Winter Skin Survival Guide: How to Protect Your Skin Barrier during Cold Months

 

Winter heralds a plethora of skin related issues for people belonging to all age groups. It brings with it a dip in temperatures along with multiple skin related problems like dryness, itchiness, flakiness and an overtly sensitive skin. Dry skin in winter is a regarded as a rising health issue in today’s times.

 

What do you understand by skin barrier?
As the largest organ of the mammalian body, skin has the important role of keeping the nutrients locked in and outside pollutants locked out of the system. More often than not it’s not an easy task. This skin barrier is called the stratum corneum, which acts as a shield, protecting the skin from external irritants and keeping absorbed nutrients well inside it.

 

What are the most commonly encountered winter skin concerns?

• Dryness and Dehydration: Dry skin or eczema often occurs more frequently during winter months. As humidity levels reduce, increased water loss leaves the skin highly dehydrated and dry. This dryness can be localised or generalised in nature. Transepidermal water loss is commonly seen with decreased temperature and humidity.
• Flakiness and Itchiness: Winter months brings with it other skin issues like itchiness also called pruritus clinically if it becomes severe and chronic in nature. The flaky skin and itchiness becomes more severe in colder months for susceptible people and even affects their quality of life if not treated at the earliest.
• Redness and Irritation: Skin barrier dysfunctions also results in redness and skin flares often requiring medical supervision.
• Cracking and Peeling: It is also observed through multiple studies, skin conditions in winter triggers and leads to development of more complex issues of abnormal peeling along with redness and cracks which persists until treated.

 

How does winter affect different skin types?

• Facial sebum secretion is an important aspect of skin care in all seasons. The commonly observed skin types include: dry, oily and normal skin. Another type where regional skin changes occur is combination skin. Factors impacting such multiple skin types include genetics, seasonal and demographic in nature. Skin type is dynamic in nature and greatly impacted by seasonal changes. Winter impacts all of these skin types in different ways and one has to be aware on how to tackle skin problems based on this knowledge.

 

 Important winter skincare essentials: 

With winter skincare gaining a lot of attention in recent times it’s important to have in depth knowledge on winter skin care essentials.

• Hydration Inside and Out: One of the most essential parameters for winter care is hydrating the skin inside out. Studies indicate that using hydrating products impacts texture and long term skin elasticity.
• Layering Skincare Products: As winter leads to more open pores and exposure to dry air, protecting skin with layered skin care products has yielded positive outcomes. The right products will reduce wrinkles, porosity and give protection against changing temperatures.
• Switching to a Gentle Cleanser: Cleansing has often been overdone by most people with skin issues. Especially in colder months, one needs to opt for a milder cleanser 1-3 times a week for optimum results. Excessive cleaning often leads to skin disorders like Rosacea.
• Using a Moisturizer: Moisturizer during winters is an absolute must for people with all skin types. It not only protects the skin but the right product also adds essential nutrients into the skin without disrupting the skin barrier.
• Incorporating Serums and Oils: a more recent trend has been using serums and oil as part of daily winter skin care routine. Scientifically backed data suggests serum contains a lot more biologically active compounds than other products. It can include essential elements like growth factors and vitamins for our skin.

 

How do we protect the skin barrier? 

The first step in protecting the skin barrier is to have the required knowledge and understanding of the role skin barrier plays in skin care and maintenance.

• As mentioned above, the stratum corneum provides one of the key factors to regulate cutaneous sensitization. Understanding the role of the skin barrier will lead us to select products that protect this barrier from dysfunction especially in winter.
• Moisturizers and creams containing ceramides, glycolic acid, hyaluronic acid, retinol etc. often improve skin quality in the long run when used optimally.
• Avoiding common skincare mistakes like over cleansing and over exfoliation prevents skin damage or development of other skin related disorders during cold weather.
• As a biophysical parameter, skin pH also plays an important role in balancing nutrients. Skin has an acidic pH and most products should be closer to the range of natural skin pH.
• Last but not the least, sun protection of skin is an essential element in winter skin care. It is often found that regular and optimum level of sunscreen gives significant protection against sun rays for all skin types.

 

What Lifestyle Changes are required for healthy winter skin?

• Humidify Your Environment: Decreased humidity during winter months is a major cause of dry skin and rashes. Using a humidifier for our indoor air is a great option to balance it out.
• Staying Hydrated: Skin and overall hydration forms the basis of good skin care routine especially in winters
• Diet and Its Impact on Skin: Diet plays a very important role in maintaining good skin especially through winters. A healthy diet containing ample amounts of whole foods and plant based products would go a long way in preventing age and environmental related skin issues.
• Wearing Skin-Friendly Clothing: In recent times, clothing textile has been extensively studied for its role in skin microbiome and functionality in different weather conditions. As clothing impacts skin pH, texture and odour generation it needs to be skin friendly to avoid unwanted side effects.

Conclusion:

Skin care and its protection during winters have gained a lot of momentum in recent times. But choosing the right skin care product as per ones’ demography and skin type requires deep understanding of all the above parameters. One needs to make an informed decision in this matter.

 

Author : Dr Mrinmayee Mukund, Dermatologist at Cozderm Clinic