Dry skin may not be a problem for elephants, but it is for me.
Dry skin is a problem anyone can get, but the good news is that in most cases it can be cured or at least managed.
Ok, if you live in a tropical environment you might not suffer from dry skin, but everyone I know has some sort of dry skin problem and it seems to get worse as we age.
What is dry skin?
Dry skin is skin that is lacking moisture in the outer layer which results in cracks in the skin surface. It can range from temporary to permanent, and mild to severe.
What causes dry skin?
So many things can cause skin dryness but here are the most common;
-Age
-Genetics
-Certain drugs
-Your cities water
-Excessive air conditioning or excessive heating
-Excessive harsh soaps, hand washing, or bathing
-Environment (living in the desert, cool climates, and windy conditions)
-Menopause, Hypothyroidism, weight loss, renal disease, and dermatitis.
Plan of Attack
The best way to attack a dry skin problem is to start ruling out how and why it’s happening. If your young and don’t live in excessive heat or cold, take no prescription drugs, you can rule out 75% of the common causes.
The Water!
Long story short, in my case, my dry skin turned out to be due to my cities water! Probably the last thing I would have considered as my sister who lives 5 minutes away didn’t have a dry skin problem.
The Shower!
I recently spent a few weeks out of town and was stunned how soft the skin on my arms and feet suddenly were. When I considered that all my local friends had the same dry skin (especially feet) it all started to make sense. Standing in the shower each day in water with high Chlorine and Chloramines, Fluoride, Lead, Copper, Iron, Sulfate, Arsenic, and much more was definitely the culprit of the dry skin problems of myself and local friends.
But What About My Sister?
Q: But what about my sister who lives 5 minutes away? Why didn’t she have dry skin too?
A: She has a whole house water filter!
My Solution
So my solution was the purchase of a filter for my shower and I loaded up on all kinds of moisturizing products and are just happy to know its manageable. I’m thinking of getting the whole house filter, but for now I am just smearing every kind of moisturizer I have all over my body each time I shower. I will look into a whole house water filter in my next home though~
