You step outside into snow-dusted streets, filling your lungs with the crisp air as you feel that satisfying crunch beneath your feet. It’s only later, when you look at your bare hands back inside, that you see (and feel) it: Red, raw, and rough skin, as itchy as it is uncomfortable.
It’s almost a given that your skin will get drier and flakier in the winter months — perhaps even after you’ve already slathered it with moisturizer. But why, specifically, do our hands, feet, and lips become cracked and irritated in the winter?
“The surrounding humidity is much lower in the winter,” says Dee Anna Glaser, a board-certified dermatologist at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. “And just the coldness and [wearing] multiple layers of clothing can cause some irritation and expose the skin to dehydration.”
In short, a host of factors — from harsh winter winds to dry indoor heat — can irritate and sap moisture from your skin. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to relieve winter dryness and keep your skin healthy, even in the most frigid conditions.
