of people with certain skin diseases. For example, patients with purulent skin should eat less sweets, alcohol, etc. Foods such as peppers, onions, garlic, wine, strong tea, etc. can lead to poor sleep, emotional instability and many other reactions. These psychological factors will also affect people's response to the disease. Sensitivity to irritation makes it easier to produce itching, which may aggravate the symptoms of people suffering from pruritic neurological dysfunction skin diseases. Eat a light diet and eat less high-fat foods, because high-fat foods will increase the burden of oil on the skin, especially the pores on the skin surface that are prone to clogging. You should also eat less sugary foods, as too much sugar will increase the amount of oil on the skin. The proliferation of bacteria irritates the skin and causes skin itching. Fish, shrimp, crab and other seafood products are "allergens" for skin itching. They can easily release active substances around skin blood vessels and aggravate skin itching. They should also be avoided. For simple seasonal dry and itchy skin, as long as the above maintenance principles are followed, the problem of skin itching can be greatly improved or even eliminated.