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The Dry Patch
Passerbye
I am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered User regular
I am much older than you.in Beach CityRegistered User regular
Throughout my life I have had, outside of the usual teen acne, ridiculously healthy skin. I never even needed to use a moisturizer or lotion until I moved to the drier climate of Washington state. Needless to say, this life of complexion perfection (combined with the fact that I know next to nothing about my skin type or techniques beyond 'wash daily, moisturize as needed') left me unprepared for the following:
As you may guess from the title, it is dry, and it is a patch. It's about 1"x0.5" in total size on the right side of my face, just above my eyebrow. As you can tell from the photos the skin tends to crack and flake away, but it seems like it's the uppermost layers, not the whole thing. When the (dead?) skin bits are rubbed off the skin is shiny and pink, looks brand-new. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't itch, though the skin does feel tight and rough before the skin bits are rubbed off. I use an extra strength moisturizer (Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion) on the dry patch rather than the lighter one (Lush Imperialis) I normally use, this seems to keep the patch at bay for a couple of days before it comes back.
tl;dr
Creepy dry patch recurs after extra strength lotion; no pain, no itch.
Extra details: I don't wear make up and I don't spend a lot of time in the sun.
So, questions:
WTF is happening? If it's an allergic reaction, why isn't it across the rest of my face? It's been months since I switched cleansers and moisturizers so, if it's an allergic reaction, why did it take so long?
Is there some kind of dermatological magic formula to wipe this out, or am I doomed to Clinique spot treatments every few days? Could this be a temporary seasonal thing?
Thank you in advance.
As you may guess from the title, it is dry, and it is a patch. It's about 1"x0.5" in total size on the right side of my face, just above my eyebrow. As you can tell from the photos the skin tends to crack and flake away, but it seems like it's the uppermost layers, not the whole thing. When the (dead?) skin bits are rubbed off the skin is shiny and pink, looks brand-new. It doesn't hurt, it doesn't itch, though the skin does feel tight and rough before the skin bits are rubbed off. I use an extra strength moisturizer (Clinique dramatically different moisturizing lotion) on the dry patch rather than the lighter one (Lush Imperialis) I normally use, this seems to keep the patch at bay for a couple of days before it comes back.
tl;dr
Creepy dry patch recurs after extra strength lotion; no pain, no itch.
Extra details: I don't wear make up and I don't spend a lot of time in the sun.
So, questions:
WTF is happening? If it's an allergic reaction, why isn't it across the rest of my face? It's been months since I switched cleansers and moisturizers so, if it's an allergic reaction, why did it take so long?
Is there some kind of dermatological magic formula to wipe this out, or am I doomed to Clinique spot treatments every few days? Could this be a temporary seasonal thing?
Thank you in advance.
Passerbye on
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Other good moisturizing things: seaweed, aloe, cocoa butter, avocado oil, olive oil, coconut oil. Soothing things: lavender, rose, chamomile, calamine (but don't go into excess with anything containing this or it can be drying too!)
Also, if you want to pop in you could ask for a sample of Skin Nanny; cheap but super moisturizing.
Oh! and how long ago did the dry patch start? It's possible is a climate thing; I forget exactly how long you've been there but maybe it's not adjusting well or if the climate has been off from it's usual it might be freaking out. I doubt it's an allergic reaction.
And if it is something like a psoriasis spot and you're not going in to have it looked at all I know is most of my customers that has problems like that would do what I've just done; gentle exfoliation, good moisturizer. (AOBS/ocean salt, Breath or Eau Roma water toner, a heavier but gentle moisturizer.)
Exfoliation? I use Angels on Bareskin, but once a week at the most since more than that irritates my skin.
Duration? This started about two weeks ago. I've lived in Washington state since '05 and Seattle specifically (which I've found is drier than Olympia) since March.
It just seems odd to me since it's one small patch on my forehead, the rest of which is fine; especially since it doesn't hurt or itch. If it were around the nose or lips that would make more sense to me since the skin there tends to be finer and more sensitive.
Edit: I ordinarily drink at least 1 litre, usually 2, of water a day. This could be a reaction to Ramadan, since until the beginning of last week I was fasting, and thus neither drinking water nor eating during the day. This last week though I had swine flu so I was up to my usual water intake, the dry patch still occurred.
Face Twit Rav Gram
Also, even though you may have had no problems in the past with it, this dry patch might just need more constant attention as you (gasp!) age- if you give it extra moisturiser to recover, then go back to your previous pattern when it's better, but it recurs, it may just indicate that the normal pattern might not work as well as it used to... Just sayin...:P
As I'm 24 years old and my skin care 'routine' is a relatively new addition (up until a few months ago I didn't do more than wash daily, the toner/moisturizer are new) I don't think it's aging. If things change when I'm 30, then I'll think about that.
Also, the idea of aging doesn't bother me in the slightest (it happens to everyone, so why worry as long as I'm healthy?) so no need for 'just sayin's'.
Face Twit Rav Gram
I do have psoraisis, and it was pretty bad when I was a teenager (it responds to your hormone levels--are you a teenager?). It took a while to figure out a way to get it under control, but eventually I got it all worked out. All you can see of it now is a slight red patch where a dermatologist once tried burning it off with a laser (a decision I wish I could take back).
There are some general skin tips I absolutely have to follow and which may help you, and indeed would probably help anyone. You don't have to obey all of them, but it is a helpful guideline for improving your own skin health.
TOPICAL SKIN CARE TIPS:
- Exfoliation: good because it removes dead skin and makes your skin look better, it also can clear away some of the dirt and dead skin from your sweat glands and allows you to pump out toxins better. The product you use is actually unimportant if you're doing other things to take care of your skin, so I use that St. Ives appricot pit stuff and it works just fine.
- Moisturizing: my wife invests hundreds of dollars in medicated creams for her skin, but frankly I get the same results with pure peanut oil or extra virgin olive oil. On the downside, immediately afterwards I can smell a bit like a salad, but you're not putting on a product that has a bunch of chemicals and ingredients added to it, which means that stuff isn't getting leeched into your pores or your skin cells themselves.
DIETARY STUFF: Be more conscientious about what you eat. Here's what you need to remember -- your skin is not just there for people to look at and to keep your organs bundled in away from the dirty outside world. It's actually also the largest organ involved in the elimination of toxins and waste from your body, via your sweat glands. Anything you eat that isn't converted into energy, stored as protein or fat or excreted as feces or urine? It's coming out your skin, buddy. It's why heavy drinkers reek of booze and people on the Atkins diet are a little more smelly than other people. My food recommendations:- Water: drink a lot of it. It makes it easier to sweat toxins out of your body, reduces the concentration of any remaining toxins. Sweating is going to be a huge part of my advice down the line, so water is critical.
- SALADS: Eat more of them. Raw fruits and vegetables are your friends -- they're simpler sugars that are easier to digest, leaving less waste to be eliminated. Bitter fruits and vegetables are alkaline, which is better for your own body chemistry. And they contain fiber, which will help you take care of your intestines. Try to avoid including the following ingredients:
- Lettuce: most lettuce that we grow commercially is of zero dietary benefit, other than as a fiber. It's been cultivated too long to still be alkaline. Steer away from the iceburg lettuce, say yes to arugala instead -- the bitter flavor is the alkaline ph, which is great for your skin.
- Bacon, cheese, eggs, etc.: all that stuff that comes on a salad at Outback or TGI Fridays may make it taste yummy to people who normally don't like salads, but it is reducing the digestive benefits of said salad.
- Creamy salad dressings: loaded with stuff that you're going to have a harder time digesting than, say, balsalmic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. I tend to forgo a lot of salad dressing anyway and instead use olive oil, lemon juice, and cracked black pepper, as it's healthier than vinegar still.
- RED MEATS: Eat less of them. The human body is omnivorous, but we aren't actually predisposed towards breaking down red meats as easily as we do poultry, so there are more toxins left over to eliminate when we're done with them.
- Coffee: keep drinking it, but try to drink it black as often as you can. Milk and cream curdle very slightly in hot coffee, and this creates more toxins for you to deal with.
- Milk: you can keep drinking it, but make sure you don't mix it with anything -- adding almost anything to milk will start to curdle it, even if it's sitting in your stomach. You know those ads they used to have about how Cheerios is part of this complete balanced breakfast, and there was a picture of a table set with both milk and orange juice? Yeak, okay, try adding orange juice to 2% milk in a cup and watch it for twenty minutes. You will never drink those two things together again.
- Yogurt: eat more. Yogurt contains cultures of good bacteria, often known as pro-biotics, which aid in digestion and compete against harmful bacterias in your body for resoures, making it harder for these bad biotics to flourish in your system. Healthy digestion = healthy skin.
- Alcohol: drink less. Alcohol dehydrates you and leaves a lot of toxins in your skin, a dermatological double-whammie.
- Artificial sweetners: cut that shit out. You know how your body doesn't convert sweet and low into energy or store it like fat, so obviously it's healthy? That's so obviously horseshit, right? I'm not saying it causes cancer or anything crazy like that, but I am saying that if you're ingesting and absorbing something, unless you're converting it into a protein of some sort, it has to get back out of you again somehow, or it will build up in your system. A lot of it comes out your skin, and if you reduce your intake, you reduce the burden.
- Bleached sugar: you could also try to cut back on this -- it's overly processed. Natural cane sugar is easier on your system. Actually, come to think of it, try cutting back on as much processed stuff as you can.
FOR THE SUPER HARDCORE:Your milk mixed with orange juice example is a little nonsensical considering your stomach is filled with hydrochloric acid. Imagine what milk does when it hits that shit!
I was proscribed a topical cream, cleared it right up, and I hardly have to use it anymore. I'll poke my head in the bathroom and see what it's called here in a second.
edit: Seborrheic dermatitis is what it was. Treated with Prascion (sodium sulfacetamide)
that's why we call it the struggle, you're supposed to sweat
ps Seborrheic dermatitis is also called Seborrheic eczema.
I guess I'll have to email my parents and ask about it.
And find money to go to the doctor if the exfoliation and lotion-change treatment don't prove effective.
Face Twit Rav Gram