Fortunately, there’s something natural that really helps.
When I was a little girl, I remember my mother used to have raw, red patches around her thumbnails. Whenever she held my hand or brushed my hair or hugged me before bed, I’d notice. When I asked one day what it was, she told me dismissively, “Dry skin,” and I could tell she was embarrassed.
Now that I’m a mother, I, too, have raw red patches around my thumbnails. I didn’t think anyone noticed, but my wonderful, observant, rotten teenage son recently asked me, “Mom, what’s wrong with your thumbs?” Sigh.
While genetics may be at play with my dry skin, there are lots of reasons why you might be experiencing embarrassing or itchy dry skin. All of these reasons affect people of all ages, races, and gender, you’ll probably experience dry skin at some point. Here are five common causes of dry skin:
Washing and Sanitizing Your Paws
The big duh, right? Who isn’t washing and sanitizing their hands constantly while COVID runs amok? Soap and alcohol-based sanitizers strip skin of its natural oils, causing flakiness, redness and itching.
Cleaning
Unless you’re a fan of that lovely rubber glove smell, cleaning with your bare hands is likely how you clean. That’s how I do it. Even though I use all-natural and nontoxic cleaners, they aren’t meant for skin, and my hands let me know.
Chlorine
Mean ol’ chlorine actually opens your pores and destroys your skin’s natural oils. You know what I’m saying if you wash dishes with bleach or swim.
Temperature Extremes
Whether your skin is baked from working in the hot sun or freeze-dried from shoveling snow, temperature extremes zap your natural moisture and leave skin feeling like potato chips. With no dip.
Diabetes
Over 10% of the American population is diabetic, and diagnoses are on the rise. Your whole life changes when you learn you’re a diabetic: Diet restrictions. Constant worry about insulin. Risk of serious health problems like blindness, amputation, and coma. On top of it all, elevated blood sugar also causes annoyingly dry skin, sometimes severe.
Dermatitis, Psoriasis and Eczema
Skin conditions are difficult to self-diagnose and can be caused from a variety of things, from allergies to irritants to genetics. Like mine. Hooray. More than just dry or itchy, skin conditions can result in cracking and bleeding, and that can lead to more serious issues like infection.
Luckily, there is something natural that will soothe your dry skin no matter what’s causing it. As I write this, I have a bottle of Elements Conditioning Skin Creme next to my computer. It has aloe vera, jojoba oil, vitamin E and other natural goodies. Kandace from Pro-Tek kindly sent me a bottle when I told her I wanted to write this article. I rubbed it into my red and raw thumb skin last night and again today, and I’m already noticing my skin is healing! Wow! This stuff is amazing.
Here’s what Pro-Tek customers are saying about Elements. These are real testimonials I pulled off the Elements page:
“This lotion soothes my hands the best. The free sample you sent me has me ordering more. Thank you.”
Pam
“Your lotion is far superior to any, and I mean any, of the lotions available at retail drug stores. I’ve tried even the most expensive one which my podiatrist recommended and yours is 10 times better. Love the non-greasy formula and that is absorbs very quickly. It has a very light pleasant fragrance and all natural. . . . . WOW!!! Love it and will tell my podiatrist to recommend it to his patients.”
Julie
“I use this outstanding product quite often. My hands, face and arms take a beating from the sun and dirt and grease and oil from working in the yard and on my many landscaping and recreational vehicles. ELEMENTS soothes and helps heal the itchy, dry skin caused by these activities.”
Steve
That’s high praise! What causes your dry skin? Have you tried Elements? Tell us your story in the comments.
Take advantage of this month’s juicy sale to stash Elements all around your house and gift one to a friend.
