What does dry skin feel like?

What sensations and signs should you look for?

• Tightness: the skin feels less comfortable rather than soft and supple.
• Roughness: the surface feels uneven or scaly when you touch it.
• Itching: ordinary dry skin often causes mild, temporary itch.
• Sensitivity: the skin feels easily irritated.
• Visible changes: flakes, a dull or ashy appearance, and cracks can accompany the discomfort.

Dryness can affect a few patches or a larger area. Dry skin can occur anywhere, but common places include the hands, face, arms, shins and lower legs. Redness and scaling can accompany facial dryness.13

Why does dry skin feel uncomfortable?

Dry skin lacks moisture. As dryness creates cracks, skin can become sore, itchy and inflamed; those gaps also let irritants and bacteria enter more easily. Cold weather, low humidity, washing too often and harsh soaps can contribute. Skin also tends to become drier with age. Medicines and some health conditions can cause dryness too, so persistent symptoms deserve more than repeated changes of moisturizer.134

Does itchy, dry skin mean eczema?

Not necessarily. Ordinary dry skin is usually temporary, while eczema is a condition that often lasts or keeps returning. Eczema tends to cause more intense, persistent itching, inflamed or swollen skin, and patches that become thickened, crusted or wet. Itching that interrupts sleep or daily activities needs medical assessment rather than a guess based on texture.15

With eczema, tiny cracks let skin lose water quickly. Atopic dermatitis, a common type of eczema, can cause itching even before a rash appears. Scratching can increase redness, swelling and itching. Having dry skin does not automatically mean you have eczema, although dryness can worsen eczema in people prone to it.1567

How can you make dry skin feel better?

Dry skin care aims to soothe skin, restore moisture and prevent dryness returning, rather than give the bathroom shelf a promotion.3

1. 1Wash gently with warm rather than hot water. Keep baths and showers to five to ten minutes, and use only enough gentle cleanser to remove dirt and oil.
2. 2Pat your skin dry instead of rubbing it. Avoid scrubbing flakes away.
3. 3Apply a fragrance free cream or ointment immediately while skin is still damp. After washing your face, apply moisturizer within five minutes.
4. 4Reapply moisturizer several times daily, including after hand washing and whenever skin feels dry.

Creams and ointments add more moisture than lotions. Useful moisturizer ingredients include glycerin, hyaluronic acid and petrolatum. For facial dryness, ceramides help strengthen the skin's protective barrier. A moisturizer can be useful without being fancy, which leaves the packaging with less to do.23

Treatment depends on how dry the skin is and what is causing it; there is no single recovery timetable. Avoid repeatedly exfoliating dry patches, because removing more skin can create damage that then needs to heal. Continue moisturizing as skin improves.34

When should you see a doctor?

Arrange an appointment if regular moisturizing and gentle care do not help, or itching keeps returning or disrupts sleep. Seek medical assessment for oozing, crusting, increasing redness, fever or pain. A persistent pink patch or wet, red facial skin also needs checking. If moisturizer or another product burns, stings or irritates your skin, tell your dermatologist.123