The most common causes of dry skin are triggered by these 6 conditions

For those of you who have dry skin types, you may often complain of itchy, cracked, and flaky skin problems. This condition can occur in any part of the body, but often on the face, legs, hands, and stomach area. Although not dangerous, this one skin problem still disturbs appearance. Before looking for a solution, it's a good idea to find out first the causes of dry skin below.

What are the causes of dry skin?

The following are causes of dry skin that may happen to you.

1. Lack of drinking water

Try checking again, how much water did you drink today? If less than 8 glasses per day, then this is the cause of dry skin that you may experience.

The body needs adequate fluid intake to keep the skin moist. The less water you drink, the drier your skin will be.

Especially for those of you who are 40 years old and over, skin elasticity will decrease so that the skin becomes thinner and drier.

2. Hot temperature

Prolonged exposure to heat is the most common cause of dry skin. This is not only because of the prolonged sunbathing or activities in the hot sun, but also includes exposure to hot temperatures from the stove, heating, or even a hot shower.

Hot, dry temperatures can evaporate the fluid in the skin, dehydrating it. Especially if this is not immediately resolved by drinking lots of water, then your skin will obviously get drier.

3. Wrong use of soap

The soap you usually use can actually be the mastermind behind dry skin, you know. Take a look at the packaging, does it contain surfactants or not?

Most soaps contain surfactants, which are harsh chemical compounds that have an alkaline pH. Although it can clean the skin, this surfactant content can also remove natural oils in the skin. So says Joshua Zeichner, MD, director of cosmetics and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, to Reader's Digest.

4. Wash your hands frequently

The habit of washing hands is good for killing germs and preventing cross contamination. However, if you do it too often, the skin's natural oils will wash off and make your hands feel dry.

5. Acne medication and retinol

Although they are quite effective in treating acne, creams or ointments that contain retinol, glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and benzoyl peroxide can dry out your skin and make it flaky.

These chemicals work by killing the acne-causing bacteria, but at the same time also remove excess oil from the skin. So, it is only natural that your face tends to be dry and flaking.

6. Skin disease

The cause of dry skin in adults often begins with eczema that develops in childhood. In addition, other skin diseases such as psoriasis also have the same effect.