- Dry skin can appear at any time in life but can be more prominent during menopause.
- Menopause can typically start in women over 45 but can happen much earlier and later in life than this.
- Menopause causes a shift in hormones in women, which halts a woman’s menstruation.
- As well as stopping menstrual cycles, the shift in hormones during menopause can affect the hair, skin, and nails.
- Dry skin can be commonplace during menopause due to the decrease of estrogen, the hormone responsible for stimulating collagen production.
The Reason for Your Dry Skin During Menopause
Dry skin in menopause can start as early as perimenopause when the hormone balances you have carried along with you for most of your adult life start to change and shift. The primary hormone change is the reduced amount of estrogen[1] in your bloodstream.
Dry skin can appear somewhat of a surprise, especially if it is something you have never had before menopause, and it requires some prudent changes to your skincare routine and the products you use to ease the skin.
There are many ways you can end up with dry skin during menopause, including:
- The skin loses its ability to create as much oil
- The decrease of estrogen production
- A reduced capacity for the skin to retain its moisture levels
- Rapid depletion of collagen production in the first few years of menopause
- Skin becoming increasingly thinner
- Skin that becomes more sensitive
- The skin may become more reactive to the sun, and products
- Menopause can be a potential trigger of thyroid issues, which can affect the skin
- Body temperature fluctuations causing hot flashes can make the skin dry
How to Care for Your Skin During the Menopausal Stage
There are two main areas you can combat dry skin during menopause, and these ways can be either internal (from the things you ingest) or external (the things you put on your skin or the things you avoid.
Here are the top 9 ways to care for your skin during menopause:
Tips For Combating Dry Skin Internally
1. Skin-Friendly Diet. Your Diet can play a massive part in combating dry skin during menopause. Aloki Townsville Skincare Clinic explains that when you include skin-friendly foods with a large amount of vitamins A, C & E, you are helping to repair and nourish the skin from within.
Not only will you be feeding your skin with antioxidants and essential vitamins, but you will also be replacing some of the essential oils from healthy fats to lubricate the skin more. When looking for extra assistance, information from the Amberen review could help here too.
Oily fish, nuts, seeds, and leafy greens are the absolute saviors of dry skin.
2. Water. One of the best ways you can hydrate your skin is by hydrating yourself! Consuming at the very least 2 liters of water a day is optimum, and this will allow your skin to take on the extra hydration[2] and relieve the dry texture.
3. Supplements. You can find lots of top-rated menopause supplements that may support dry skin, especially during menopause.
Looking for supplements that are as natural as possible and ones made explicitly for skin support may help replace the elements of your skin that are making it dry.
Tips for Combating Dry Skin Externally
4. Skincare Products. You may find it more than beneficial to switch your skincare products during menopause to one’s that support dry skin. Their specifically designed formulations will help to combat the areas of dry skin and restore healthy-looking skin.
5. Stay Out of the Sun. The sun’s harmful UVA & UVB rays[3] will certainly exacerbate any areas of dry skin, and cause further damage to the dermal layers. Staying out of the harsh sun and using a high SPF will increase the protection of your skin and prevent the dry areas from becoming worse.
6. Stay Clear of Skin Irritants. Keeping your skin away from any potential irritants will make sure the skin stays stress-free, and potentially reduce any worsening of dry skin.
Reducing your skin’s contact with perfumes, chemicals, and irritants may stop the dry skin from flaring up and becoming worse.
When researching this article, we found the Amberen review postings, which sound like it could reduce the irritations on dry skin.
7. Modifying Your Skincare Routine. Your skincare routine before menopause is something that will likely need changing once it arrives.
Your skin may become more sensitive, dry, and react easily to certain ingredients, so using only the gentlest products is vital to complement your new skin requirements.
Opt for gentle cleansers and products with active ingredients designed for your new skin needs, making sure that everything you choose is suitable for you now.
8. Avoid Hot Baths and Showers. This may sound like an odd request, but overheating your skin, especially in water, can dry the already dry skin out further and cause more irritation. The best advice is to opt for cool baths and showers, as where possible, avoid being immersed in over hot water for too long.
9. Soothe the Itch! The most prominent thing about dry skin is that it can itch to the point of distraction! Of course, scratching the itch on dry skin will not make it look any better, so soothing the itch is a significant thing.
Here are the top 5 ways to soothe an itch on dry skin without creating more damage!
- Use a hydrating face mask
- Use aloe vera[4]gel straight from the fridge
- Keep a cool water spritz beside you to spray when the itch starts
- Apply a cold cloth or an ice pack to the itchy areas
- Keep the area moisturized
The Bottom Line
Menopause is a season of change in women that changes the body, inside and out that, unfortunately, cannot be reversed completely, only improved.
Having dry skin on top of everything that changes when menopause arrives can be distressing and confusing, especially if you previously haven’t suffered from dry skin. It also comes with the added association to having itchy skin, and soothing the itch can stop you from scratching the already irritated skin, making it appear worse.
By managing the dry skin with a more tailored skincare routine, taking top-rated menopause supplements, and feeding your skin from within, you can start to make some headway in combating your dry skin.
