Avoiding the “Winter Itch”

As fall and winter approach, the skin is at particularly vulnerable to drying and becoming very itchy.  Factors that contribute to the development of winter itch include low ambient humidity in the air, cool fall and winter weather, long and hot showers and baths, and the continued use of fragranced cosmetic and toiletries.  Once the skin becomes visibly dry and scaly, microscopically small cracks or fissures begin to develop leading to redness, itching, and inflammation.  For those who already have a pre-existing skin disorder such as eczema or psoriasis, dryness and winter go hand in hand thus leading to aggravation of their skin disorder.  Generally,  people 65 years of age and older are at particularly high risk of developing the winter itch.  In addition, certain medications used to lower cholesterol and blood pressure can contribute to additional skin dryness. Here are a few helpful tips to combat the winter itch:

1)      Avoid soaps such as Coast, Dial, Zest, Irish Spring and Lever 2000.  Stick to more gentle and fragrance free soaps such as Ivory, Neutrogena, Dove, and Cetaphil.

2)      Cut back on the use of heavily fragranced cosmetics and toiletries as fragrance is the number one cause of both irritant and allergic contact skin dermatitis. 

3)      Avoid long hot showers and baths.  Try and expose one’s skin to less than 5 minutes of hot water exposure.  Immediately after gently blotting one’s body off with a towel, rub down the entire skin surface with a fragrance free skin moisturizer such as Cetaphil, Aveeno, Vanicream, and Eucerin.  A cheap and very effective alternative, believe it or not, is pure Canola (cooking) oil.  Canola is not only very effective at trapping water on the skin, thus moisturizing, but also allows for delivery of essential fatty acids to the skin allowing for rebuilding the integrity and important barrier function of the skin surface. 

4)      Consider a cool mist vaporizer for one’s bedroom to add extra humidity (water) to the air. 

 Attach below are other recommended fragrance free cosmetics and toiletries.  Consider switching your current product line(s) to these safer and less irritating alternatives.