Even if you’re not planning to summit Everest, you’re faced with a challenge shared by high-altitude climbers: how to keep your skin moist and supple in cold, harsh environments. Dry air and frigid wind can sap skin of the moisture it needs to stay soft, leading to dry, itchy skin and chapped lips. And it can be just as harsh indoors. Furnaces and other central-heating devices dehydrate the air and your skin, as can everyday routines such as bathing, washing dishes, and house cleaning.


By incorporating a few easy skin-survival strategies, you can keep your skin moist year-round. Take short showers or baths of a medium-warm temperature, and try some of the non-soap soaps, such as Cetaphil or Aquanil, to avoid stripping oils from your skin. Limit strong soaps to areas such as the armpits, and use gentle cleansers on your face and the rest of your body. Use a wash cloth or bath sponge in a circular motion over your arms, legs, and trunk to gently remove dead skin cells. Blot your body and face dry, rather than rubbing, to retain the moisture from the water in your shower. Immediately moisturize, and if you have severely dried skin, try using a skin-moisturizing oil such as Neutrogena Skin Oil or Alpha-Keri Oil, and then applying a moisturizer over that to seal it in. Apply sunscreen, particularly if you’re just beginning your day. Repeat your moisturizing routine before bed.

Use laundry and other cleaning products that are free of harsh chemicals, dyes, or ammonias. Dryer sheets can leave a residue on your clothes; avoid them if you notice that your skin seems irritated at the day’s end. Keep a pot of water rolling at a low boil on the stove or woodstove; use a humidifier to maintain indoor humidity around 45%; and keep your home at a constant, cooler temperature no higher than 68 degrees.


While a glass of wine by the fire can be inviting, alcohol has a dehydrating effect on your skin, as does caffeine. Drink at least one to two glasses of water for each caffeinated or alcoholic beverage that you drink, and strive for six to eight glasses of water each day.

Nutritional deficiencies in essential oils, including omega-3 fatty acids, can sap our skin of its suppleness. So can a deficiency of zinc, which plays a key role in healing wounds. Your skin needs healthy fats, such as the monounsaturated olive and flaxseed oils, so be sure to include these in your regular diet while avoiding unhealthy fats such as hydrogenated oils and saturated fats.

Although tough enough to protect our bodies, our skin is less than one-eighth of an inch thick, and it is made up of three layers. The outer epidermis, which is the thickness of a sheet of paper, protects you from the external world. The dermis, which is your middle layer, maintains collagen and elastin fibers for strength and structure. The subcutaneous layer is the deepest; it stores fat and houses our skin’s nerves, blood vessels, and oil and sweat glands.

Common skin conditions that can develop related to dry skin include eczema and psoriasis. With eczema, dry, scaly, and sometimes cracking skin can appear. Psoriasis shows up as reddened, dry, and scaly skin that can flake like dandruff. Women begin to lose skin oils after menopause, thought largely in part due to hormonal changes in their bodies.

If you have diabetes, you’re also at increased risk for chronic dry skin and other skin problems as you age. Visit your health care provider or a dermatologist if you notice any of the following: dry skin that doesn’t improve with ongoing use of moisturizers, cracked or scaling skin that may occasionally bleed, sores on your skin that don’t heal, or itchy skin that’s not improved with skin oils and moisturizers. Chronic dry skin can sometimes signal underlying heath problems including thyroid disease or diabetes.

Lastly, don’t smoke. Tobacco use ages your skin, contributing to wrinkles and narrowed blood vessels, (not to mention lung cancer and other respiratory-related diseases). Smoking decreases blood flow, depriving your skin of oxygen and other nutrients. These factors together damage the elastin and collagen fibers in your skin, leading to stretchy, loose, and saggy skin.

• Maintain moisture: Keep your baths or showers short and use a cleanser that contains oils or emollients; pat your skin dry and apply moisturizer before getting out of the tub or shower.
• Slough dead cells: Use a sloughing scrub or washcloth to stimulate your skin and remove dead cells, which can clog pores. Be gentle, however, and if you notice you’re skin is reddening, you’re being too rough.
• Avoid astringents: These can strip your skin of its moisture because most are alcohol-based.
• Slather sunscreen: A day on the ski slopes is just as dangerous, sun-exposure-wise, as a day at the beach. Use a sunscreen with a minimum SPF of 30 on a daily basis and reapply frequently.
• Seek water: Drink it, rinse your skin each day with it followed immediately by a moisture-locking cream, and use a humidifier in your home to keep the air moist.

• Feeling of skin tightness after showering
• Rough appearance
• Severe flaking or scaling
• Redness
• Fine lines or cracks
• Bleeding

About the Author: Mary C. Brucker, CNM, DNSc, FACNM, is director of women’s health education programs at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas.