Winter has arrived, here's how you can fight dry skin

New Delhi: While most of us love bidding goodbye to the harsh and hot summer months and welcome the transition to cooler climes, at least one part of our body doesn't agree with us!

Our skin, especially in people who have dry skin, feels the extreme brunt of winter as icy winds make it scaly, itchy, irritated and dry like sand.

While you cannot control the climate, you can certainly take some measures to reduce the trauma that the cold season inflicts upon your skin. Make no mistake, as much as your body needs a transition to winter clothes, your skincare regimen also needs to change to suit the needs of the colder months.

Hence, Dr Veena Rao, Dermatologist from Bangalore has come up with some tips to adopt as winter sets in. Firstly, refurbish your dressing table. Remove all skincare products that are alcoholic or astringent or water based as they zip away all oil from your skin. Replace them with products that are thicker, cream-based and moisturizing. And this means changing everything, right from face wash to cleanser to moisturizer to scrub. Each product you use should be cream based and moisturizing so that the skin's natural oil is retained and augmented. Even sunscreen should be changed from gel to lotion or cream based.

Secondly, get a cream based thick moisturizer with UV protection. Need we even say this? A moisturizer is the single most important skincare accessory. It is not just a remedy for dry skin, but it is also a very important antidote for early ageing. Loss of moisture is one of the two prime reasons for skin ageing (other is exposure to UV radiation). You need to immediately get your hands on a very good moisturizer that also offers UV protection so that your skin also remains protected against harmful UV radiation.

Thirdly, go for steam therapy and exfoliation. As we apply loads of moisturizers and cold creams on our skin, the pores tend to get blocked. The creamy skin products also tend to attract more dirt and grime, which further blocks the skin pores. Over time, this residue covers the top most layer of the skin in the form of dead cells. This may also ignite acne. To help the skin cope better, subject it to steam therapy once every week; this helps open the pores. At the same time also use a good face scrub once a week to help remove the dead cells. These procedures make the skin more receptive to moisturizers and also prevent allergies.

Fourthly, add oil to your bath. No matter how much moisturizer you apply, bathing washes it all off. It is a good idea to add a few drops of olive oil to your bath water to give your skin a healing bath.

Fifthly, go for moisturizing medi-facials. Medi-facials are not the usual facial massages that you get in beauty salons. Medi-facials are medically designed facial treatments that treat the nutritional deficits in your skin. If you have extremely dry skin, your dermatologist will examine its needs and prepare a customized medi-facial for you complete with infusion of vitamins and moisturizing agents into your skin using micro-jets. Visit a dermatologist to have your skin examined.

Sixthly, increase intake of omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E. Omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin E help the skin retain moisture and provide more resilience to it. Increase intake of food rich in this inputs such as fish, olive oil, nuts and cucumbers.

Seventhly, use hyaluronic acid based fillers. When administered into the skin, hyaluronic acid based fillers like Juvederm help increase the skin's water absorption and retention ability. This provides the skin a radiant glow and also serves to hydrate the skin. As the skin absorbs and retains more water from the atmosphere, it would better deal with the winter dryness.