Dehydrated skin is the skin that does not have adequate amount of water. Read on to know how it is different from dry skin and the ways to treat this skin condition.
We all know that more than half of our body weight is due to the water content in the body. The human body is such that, it ensures that every cell in the body gets the required amount of water for proper functioning. It reaches the cells in the form of blood, lymphatic fluid, and interstitial fluid.
However, at times, when we do not drink enough water as is required by the body, or if we lose too much water content due to which the amount of water available does not meet our requirements, then we may land up with what is known as dehydrated skin.
Before we go onto know how to identify this condition and what its various treatment options are, let us see what exactly this condition is and what are its various symptoms.
What is Dehydrated Skin?
Many people tend to confuse dehydrated skin with dry skin, however, the two are different in their cause. Dehydrated skin lacks water and moisture content, whereas, dry skin is the skin that either doesn't produce enough oil (sebum) or the use of harsh chemicals and cosmetics strip the skin off its natural oil content.
Thus, while merely using a surface skin moisturizer may help in getting rid of dry skin, it cannot treat dehydrated skin, as the moisturizer does not help to restore the water content in the body.
There are many different symptoms, which can help you identify this condition. It may come to you as a surprise, that even when you have dehydrated skin, it may actually become even more oily.
As a defense mechanism to protect the skin, the sebaceous glands tend to overwork to ensure that the skin is soft and protected from pathogens, and so, they produce more oil than required.
So, oily skin may be a symptom of excessively dehydrated skin. Other symptoms of this condition include itching, redness, increased susceptibility to skin infections, wrinkles, dryness, etc.
The Remedies
There are many ways of treating the above skin condition. If the main cause of dehydration is lack of water intake, then first and foremost, you need to increase your water intake. This is important because no amount of palliative treatment will help if you do not have enough water in your body.
Besides this, you can also try out some mild skin exfoliation treatment methods after using a scrub. It will help in getting rid of peeling skin that makes the skin look worse, especially on the facial area. You can use gentle products on your face, like oil-free and water-based moisturizers and skin creams.
Also, cleansing is of utmost importance when you have dehydrated and dry looking skin on the face because, dehydrated skin is susceptible to infections and hence, you need to cleanse your face on a regular basis to prevent skin infections and breakouts on your skin.
This is a common problem that many people face without even realizing it. Drinking water in adequate amounts is the best way to treat this condition, as other treatment options are merely palliative in nature.
They say that six to eight glasses of water should be consumed by a person on an average, with a slight increase in this amount if you happen to sweat a lot due to environmental conditions or because you work out a lot.
Despite, how common this problem of dehydrated skin is, people do not realize that it is a simple problem that can easily be cured and avoided by taking simple measures like drinking enough water on a daily basis.