three things that can make dry, flaky skin worse.

I have dry, flaky, itchy skin. It’s a real drag. It’s a hereditary thing. Living in a dry climate doesn’t exactly help. After showers, I put on unrefined shea butter which makes my skin feel somewhat better. Other products sometimes help with the itch.

But many products out there for dry skin contain alcohol of various kinds. My doctor told me that alcohol can dry skin.

Lotions.

The doc told me to avoid lotions that have any sort of alcohol in them. That means I should avoid.. pretty much all lotions sold over the counter, such as Vaseline Intensive Care, Aveeno, Lubriderm.. all those brands. These work on eliminating the itch, but don’t improve dryness, according to my doctor. I’ve used these kinds of lotions for most of my life. Seems my doctor just might be right.

The unrefined shea butter is just shea butter, with a bit of peppermint oil mixed in. It’s not easy to spread on my skin. It’s very thick stuff. It takes work to press into my hands enough to soften the shea butter. I occasionally add drops of jojoba oil onto the shea butter in my hand to help soften it up. The ingredients are all natural, and there’s no alcohol, and my skin does get a little better.. but even this stuff doesn’t help all that much.

Sometimes I try not to worry about treating the dryness, and  just like to use some lotion from a pump bottle to quickly deal with the itch.. but then my skin gets more dry than it was.

Dairy.

There is another thing I was surprised to find that made my skin dry, flaky and itch.. dairy products.

I have a dairy sensitivity. When I eat cheese or drink milk, some of the time I get congestion, sneezing or post-nasal drip.

I have a condition called tinnitus (ringing in the ears). Dairy sometimes makes that worse.

I’ve long ago figured out that dairy can cause sinus and tinnitus problems, but I just recently realized that dairy also makes my skin worse.

Sometimes I still eat dairy. Usually I avoid it, but I really like cheese. I put a bit of sharp cheddar on my scrambled eggs earlier today.

Sinus problems? Not bad. Increased tinnitus.. yes.

Skin? More flakes.. definitely. More itchy than otherwise.

Stress/Anxiety.

Stress and anxiety problems can cause many health problems. I am stressed out and anxious pretty much all the time. It’s a mental health issue. Unfortunately, intense stress and anxiety can cause my skin to feel much more itchy, and even become more flaky. I need to find ways to better deal with daily stress and anxiety problems.

Possible improvement?

If you are suffering from dry skin, you can possibly make your skin condition less severe. Check your lotion ingredients labels to avoid lotions with alcohol in them, stop consuming dairy products for a week or so, and, if you can, try to manage your stress.

These things might help.