Saving face: winter skin care the inside out

Better Nutrition, Feb, 2003 by Lori Tobias

At first glance it wouldn't seem as if Shelly Black, Don Frasca and Ted Wirsching have much in common. Black is a 52-year-old Denver interior designer, Frasca is a retired Illinois property manager and Wirsching, a Seattle native, is still in high school. But come winter, these three share one trouble--winter wreaks havoc on their skin in the form of itchy hives, dryness and cracked fingers.

They're not alone. For people everywhere--yes, in milder elimates too--winter means troubled skin. The temperature drops, the wind kicks up and the air grows much drier.

And we respond by blasting the furnace so our homes are toasty warm. By bathing or showering in hot water. By drinking nice steaming cups of tea and coffee. By curling up inside with a riveting read. What's wrong with this picture? Well, that nice toasty furnace is blasting the moisture right out of your house. And that good hot bath? It's hard on your skin. Ditto for those steaming hot, caffeinated drinks. As for that book, it's harmless in itself, unless it's replacing exercise or keeping you indoors.

Even those with the healthiest of habits may battle winter skin sensitivities. And because the cells of the elderly replicate less quickly, they are more vulnerable. For women beyond menopause, less estrogen means less sebum--the natural oil that lubricates our skin--making them prone to problems. Men with oily skin may get seborrheic dermatitis, a condition that causes irritated, flaking skin in hair growth areas such as the hairline and eyebrows. Teens can experience aggravated bouts of acne, and men and women both may develop keratosis pilaris, annoying little bumps that form on the arms.

For most of us, the solution begins with prevention. "I always tell people to, come fall or as soon as they can, switch to a winter skin routine," says Audrey Kunin, MD, a Kansas City, Kansas, dermatologist and founder of the Web site www.DERMAdoctor.com. "Make sure there's a humidifier in your home. If you're one of these twice-a-day bathers, try once a day."

For those with dry skin, Thom Rogers, a naturopath and dermatology teacher at Seattle's Bastyr University, warns that even one bath a day might be too much. He recommends bathing every other day. Also, use mild, fragrance-free soaps or soap-free cleansers, and avoid anti-bacterial soaps, which can strip your skin of oil. For moisturizers, choose creams over lotions. "Lotions contain oils in a water-based solution--and some contain alcohol, which is drying," says Rogers. "Creams have an oil emulsion for a base, making them thicker and more lubricating." If you have really dry skin, says Rogers, "use emollient lotions with humectants such as urea lactate, then apply moisturizing cream to seal in moisture."

Moisturizers brought some relief to Frasca's cracked, bleeding hands, but the problem persisted. Then he borrowed his wife's vitamin E oil. Now, Frasca says he massages the oil into his hands two or three times a day. "It really helps as much as all the creams I was using," he says. That's because vitamin E acts as a fat-soluble antioxidant, which prevents damage from free radicals in the skin.

Finger splits, or fissures, are one of the more frequent winter skin complaints Kunin addresses. "To help heal finger splits," she says, "use antibiotic ointment to keep the cracks moist as they heal. Because these are splits, not just cracks, you want to use emollient cream obsessively. If your hands are constantly in contact with water, rub moisturizing cream on them after each contact."

Applied topically, emollient herbs such as castor-bean oil and aloe are good choices for dry skin, but they shouldn't be used on inflamed areas.

While moisturizing from the outside is key to keeping dry skin at bay, the best defense comes from within. A daily multivitamin with bioflavonoids, biotins, vitamins A, C, D, E, and copper, manganese and zinc is a good start, but most important is a diet rich in essential fatty acids.

"No matter what you take into your body, it's going to be reflected in the integrity of your skin cells," Rogers says. "If you increase your essential fatty acids intake, it's going to improve skin health by creating healthy epithelial cells, which shed without causing inflammation."

The essential fatty acids omega-3 and omega-6 can be found in nuts and seeds. They're also plentiful in many oils--safflower, soybean, sunflower, black currant seed, flaxseed, evening primrose and borage.

Because it takes time for essential fatty acids to become incorporated in cell membranes, Rogers warns that results won't happen overnight.

For Kathleen Warren, mother of Ted Wirsching, natural remedies appear miraculous. Only a year ago, her son had resigned himself to living with itchy skin. Then Warren learned about taking flaxseed oil capsules. "They made all the difference in the world for Ted," says Warren.

Getting outside--with sunscreen, lip balm and protective clothing, of course--is crucial to healthy skin. Sunlight, says Rogers, acts as the catalyst for our bodies to convert vitamin D--which helps control the rate of cellular turn-over-to its active form. And getting exercise, indoors or out, is key to good circulation, which is critical to good skin.