Causes of dry skin

Synonyms in a broader sense

Dry skin, Medical: Xerosis cutis

  • On the one hand, sebum production decreases continuously from about the age of 25 years. Consequently, the older you get, the less fat you naturally produce. In addition, the epidermis binds less fluid and, to make matters worse, the sweat glands also lose their functionality and produce less sweat.

A very important and frequent trigger of dry skin is the wrong care and hygiene.

Of course it is extremely important to pay attention to regular and thorough cleaning of the skin. However, if you wash and/or shower too often, it is more likely to dehydrate the skin and dry it out. Too hot water intensifies this effect even more.

Too much use of cleansing products also promotes the development of dry skin, especially if they contain alcohol. Another cause of dry skin is poor nutrition, often as a result of excessive alcohol consumption. This is because they are accompanied by a vitamin deficiency.

Above all, vitamin A and the vitamins of the B group are important for healthy skin; if the body does not get enough of them, dry skin can be the result. Some medications have an increased risk of dry skin if taken regularly, such as the contraceptive pill. Since our skin is our barrier to the outside world, it naturally reacts strongly to the environment.

Therefore, many external factors lead to dry skin. It is characteristic that many people tend to have dry skin, especially in the cold winter months. This is partly because the cold air outside irritates the skin and partly because many rooms are heated (sometimes inappropriately), whereby the heating air also damages the skin due to the resulting low humidity.

Sunlight can also cause or intensify dry skin. In addition, there are many other external factors that favour the development of dry skin, for example many chemical substances in perfumes or lotions, but also irradiation. There is a whole range of diseases that lead to dry skin. The most important are neurodermatitis, psoriasis, diabetes mellitus (diabetes), various allergies, hypothyroidism, inflammation of the stomach lining and many others.