Dry skin on your hands can range in severity from mildly dry to severely chapped.  The causes can vary greatly too, but generally dry skin on your hands is the result of reduced water and moisture content in your skin, something that can affect skin across your entire body.  However, when dry skin affects just your hands, the chances are that this is caused by a genetic condition, age, dry air, too much indoor heating, prolonged hot showers/baths or possibly using too many harsh detergents or soaps on exposed skin, windburn, sunburn, allergies, eczema, excessive hand washing and too many chemicals being used on exposed skin.

There are many symptoms of dry skin on hands, though not all may be apparent at the same time or with the same severity.  These can include tenderness, sensitivity, cracking, peeling, redness, dryness, roughness and itching.

Though there are many hand lotions available for the dry skin on your hands, the best ones will contain no colorants, preservatives, additives or perfumes and will contain glycerine or olive oil.  However, if you wish to treat your dry skin on your hands naturally, you can use the following remedies:

• Oil/sugar – 1 tablespoon olive oil with 3 tablespoons brown sugar; mix well; massage into hands for 5 minutes; rinse with clean, warm water; this removes dead skin cells and moisturizes
• Lime/sugar – 1 tablespoon warm water mixed with 1 tablespoon brown sugar and 1 tablespoon lime juice; mix well and massage into hands for 5 minutes; rinse with clean, warm water; exceptional for softening very dry or chapped hands
• Almond oil/rosewater – 1 teaspoon rosewater, 1 teaspoon organic honey, 1 teaspoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon almond oil mixed together well; massage into dry or chapped hands for 5 minutes; rinse well with clean, warm water; excellent for severely dry or very chapped hands
• Almond oil/buttermilk – 1 cup organic buttermilk mixed with 1 tablespoon of almond oil; mix thoroughly; massage into hands for 5 minutes; leave on for half an hour and apply again; use before bed and wear fabric or plastic gloves whilst sleeping; rinse hands well with clean, warm water after waking up; a good emergency method for severely chapped hands; helps to eliminate itching and dead skin cells

Having dry skin on your hands is more common than you may think.  Though it can be unsightly, uncomfortable and embarrassing, you can treat your dry skin at home cheaply and affectively with home remedies.

Have a look at the ten points that are listed below and see how many apply to you.

If most or all are true for you and your skin then you can be confident your skin type is dry and follow guidelines given for dry skin.

1. The pores of the skin are small and hardly visible.
2. Skin can feel tight and dry after cleansing when no moisturiser is used.
3. Flaking and dull patches occur on your skin regularly.
4. Severe dry skin can be cracked and even bleed at times.
5. The overall look of the skin is dull and or rough looking.
6. Blemishes and acne are rarely experienced.
7. Hair can also be dry on the rest of the body and the hair can be dry as well.
8. Fine lines and wrinkles form more easily and are more visible on dry skin.
9. Dry skin often has red areas and is sensitive as well.
10. If a tissue is pressed against the skin there is no oily residue left behind.

Wrinkles – The Main Offenders

ALCOHOL

Drinking alcohol in moderation is no problem for our skins –  particularly red wine with its abundant antioxidants can be stress relieving and have some minor health benefits. In excess, alcohol is no friend to our skin, dehydrating our skin and therefore losing an adequate water and nutrient supply to the skin cells due to poor blood circulation. Overtime having dry, dehydrated skin predisposes us to wrinkle more easily.

Alcohol can also rob the body of vitamins and minerals that are essential to good health. Try to keep consumption low and rehydrate frequently when you do drink. Having a few alcohol free days a week is also advisable.

SMOKING

Smokers often have the lined faces of those many years older than them. The skin can have unhealthy pallor with characteristic deep vertical lines around the mouth and around the eyes from squinting. A greyish cast can be from lack of an adequate supply of oxygen as nicotine is a vasoconstrictor, reducing the flow of blood, nutrients and oxygen to the skin.

Vitamin C is used at a more rapid pace in smokers as the smoker’s body tries to neutralise the abundance of free radicals caused by the cigarette smoke and with less Vitamin C available collagen production also is not taking place.

The mix of chemicals in tobacco and cigarette smoke are poisonous to our body and our skin cells – so toxic that even passive smokers can suffer the same damage if their exposure is sufficiently high.

Smoking as shown in studies of identical twins also causes the skin to thin by as much as 40%. Free radical production is increased, speeding up the time that skin cells age at and breaking down the collagen and elastin that give the skin its smoothness and structure.

Obviously giving up has the most benefit to the skin but if you are unable to do this for now, skincare with antioxidants and taking anti oxidants orally will help protect your skin.

SUN

Sun is the number one cause of damage to the skin as is evidenced by the ffact that our hands and face which are constantly exposed to the elements are the first to show the signs of aging. Not only does excess exposure cause wrinkling it also causes pigmentation and skin cancer. And yes sun damage from UVA rays occurs all the year around including cloudy days in winter.

Daily application of a sun block ,avoiding unnecessary sun exposure and using skincare products with antioxidants will be helpful in prevention and helping with damage to the skin that is sometimes damage we can see like sunburn and damage that is not evident to see in the mirror but does add up over time.

FREE RADICALS

Free radicals are formed naturally in our bodies every day but rise when we are stressed, smoke or drink to excess, sunbake or live in polluted areas and ingest chemicals in our food and water.

Peroxidation is immediately triggered leading to oxidation and eventually breakdown of the cell.

Our natural defence systems are unable to cope with the onslaught of free radicals that modern life generates and working out ways to reduce this load and using skin care products with the antioxidants AC and E green tea and other antioxidants such as in skinsaviour moisturiser will help to preserve the integrity of our skin cells and the appearance of our skin.