Best skin health: The link between dry and sensitive skin

Medical studies show that almost 50% of all individuas with sensitive skin also suffer from dry skin. Your skin has natural oils that keep it moisturized. As our skin ages, it loses some of its ability to generate these moisturizing oils. The skin can also dry out as a result of elements such as wind, rain and sun. And of course, washing and rubbing our skin can cause a loss of these natural oils. This then causes the skin to become dry. Dry skin is intimately linked to sensitive skin. When your skin becomes dry, it starts to crack. The cracks then allow the various irritants into the deeper and more sensitive layers of your skin. This causes more pronounced irritation to your skin. Dry skin can lesd to prolonged skin sensitivity or reaction to irritants. Not only can various irritants penetrate the cracks in dry skin, but these cracks or crevices in the skin actually trap the irritants, making it harder to remove the irritant and therefore prolonging the sensitivity reaction to the irritant. Skin becomes dry when it loses its natural oils, which act as a barrier to the elements (wind, sun, etc.). These oils can be replaced with regular application of moisturizers, especially following any washing of the skin. Dermatologists recommend that people with sensitive skin use all natural moisturizers, to create a protective barrier against irritants and to avoid the skin cracking that traps and retains such irritants.