Dry skin and dehydration

There are a lot of people who think that dry skin and dehydrated skin are the same condition. However, even though they are similar they are not the same. Dry skin refers to such skin that lacks oils, whereas dehydrated skin lacks moisture in the Stratum corneum. People who do not know what Stratum corneum is should know that it is the outermost layer of epidermis.

Dry and dehydrated skin

However, there are a lot of similarities and both dry and dehydrated skins have a lot of same characteristics like irritation, inflammation and itchiness of the skin. All of these characteristics usually occur in the parts of the body where sebaceous glands are few in number, like the arms, legs and torso. Apart from these, the cheeks and the area around the eyes are also endangered.

A lot of people also believe that dehydrated skin is the opposite of oily skin and that is not correct duet to the fact that dehydrated skin refers to the levels of moisture in the skin, whereas oily skin refers to the levels of oil or sebum in the skin.

There are also some other symptoms of dry skin that occur quite often like a feeling of tightness after swimming or taking a bath or shower, a rougher looking and feeling skin, flaking or scaling that can be slight but severe as well, fine lines, wrinkles and cracks. The causes of dry, dehydrated skin

There are a lot of causes of dry, dehydrated skin but there are some that occur more often than others. Aging is one of the most common causes of dry, dehydrated skin. Healthy aging is considered normal and it is a change that occurs genetically and is not influenced by lifestyle or some other factors.

Over-cleansing is also known to lead to dry, dehydrated skin as well. Over-cleansing occurs when people shower or bathe more than it is considered to be normal and healthy. Using harsh soaps is also known to contribute to over-cleansing quite a lot. Cold weather and low humidity are two factors that cause a lot of dry, dehydrated skin in people. These environmental factors affect the levels of sebum by depriving them. The skin that lacks the proper amount of these oils will become dry. Such skin is a lot more prone to premature aging.

Lifestyle influences the occurrence of dry, dehydrated skin quite a lot. It is important that people do not smoke and that they intake all the needed nutrients. The sun is another factor that highly increases the risk of dry skin and people need to protect the skin when they are exposed to the sun for a prolonged period of time.