Your outer skin layer continually renews itself and sheds dead cells. Normal shedding is usually invisible, so visible flakes are not just routine maintenance with better publicity. Excessive dryness can make more cells shed visibly, leaving a rough surface; more severe dryness can cause cracks, bleeding or pain.1

What could be drying your skin out?

  • Long, hot showers and harsh soaps can remove protective oils. Frequent hand washing, wet work and cleaning chemicals can have the same effect.
  • Cold weather, low humidity, excessive air conditioning and direct heat from a heater can contribute to dryness.
  • Alcohol in topical products, rough clothing and abrasive rubbing can aggravate dry skin.
  • Skin produces less protective oil with age. Certain medicines, including diuretics, statins and oral retinoids, can also cause dryness.
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Persistent dryness can also accompany thyroid disease, diabetes or kidney disease. These are possible causes, not a diagnosis you can make from flakes alone. A clinician can review your symptoms, medicines, washing habits and skin appearance to identify the cause.24

What should you do about the flakes?

It helps reduce water loss and improve the skin's protective barrier. The drier the skin, the thicker the moisturizer should be, especially on the hands.4

  1. 1Bathe no more than once a day, using warm rather than hot water. Keep baths or showers to 5 to 10 minutes.
  2. 2Use a gentle cleanser or a soap with added moisturizers instead of regular soap. Avoid scrubbing the peeling area.
  3. 3After bathing, pat your skin dry and apply an ointment, cream or lotion while the skin is still damp.
  4. 4Reapply moisturizer 2 to 3 times a day, or as often as needed. Reduce the exposures that are drying your skin, such as harsh cleaning products or prolonged contact with water.
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Dryness can improve once its triggers are controlled, although a tendency to dry skin can persist throughout life. If the peeling comes from an inflammatory condition or fungal infection, treatment depends on that cause and can require medicine rather than moisturizer alone.34

When should you get medical help?

Contact a clinician if the peeling continues despite these changes. Seek medical assessment for painful or bleeding cracks, or itching that disrupts sleep or daily activities. Yellow crusts, leaking pus or other fluid, swelling and discoloration are signs of possible infection and need medical attention.13

Where this answer comes from

  1. 1Dry skin: Signs and symptomsaad.org
  2. 2Dry skin: Who gets and causesaad.org
  3. 3Scales: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopediamedlineplus.gov
  4. 4Dry Skin (Xeroderma): Causes, Treatments, and Moredermnetnz.org