Many people are bothered by different skin problems. One of the most common ones is dry skin. It is very uncomfortable when you are having the problem of dry skin. External stimuli like wind and air conditioning will worsen the degree of dryness. It is important to take good care of our skin and avoid the bad feeling of tightness of your skin or even chapping and cracking signs to show up on your face.

Dry skin is usually caused by not enough sebum secretion from the glands inside our skin. It can also be attributed by a bad diet with low intake of some of the vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin Bs. Some skin diseases will have the symptoms of dry skin, such as eczema and psoriasis. If the dry skin is not due to an existing skin problem, some of the causes of dry skin include:

• Inherited factors
• Ageing, causing a decreased natural lubrication.
• Metabolic factors such as low thyroid gland function, or excessive weight loss.
• Often exposing cool weather, especially when it is windy or the humidity is low.
• Frequent exposure to air conditioning, heating or sitting close to a fire or fan heater.
• Excessive showering or swimming, especially in a pool with strong chlorinated hot or cold water.
• Too much contact with detergents, soap and solvents.
• Frictional irritation and chapping.

The immediate remedy for dry skin is applying skin moisturizer. It is also important to note the factors causing your dry skin such as the list above and try your best to avoid these causal factors, such as to reduce how often you take a shower and replace ordinary soap with synthetic detergent cleanser, water-miscible emollient, bath oil, anti-pruritic tar oil, etc.. Also, it is very important to apply emollient literately after taking a shower. The choice of skin moisturizer is very important. You can read more about choosing the right skin moisturizer.

You must have known someone with atopic dermatitis, maybe your children, your brother or sister, or your close friend’s son, since atopic dermatitis is a common skin disease affecting 10-20% children worldwide. It presents with long term skin inflammation, with periods of remission, and affects patients and their families profoundly. Atopic dermatitis usually starts off when the patient is in infancy or childhood, but it can often persist to adulthood. The typical symptoms include very dry skin, intense itching, inflammation, blisters and skin infections. There are many possible causes of atopic dermatitis such as genetic factors, skin defects, frequent insults from the environment and abnormal immune responses.

The actual cause of atopic dermatitis is still remained unknown, but studies have stated that skin defects and abnormal immune responses are the most important causes of atopic dermatitis. Discussing how skin defects and abnormal immune response cause atopic dermatitis would gain better understanding of the actual processes leading to atopic dermatitis and maybe able to identify the primary cause. In fact, there is newly developed medication called EpiCeram aiming to restore the skin defect which shows results suggesting that the skin defects in atopic dermatitis may be the primary cause.

Patients and their family are affect quite seriously with the intense dry skin, itching and sleep deprivation. If this skin defect can be further confirmed as the primary cause of atopic dermatitis, then patients can benefit enormously with reduced use of steroids cream or ointments and possibly preventing atopic dermatitis from developing in infants and young children.

To learn more about atopic dermatitis or eczema. I have encountered a very good read from Dr. Nasir who is teaching dermatology at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This book tells you everything about eczema sufferers need to know to free themselves from unbearable itching and unsightly rashes.

Check it out:

Everyone must have gone through the bad time with acne on their face in their adolescences. Acne is an inflammation of our sebaceous and sweat glands, producing papules, nodules and scars. Acne mostly affects the skin of our face and upper part of the chest, and the back. Almost all teenagers have been affected with acne, and often persist in adulthood. Teenagers are mostly affected because of the change in their hormone during the start of puberty, which results in excessive sebum excretion. Normally, acne will diminish over time and then disappear when they grow up.

The causes of acne include hormonal changes, genetics, psychological factors and diet. The hormonal changes are particularly seen in puberty where teenagers are producing male sex hormones which lead to increased production of sebum and causing blocking of the sebaceous glands and hence inflammation ensues. Studies have pointed that acne can be associated with increased stress levels, so if you are always under stress and have the problem of acne, you may need to find ways to deal with your stress levels.

Generally we can use some topical creams or ointments to ease the symptoms of acne. They include Benzoyl peroxide which will help a lot in mild acne. Some more serious acne may need the treatment of antibiotics or hormonal intervention.

Do you know what the largest organ in our body is? Human skin is actually our largest organ in the body. We are covered entirely with the skin. Our skin is very important in the way that it gives first impression to people when we see each others’ face. Do you ever have skin problems like dry skin or acne? Understanding more about our skin can help us to take good care of it and choose the right skincare to maintain our glamorous skin. Not surprisingly, it can cover up to a surface area of 2m.

The skin is very important to us. It offers protection for us from harmful external stimuli such as UV, micro-organisms, and allergens. The skin consists of three layers, namely the epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous tissue. All three of these layers play a role in the normal skin functions. The epidermis is the outermost layer and is the thickest layer among the three. It mainly contains special skin cells called corneocytes which act to form the “barrier” for our body against the environment outside. The dermis beneath the epidermis is a layer of connective tissue with most of the collagen and elastic fibers to give strength and toughness to our skin. The deepest layer is the subcutaneous tissue which contains loose connective tissue and fat. The fat stored in this layer offer some insulation to our body to keep our skin warm all time. Also, the blood vessels in the skin mainly are present in the subcutaneous tissue.