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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — New England winters aren't for the faint of heart, and they can be particularly brutal on our skin. Many of us know the pain of dry skin on a cold day, and the sting of much-needed lotion on cracked hands.
So, how do we take care of our skin during the winter months? WBZ NewsRadio asked Dr. Abigail Waldman, a dermatologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, for advice. Here's what she had to say:
- Moisturize your skin, which will seal up the cracks in dry skin, and keep out allergens out that can cause inflammation and rashes.
- Put a humidifier in your room which will increase the amount of humidity in the air.
- Avoid burning hot showers. Those increase the amount of evaporative water loss you get from your skin.
Dr. Waldman also offers some specific tips on how to keep your hands moisturized during the winter too. She says keeping Vaseline or a different type of moisturizer handy when you're experiencing dry skin is crucial.
"You want to pick a moisturizer that's so thick that when you turn over the container, it actually holds its form and doesn't fall out," Waldman said. She recommends moisturizers that contain an emollient like petrolatum, or naturally occurring moisturizing agents like hyaluronic acid, which humans already have in their skin to begin with.
She says the more you control the dryness, the easier it will be to control the symptoms that come with dry skin.
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