Calgary’s dry skin season begins

If you suffer from dry, itchy skin around this time of year, you’re definitely not alone.

Dr. Andrei Metelitsa, a dermatologist at Beacon Dermatology, says Calgary is notorious for causing skin, nose, and eye irritation during the fall and winter months.

He says he’s recently seen an uptick in patients looking for relief from exaggerated dryness.

“It can start with something as simple as just getting flaky, dry, itchy skin, and that can become more pronounced with some people who have a long-standing history of conditions like eczema or atopic dermatitis. They often tell us that they notice a worsening or a flare of their condition precisely at this time of the year.”

Metelitsa says although dry skin can affect anyone at any age, younger kids and seniors typically experience more severe outcomes because their skin and hormones are changing.

He adds when it comes to hydration, there are key ingredients we should be looking for in our products.

“There’s a lot of moisturizers. There’s a tremendous variety and sometimes it comes down to preference, but there are certain ingredients that I usually recommend to my patients,” Metelitsa said. “And so, I usually recommend to look for things like hyaluronic acid, sera mites, and colloidal oatmeal.”

He says those ingredients are gentle enough for most, but it’s best to stick with something extremely pure like Vaseline for infants and toddlers.

Metelitsa also says there are things about your daily routine you can change to improve your skin health.

“Even though one might be like having a really hot shower, ideally, that’s not as good for our skin,” Metelitsa said. “So we usually recommend warm water. So that would be step number one. The second thing is over-exfoliating right over scrubbing.”

Metelitsa strongly recommends using a humidifier at home for extra skin hydration. He adds it’s important to stay internally hydrated too, by drinking plenty of water.