Skin and the Cold: How to Maintain Healthy Skin in Winter • Tips

Our skin constitutes the body's outer protective layer against the environment, and when environmental conditions change, changes also occur in the skin.

Cold weather and various heating methods cause significant dryness of the skin. In addition, winter clothing and closed shoes may be a source of various skin problems, such as athlete's foot.

How to relieve dry skin?

In winter, dryness is noticeable throughout the skin, in flushed and dry cheeks, chapped lips, the skin of the body and the palms of the hands and feet.

Beyond the unpleasant feeling of dry skin, in many cases cracks form in the skin, which can expose the skin to the penetration of infections and increase sensitivity to substances with which we come into contact. This creates a situation where the bath soap we used in the summer can cause irritation on the body, or the old dish soap can suddenly cause a rash on the palms of our hands.

Contrary to our intuition, water does not add moisture to dry skin, but on the contrary, contributes to worsening dryness.

Tips for keeping your skin moisturized:

• Do not wash your hands more than necessary.
• When working with water at home (washing dishes, cleaning), it is advisable to use waterproof gloves and it is important to make sure that water does not penetrate the gloves.
• Minimize the use of hand sanitizer gels.
• Avoiding hot, long showers, which worsen dryness.
• Using a bath oil during and after a shower will add moisture to the skin.
• After a shower, it is a good idea to apply moisturizer while the skin is still damp.

Do not lick dry lips, but lubricate them with lipstick. Licking makes dryness and cracks worse.

The foot in winter:

In the winter, our feet are confined to shoes and sometimes boots, without much ventilation.

Feet often sweat, and moisture accumulates inside closed shoes. Sometimes the foot also gets wet from rain or a puddle, leaving the foot in a humid environment for many hours, which is a favorable environment for the growth of fungi. Athlete's foot has various skin manifestations that are sometimes accompanied by itching.

There are preparations available, without a doctor's prescription, to treat fungus, one of which is Bayer's 'Canesten Cream', containing an active ingredient called clotrimazole. It is a broad-spectrum preparation for the treatment of skin fungus in general And the foot in particular, And it is effective for various types of fungi without side effects when used topically.

It should be emphasized that if there is no improvement in symptoms with local treatment, you should seek medical attention, as the appearance of a rash or itching on the feet may be due to various causes other than fungus.

Tips for taking care of your feet:

• Wear cotton socks, which improve sweat absorption.
• Wash the socks at at least 60 degrees for effective cleaning.
• Wet shoes and socks should be changed immediately.
• Ventilate your feet and shoes as much as possible.
• Make sure to dry between the toes after bathing, and whenever the foot gets wet.
• Do not sit very close to stoves or heating devices, and do not sleep with a hot water bottle attached to your feet (or anywhere else). Prolonged exposure to heat may cause a skin rash and, in rare cases, even encourage the development of skin tumors in the area.

Time must be given to repair summer damage:

The Israeli sun leaves its mark on the skin's surface, in the form of pigmentation, and cumulative sun damage, some of which is precancerous. In the winter, when there is less exposure to radiation, there is an opportunity to treat this damage using various creams or equipment (lasers, light rays, etc.) designed for this purpose.

Even though there is less radiation in winter than in summer, it is still very important to continue using sunscreen, as even on cool or cloudy days (and even through a window pane!) significant exposure to radiation is possible.

 In conclusion, in winter our skin may be dry, there may be the formation of infection or increased sensitivity of the skin and foot fungus. On the other hand, this is a good time to restore the skin after the past summer and for the upcoming one. Understanding the changes in the skin allows for effective and correct treatment and even prevention. Using the key rules given here, will allow you to maintain healthy and vital skin in winter.

Dr. Hadas Prag Naveh, a dermatologist at Beilinson Hospital and Clalit Health Services and a consultant for the 'Canstan Cream' brand for the treatment of athlete's foot and chafing.