Diagnosis
To diagnose dry skin, your healthcare professional likely will look at your skin and ask about your medical history. You might talk about when your dry skin started, what makes it better or worse, what your bathing habits are, and how you care for your skin.
Your healthcare professional may suggest that you have tests to see if your dry skin is being caused by a medical condition. Sometimes dry skin is a symptom of another skin condition, such as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis.
Treatment
Dry skin often responds well to self-care, such as using moisturizers and avoiding long, hot showers and baths.
If you have very dry skin, your healthcare professional likely will suggest a moisturizing product designed to meet your needs. If you have a serious skin disease, treatment may include a prescription cream or lotion.
If dry skin becomes itchy, your healthcare professional may suggest a prescription cream with hydrocortisone in it. Be sure to talk with your healthcare professional before you try a cream or lotion that you can buy without a prescription to ease itching. Some products may have ingredients that make dry skin worse.
Lifestyle and home remedies
The following measures can help keep your skin moist and healthy.
Gently wash your face at least twice a day
Wash your face with a gentle cleanser twice a day and after sweating. Use a cleanser that doesn't foam and doesn't have alcohol in it. Cleansers with stearic acid or linoleic acid can help repair the skin. Stearic acid is found in shea butter. Linoleic acid is found in argan oil, safflower oil and others. If you have sensitive skin, wash with a cleanser in the evening and just rinse with water at other times.
After you wash your face, while your skin is still damp, apply any medicine you're using on your face. Wait a few minutes or as directed on the medicine package, and then put on moisturizer.
Moisturize
Put moisturizer on your skin several times a day. Be sure to put more on whenever your skin feels dry. After hand-washing or bathing, put on moisturizer while your skin is still damp.
Talk with your healthcare professional about the products that are right for your skin. You may need to try several products before you find the ones that work best for you.
Look for products that have healing ingredients such as:
- Ceramides.
- Cocoa butter.
- Fatty acids.
- Glycerol, also called glycerin.
- Shea butter.
- Urea.
Look for products labeled hypoallergenic. This means they are less likely than other products to cause an allergic reaction.
If you tend to get acne, look for products labeled noncomedogenic or oil-free. Or check to see whether the product is designed not to clog pores. This makes it less likely that the moisturizer will cause your skin to break out.
Don't use products that have sodium lauryl sulfate because it can irritate the skin and make dryness worse.
If you have mature skin, you might prevent scaly, flaky skin by using products that contain antioxidants or alpha hydroxy acid.
If skin that's not on your face is very dry, you might try a thicker moisturizer (Eucerin, Cetaphil, others) or an oil, such as baby oil. Oil stays on the skin longer than lotion. Oil also helps keep water within the skin's surface. Another choice is a petrolatum-based product (Vaseline, Aquaphor, others).
Use warm water and limit bath time
Long showers or baths and hot water remove skin's natural oils. Limit bathing to no more than once a day and no longer than 5 to 10 minutes. Use warm water, not hot water.
Choose a gentle soap
When you wash your hands, use a moisturizing soap that is labeled hypoallergenic. After you wash, put on a moisturizer while your hands are still damp.
In the shower or bath, try a cleansing cream or shower gel instead of soap. Then use soap only in areas where it's needed, such as the armpits and groin. Don't use loofahs or pumice stones. Rinse your skin thoroughly and pat dry.
Use a humidifier
Dry indoor air can dry out skin and make itching and flaking worse. Using a humidifier in your home adds moisture to the air.
Choose fabrics that are easy on the skin
Natural fibers, such as cotton, allow your skin to breathe. Wool, although natural, sometimes irritates even healthy skin.
For laundry, use detergents without dyes or perfumes. These products usually have the word "free" in their names.
Ease itchiness
If dry skin causes itchiness, put a clean, cool, damp cloth on the skin. If itching continues or gets worse, your healthcare professional may suggest a prescription cream with hydrocortisone in it. Be sure to talk with your healthcare professional before you try a cream or lotion that you can buy without a prescription to reduce itching. Some products may have ingredients that make dry skin worse.
If self-care steps don't relieve dry skin or if symptoms get worse, make an appointment to see a healthcare professional.
Mayo Clinic Minute: The many benefits of petroleum jelly
Jeff Olsen: It's easy to find, inexpensive and effective for treating a lot of winter ailments.
Dawn Davis, M.D.: Petroleum jelly is great, and it's one of a dermatologist's main tips and tricks.
Mr. Olsen: Dermatologist Dr. Dawn Davis says that's because this odorless nearly colorless jelly is so versatile.
Dr. Davis: It sits on top of the skin, like a greenhouse roof, so it's like insulating the skin so that it doesn't lose heat and so it doesn't lose moisture.
Mr. Olsen: One recent study called petroleum jelly the best way to reduce the risk of eczema in newborns. Dr. Davis says because petroleum jelly is chemically similar to proteins in our skin, it's also a good choice for treating everything from chapped lips to dry cuticles, hands and feet.
Dr. Davis: A lot of people also ask about using petroleum jelly in the nares, or in the breathing holes of the nose.
Mr. Olsen: Dr. Davis says you should never use it in the nose of infants and small children. In older kids a thin layer of petroleum jelly can even soothe a tender winter nose. For more information, talk with your doctor or visit MayoClinic.org.
Preparing for your appointment
You're likely to start by seeing your primary healthcare professional. Sometimes, you may be referred to a specialist in skin conditions, called a dermatologist.
Here's information to help you get ready for your appointment..
What you can do
Make a list of questions before your appointment. This can help you make the most of your time with your healthcare professional. For dry skin, some basic questions to ask include:
- What's the most likely cause of my dry skin?
- Do I need tests?
- Is it likely the condition will go away on its own?
- What skin care routines do you recommend?
Be sure to ask any other questions you may have.
What to expect from your doctor
Your healthcare professional is likely to ask you questions, such as:
- How long have you had dry skin?
- Do you have other symptoms?
- Are your symptoms constant or do they come and go?
- What, if anything, makes your skin better?
- What, if anything, makes your skin worse?
- What medicines are you taking?
- How often do you bathe or shower? Do you use hot water? What soaps and shampoos do you use?
- Do you use moisturizing creams? If so, which ones, and how often do you use them?