Skin Care For Seniors

When we become men and women “of a certain age" our focus tends to shift from looking beautiful to maintaining our personal health and comfort. As you age, changes to the skin occur which make it thinner and dryer. This makes it more susceptible to harm.

Causes Of Dry Skin

As noted above, advancing age brings dryer skin. We may find that our skin is thinner and less elastic. The number of sweat and oil glands which protect and moisten our skin decreases as we age. We bruise more and our skin can easily tear. Cracks, scaling and itching become troublesome. As it turns out though, people who agonized over pimples and oily skin throughout their lives actually get a break and do better with changes that occur due to aging.

There are quite a few things that exacerbate dry skin. Dry windy weather (hot or cold) removes moisture from the skin. The same is true for summer air conditioning and winter heating. You should avoid sitting very near a fireplace or a space heater. Swimming is a great exercise, but will nevertheless remove moisture from the skin. This is especially true of the chlorinated water in a swimming pool. Be sure to drink enough water or other liquids as this will help prevent dry skin. However, be sure to check with a health care professional before significantly increasing water intake if you take diuretics or medication for high blood pressure.

Avoid too much exposure to the sun. Smoking also contributes to dry skin as well as to other well-known health risks. You should avoid frequent long, hot baths and showers as this will remove the skin's natural oils. Deodorant soaps, bubble baths and any soaps containing detergent should be avoided as they can make already dry skin even worse. Finally, anything containing strong fragrances should probably be avoided.



Take Care Of Your Skin

Here are some ways to help keep prevent dry skin. Bathe or shower in water that is neither very hot nor very cold. If possible don't bathe every day. Don't spend more than five or ten minutes in the bath or shower. Keep your bath or shower time under ten minutes.

When you finish your bath apply soothing moisturizer to your skin while it is still damp. This will trap more moisture than if you apply it to completely dry skin. You may want to apply moisturizer several times throughout the day, including just before going to sleep. Skip the steam bath and the sauna. The more you sweat the more skin oils are pulled out of your skin.

Liquid soap will dry your skin more than a bar of the same soap will. Use a mild bar soap. Do not use shower gels and deodorant soaps. Avoid skin preparations with alcohol in them and don't rub your skin when applying cream or lotion because this can cause itching.

Make sure that you get enough sleep. That’s when your skin cells renew themselves. Get some exercise. Exercise causes blood flow throughout the body and this nourishes the skin. Raise the humidity level in your home with a vaporizer. Have some oily fish like tuna or salmon for dinner once a week.

Use laundry detergents which are environmentally safe. They will have fewer additives. Don’t use fabric softeners in the washer and dryer and rinse your clothes and sheets thoroughly to remove soap residue. Don’t wear clothing that is potentially irritating such as woolen garments. Use cotton bed sheets.

In Conclusion

These are some easy methods to help with dry skin. However, you should consult a health care professional if the following situations occur. You itch all over and there is no clear reason. Your dry skin is not helped by these suggestions or it gets worse. Your skin is badly broken or you have sores caused by scratching. If your skin is so dry or itchy that you can't sleep. Finally, see your doctor if you have a new growth or discoloration, or if an existing mole changes in any way.

So don’t allow the texture and tone of your skin to deteriorate. Find ways to preserve its health and appearance. The suggestions above are simple and can help lessen some of the outward effects of aging.