Dry Skin Health Video

Constant dry skin irritates many people, especially in the dry summer months or from living in a dry climate. Learn about dry skin from a doctor in this video on skin care.

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Shower or bathe in room temperature water until fingertips are wrinkled
Pat excess water off skin
Use inclusive lotion

About this Author

Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, the author of the book Six Weeks to Sensational Skin, is a board certified dermatologist who has made numerous appearances on television shows such as Good Morning America. She holds a degree from Hunter College in New York, an M.D. from Downstate University at SUNY, and did her residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Ciraldo has been a board-certified dermatologist since 1982, and is currently a voluntary professor at the University of Miami, where she runs a clinic in cosmetic dermatology.

DR. LORETTA CIRALDO: Hi. I'm Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, voluntary professor of Dermatology at University of Miami School of Medicine and author of "Six Weeks to Sensational Skin". Now, dry skin is something that some of us have all of the time and many of us have just during the winter months, and there is just a wonderful simple remedy for dry skin, and remembering that dry skin means that your skin lacks good hydration or water content. I'm going to ask you to take a shower bath in tepid water, not hot or cold, but just kind of room temperature water and stay in that shower bath until your fingertips wrinkle up. When you see your fingertips wrinkle almost looking prune-like, that means that you have very maximally rehydrated your skin, added back so much water that in fact the surface of the skin can't hold the water and that's why you look wrinkled like that. So, once you've reached that level of hydration by being in the shower bath of tepid water, come out and then just very lightly pat dry the excess water, and then it's very important to put on an occlusive kind of lotion. Things like Aquaphor or Eucerin cream are wonderful barrier creams that are going to act like a plastic wrap to keep in the water that you've just rehydrated your skin with. Typically, if you'll do this for a day or two in a row, you will be very surprised in how much you can help your own dry skin.

Dry Skin Health Video

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