How to Keep Your Skin Healthy this Winter

How to Keep Your Skin Healthy this Winter

Winter’s frigid air and low humidity can cause your skin to feel dry and itchy. Now is the time to start preparing so that your skin won’t get too irritated this season! 

Also, as you get older, your skin is more likely to get wrinkled or even dried out. Now, many seniors don’t mind wrinkles so much, but most don’t appreciate the dry skin, bruises and age spots. If you share the same sentiment as so many seniors your age, you’ll appreciate these tips that will help your skin stay as healthy as possible.

Moisturize Well

Choose a dry skin cream from Aveeno, Aquaphor or Eucerin. If your skin is very dry, we recommend you try a moisturizer that is very thick, since that creates a thicker moisture barrier and is more likely to help your skin heal. The most important time to moisturize is immediately after a shower or bath.  

Avoid Extended UV Ray Exposure

Using sunscreen (with an SPF of between 30 and 50) before you go out can protect the skin, and delay wrinkles from appearing. Tanning too much can hasten the formance of wrinkles.

Avoid Hot Baths

Saunas can give you a good time, but know this: they can dry out your skin. And a hot bath will do the same. Especially if you already have a tendency toward dry skin, a hot bath can exacerbate the problem. So, therefore, keep those baths and showers down to just a few minutes, and make sure the water is warm; not stifling hot. Spending a quarter of an hour in there, or even ten minutes, can cause your skin to become more dry. 

Use a Humidifier

As mentioned, there is low humidity in the winter months, and lower humidity means dryer skin. Using a humidifier will bring more humidity into the air, and therefore is used by many in the winter months. Aside from enabling the skin to be more moist, humidifiers can also help prevent coughs, cracked lips, and dryness in the throat, among other things. 

Quit Smoking

Smoking can cause wrinkles to occur prematurely. They won’t only cause wrinkles on your face; according to Mayo Clinic, smoking can also cause wrinkles to appear on other parts of a person’s body. Here’s how smoking causes wrinkles: The nicotine in cigarettes causes a person’s blood vessels to narrow, and therefore the blood can’t flow as properly. The reduced blood flow means the skin is getting less nutrients and oxygen, and that alone can cause the skin to wrinkle more quickly. However, that’s not all: the chemicals in tobacco have been proven to cause harm to collagen, which is what causes the skin to be contoured to the body. 

This winter, keep your skin smooth and healthy with these easy skincare tips!