How To Treat Dry Skin

A year ago, I asked a knowledgeable Health and Natural Remedies Department employee at Whole Foods (formerly Wild Oats) about dry skin and what to do about it.

The first thing the employee told me to do was to use honey - a honey bear dispenser, she advised. This was interesting. She said to keep the squeeze bottle of honey in the shower and to smooth it on dry skin and massage it in after showering in warm (not hot) water, in place of talcum powder, baby powder, or any lotion that might be drying to the skin.

This employee also reminded me to drink enough water a on daily basis, and to make it spring water in order to avoid the chemicals and drug residues found in our local city water supply. This has turned out to be very important -- The antibiotics found in our water supply have caused some patients that drink the water to become immune to their positive effects when the people need treatment that by usual and customary standards include antibiotics.

This was doubly interesting, because one of my martial arts associates in Michigan had already showed me a lot of benefits from using spring water as a drink and for cooking. The Whole Foods employer gave me a simple confirmation of the facts, which I gladly passed onto my northern friend. I'd started drinking spring water a couple of years previously, but went further this time to keep several gallons of spring water (39-cents per refill) on hand for call cooking, not just some of it. The results have been amazing, as you will read below.

The information at the store all sounded great to me. Ever since speaking with Whole Foods, I have been cooking with spring water and using it in lemonade, limeade, and a variety of teas. You'll see it in most of my recipes posted on Hub Pages. Spring water tastes much better to me than tap water and has been partially responsible for making my dry skin disappear. When the weather is very dry and my skin becomes dryer as well, I also use the honey.

Together, spring water and honey have done the trick. But there are other products and methods to consider, for we are all individuals.

Before we go on, please see the article about how naturally fast and fully Honey Heals Wounds.

My local Whole Foods was formerly operated under a different name and merged with the larger organization. It is still the same well stocked market with well trained staff.

The employees in the health related aisles have been incredibly informative about a variety of conditions when I have queried them. This, combined with ongoing learning and sound medical advice have saved me 1) a lot of money and 2) 90% of potential health problems, through successful prevention.

RESULTS

Not only is my skin in better condition, but my hair no longer breaks, and my senses of taste and smell are better. The only thing I have changed is the water and the use of honey on the skin. I think results are a combination of the two, but will not take time to go back and try one element at a time. Some other considerations follow:

1. To moisturize, try vegetable shortening or soybean oil, both of which are absorbed into the skin rather readily. One dry winter, the backs of my hands dried quickly and reddened one day as if with severe rug burn and I used canned shortening, which felt great. After three days, the skin was healed.
2. Make your own moisturizers from 1) one egg yolk beaten into a cup of milk to form a paste. Store it in the refrigerator. 2) Put one part Aloe Vera into one part mineral water(for example, 1/2 Cup of each). Heat in a double boiler until they turn into a healing cream.
3. Exfoliate dead skin cells away regularly before moisturizing. Dead cells can build up and cause other problems, including infections and sores. See the directories below for a variety of skin conditions which may surprise you.
4. Use natural fibers with natural dyes in clothing, bedding, and automobile seats (you can make or purchase a natural-fiber seat cover. I followed this advice several years ago and found an end to rashes and even emotional irritation. Natural fibers are great!
5. Health-focused stores sell a non-petroleum jellythat you can use at home to smooth on dry skin. It holds in moisture.
6. For laundry, use colorless, scentless or naturally scented soapsand stain removers. For bath and shampoo time, natural and non-abrasive products as much as possible.
7. Try limiting caffeine, smoking & alcohol, which act as diuretics. However, do not attempt to quit them all at once! In fact, in practice, I have in the past advised patients not to quit any more than one at a time. If it is too much stress to quit any of them, drink more spring water. That will help a bit.
8. Ask your usual health care professional how many glasses of water a day you really need to drink and follow that directive.
9. If you use a bathtub, soak in warm water for 5 minutes and then add one Tablespoon of olive oil, which will absorbed into plumped cells through open pores.
10. Physically protect your skinagainst sun, dust, wind, smog, dry heat, extreme cold, and indoor dry air with non-drying lotions, sunscreen, and aromatic water misters, hats or other clothing, etc. DRY AIR caused me to have three eye infections, when dry air dried the eyes and bacteria in dust could therefore latch on more quickly and firmly. This happened twice in heat and once in air conditioning at work.
11. Increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids through food sources.
12. Use a humidifier at home and at work. Supplement this with water misters for your facial or other skin.