General Skin Care

40 year old woman  with small amounts of dry skin (1-2 layer) on body (face, chest and bacK) are oilier.  Mostly dry elbow, arms, lower legs.  Rarely red and itchy and if it does get that way, I moisturize (Cetaphil) for a couple of days and it is gone.  Usually the dry areas will remain dry and not increase in irritation or may even disappear when the cells are sloughed off /die off and the new skin cells emerging may or may not be dry.  Hands and feet I daily moisturize.  I use Proactiv Solutons so I get losts of facial exfoliation (daily), only do a body exfoliation once per week as more exfoliation does not seem to be helping (but am willing to increase).  My question to you is whether moisturizer is really necessary for this low level dryness, besides for cosmetic reasons?  What will it accompish?  Will it prevent future drycells? Will my body not rehydrate the dry skin from the inside out (oils, water, etc)?  How do I keep the new cells emerging from coming out dry?  Are there health risks to leaving skin dry (besides increased irritation).  I want my skin to do it's own maintenance to the fullest, showering daily, moisturinzing/exfoliating to minimal amounts (conter to some esthetic beliefs).  Please can I have a general overview of skin growth/die off and sloughing/dehydration, moisturizing, how many times a day to wash, tone moisturize.  Do oily areas need moisturizer too?  Also, is my son at 4 years old too young for lip balm and moisturizing hands (say 1-2 times per day).  He gets mild eczmea which has to be treated with betamethazone for awhile.  I recently trashed his kid soap and am trying a milder, organic soap.  Wondering if regular moisturizer would keep that at bay?  I ony bath him once per week in winter nightly washing his face with water, is using a mild soap okay for washing the face daily? I know there little skins can be so reactive but in summer I will need to increase bathing for awhile due to the outdoor sweat play. Please some help.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Medically speaking, it does not matter whether you moisturize or not.  If you feel dry, moisturize.  If you don't feel dry, don't moisturize.  There are no health risks to leaving skin dry, and doing that doesn't make your skin age either.  Eczema is not dry skin, and needs to be treated with medicated creams, not just moisturizers.  Using a mild soap is fine.

Dr. Rockoff

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