#WINTER ITCH HOW TO#
#WINTER ITCH SKIN#
#WINTER ITCH FREE#

When the skin’s water content drops below 10%, it begins drying and brings discomfort characterized by redness, itchiness and flakiness. However, when humidity drops, as it does in cold-weather months, there’s a dramatic increase in TEWL as the dry air pulls moisture from the skin.

Each day, it loses approximately a pint of water through transepidermal water loss (TEWL), the continuous process by which water leaves the body and enters the atmosphere via evaporation and diffusion.

#WINTER ITCH SKIN#

Environmental impact on the stratum corneumįor the stratum corneum to properly protect the body, it must be elastic and flexible, which is only possible when the skin is properly hydrated. What’s more, lipids lubricate the skin and, as such, are a major factor in ensuring smooth texture. On the topmost layer of skin, they combine with sweat to form the thin acid mantle-the chemical barrier that kills bacteria and regulates moisture loss. In the stratum corneum, their role is to prevent the loss of NMFs from within the corneocytes.

#WINTER ITCH FREE#

Intercellular lipids are comprised of ceramides, free fatty acids and cholesterol. However, they’re water-soluble, which is why skin dries out upon extended water contact from showering, bathing, swimming and hand-washing. As humectants, NMFs not only hold water, but also attract it thus, they are essential to the skin’s flexibility and water-holding capabilities. However, the individual roles of corneocytes and lipids are equally important.Ĭorneocytes are mainly composed of keratin, which holds water and gives skin its strength, along with various other compounds called natural moisturizing factors (NMFs).

Collectively, these components create a physical wall intended to prevent moisture loss. Under a microscope, these components appear to be arranged in a brick-and-mortar manner, with corneocytes serving as the bricks, connected by desmosomes, and lipids playing the role of mortar that surrounds and protects the corneocytes. The stratum corneum is comprised of corneocytes, which are flattened, dead skin cells desmosomes, the proteins that hold the corneocytes together and intercellular lipids. To understand skin hydration, it’s necessary to look at key components of the stratum corneum-the outermost layer of the epidermis that makes skin impermeable, and protects deeper skin tissue and the body at large from bacterial invasion and other environmental aggressors.

#WINTER ITCH HOW TO#

What’s more, by presenting your clients with the reasons why they are enduring the discomfort of winter itch, they will be more likely to diligently implement your recommendations for how to remedy it. Of course, providing clients with tips to improve the symptoms of dry winter skin is vital, but to ensure the recommendations you provide are those that will make a discernible improvement in a client’s skin, it’s necessary to have a sound understanding of the cause of the condition. Given the prevalence of the condition, also known as “winter itch,” it is imperative that skin care professionals are prepared to combat the problem. In fact, according to a report from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), a whopping 81 million Americans claim to experience dry, itchy or scaly skin during the winter months. After all, it’s a condition to which few who live in Northern climates are immune. Between November and March, one of the most common questions faced by skin care professionals relates to the treatment of dry winter skin.