Do you have sensitive skin? If you do, then you are probably tired of all you do to care for it. It can be pretty tricky to care for this type of skin. You never know what might trigger a reaction. In this post, we will consider some of the best tips that can help you to care for your sensitive skin.
What Causes Sensitive Skin?
To properly care for sensitive skin, it is vital to first know what causes it. There are several things that can make your skin sensitive. Some of the things that cause sensitive skin are:
- Dry skin
- Eczema
- Irritant contact dermatitis
- Allergic contact dermatitis
- Rosacea
Let’s consider how each of these contributes to dry skin.
Dry Skin
Dry skin can cause sensitive skin. When your skin becomes dry, it loses more water and oil than it should. When that happens, some of the things that you might experience include itching, scaling, peeling, cracking, and even bleeding.
Dry skin is not limited to the face but can happen anywhere on your body. You will frequently experience it in your arms, legs, feet, and hands.
If you suffer from dry skin, which is causing sensitive skin, then there are things that you can use. As the skin is dry, the best thing that you can do is to return moisture to the parts of the skin that are dry. To that end, use a moisturizer or ointment frequently on the affected areas.
Eczema
Eczema is another thing that can cause sensitive skin. If you suffer from eczema, your skin will lack the ability to protect you from germs and other contaminants in the air, and that comes in contact with your body. With eczema, you will likely get too sensitive to general products ranging from cosmetics to soaps.
Some of the symptoms of eczema include dryness, itching, thick or scaly skin, swollen skin, small bumps on the skin.
If you suffer from eczema, you can get rid of it by using creams and moisturizers that are specially formulated to help you to get rid of the problem. When choosing products, it is vital to keep in mind that the products you use should be calm and soothing on the skin.
Irritant Contact Dermatitis
This next cause is a rash that develops when the protective layer of skin is not working correctly. Therefore, you might notice a rash on the part of the skin that touches an irritant.
Some of the symptoms of this problem include bumps, swelling, burning, and tenderness of the affected area.
In most cases, this problem clears up in a couple of weeks without any medication.
Allergic Contact Dermatitis
This is another form of contact dermatitis. As the name implies, it happens when you react to a specific thing.
Some of the symptoms of this problem might include scratching, redness, tenderness, burning, and bumps. For many people, these symptoms are triggered by the lotions, jewelry, makeup or soaps that they use.
The best solution to this is to identify what triggers the reaction in the first place.
Rosacea
This disease usually affects the face and can cause extreme sensitivity to the skin. It can cause burning, redness, pimples, visible blood vessels, and stinging.
This problem requires using prescription creams, so you need to see your dermatologist.
Other problems that might cause sensitive skin include:
- Hives
- Physical urticarial
- Photodermatoses
These are the major causes of dry skin. So, what can you do to care for your dry skin?
What Can You Do For Sensitive Skin?
If you have sensitive skin, these tips can help you to clear up the problem.
1. Use Few Products
You are dealing with sensitive skin, then one principle that dermatologists recommend is to use fewer products than before. When choosing the ingredients in your products, choose products that have fewer ingredients than others. With the lower number of ingredients, there is a lesser chance of the product irritating your skin and causing a reaction.
If you use cleansers and topical creams, you need to avoid any products that contain harsh ingredients. Dermatologists recommend using gentle products with minimal ingredients.
2. Don’t Over-Exfoliate Your Skin.
Exfoliation, when done correctly, can leave your skin looking fresh and great. However, overdoing it can leave you with more problems than solutions. Your skin does a good job of cleaning itself, even without help from scrubbing or using cleansers. The skin makes oils and proteins that naturally form a protective barrier.
If you wash your face too much, you run the risk of washing all these natural lipids and proteins away. This is definitely not good for your skin. Therefore, instead of compulsively washing the face, it is recommended to wash the face twice or once every day.
This recommendation is even more important if you have sensitive skin. While you can wash your face with a gentle cleanser, you might run into serious problems when it comes to exfoliating. Over-exfoliating the face can prove problematic. When you over-exfoliate the skin, you thin the protective barrier that the skin has. Therefore, irritating ingredients can penetrate the skin.
If you have sensitive skin, it enough to exfoliate once or twice with a mild exfoliator.
3. Skin-Test Any New Products
People with sensitive skin don’t have the luxury of trying out new products indiscriminately. If you have sensitive skin, slathering all over with a new product can lead to serious problems. That is why skin testing is important. What this means is that you test a small amount of the new product on a small part of your skin.
Try it overnight and check the result the following morning. If there is no reaction, then you can go ahead to use the product. However, if you notice irritation or some other problem, then you should not go-ahead to use the product.
Also, use small amounts on the skin and increase the amount used gradually. Doing this will give your skin enough time to adjust to the new product.
4. Know Your Triggers
All the tips that we will give you in this article can help you. However, perhaps the most important tip for dealing with sensitive skin is to know your triggers. To that end, identify the type of sensitive skin that you have and the things that trigger your sensitivity.
Some of the most common culprits that cause irritation on the skin include coloring, preservatives, and scents. According to some dermatologists, the better a product smells, the more likely it will be to be bad for your skin.
When choosing your product, go for options that don’t have scents, are without dyes and parabens, and are free of allergens.
5. Treat Your Skin after Reactions
Despite all that you do, you might still end up with a reaction to products. If you suffer from such a reaction, it is vital that you treat the skin until it completely heals. This means that you don’t use multiple products when trying to heal the skin.
Use a product at a time for at least one week to know which of the products is causing the problem. After trying a product without any reactions, then you can use others, adding each one a week.
If you don’t know what is causing the reaction, then you might opt to see a dermatologist help you identify the problem.
6. Slowly Introduce New Products
Some of the best products for the skin can also be very irritating. Therefore, if you are looking to use one, it is important to add it to your skincare routine correctly.
Some of the best ways to do this include limiting your use of the new products to some nights in a week. If you do not notice any adverse reaction, then you can gradually increase the frequency of using the cream or product.
If you feel the product is too harsh, you could mix it with a moisturizer. This will help to reduce the irritation.
Also, when using a new product, avoid using it on the most sensitive parts of your face, such as the nose, mouth, and eye areas.
7. Have Short Showers
Treating sensitive skin harshly will only lead to more problems. That is why it is vital to treat your skin gently. During showers, limit yourself to using one soap and using it on the areas of the body that have sweat glands. Using soap all over the body might feel cleaner, but it doesn’t really add any benefit. If you have sensitive skin, using soap over the body can lead to problems.
Apart from the way you use your soap, it is also recommended that you reduce the length of time spent in the shower. Also, use warm water for bathing. After your sower, use a soft cloth to pat the skin dry.
Conclusion
Having sensitive skin is no fun. It is frustrating and can lead to psychological challenges. Therefore, it is important to know what causes it and the things that you can do to treat it effectively. We hope that this post helps you know how to treat sensitive skin.
