First, what is cracked skin?
Cracked skin can happen when your skin barrier is compromised. Usually, it’s a symptom of dry and irritated skin, but there are many possible causes. When your skin dries out because of a lack of moisture, it will become rough and tear easier. Without proper care, these small cracks can turn into deeper, often painful cracks known as fissures.
Your feet, hands, and lips may be especially prone to cracking. However, depending on the cause, cracked skin can develop in other areas, too. Cracked skin can also be a symptom of an underlying medical condition. For example, people living with diabetes may notice cracked skin on their soles.
What causes cracked skin?
1. Dry skin
In smooth and hydrated skin, natural oils prevent the skin from drying out by retaining moisture. But if your skin doesn’t have enough oil, it loses moisture. This makes your skin dry out and shrink, which can lead to skin cracking.
It may be caused by:
1) Cold weather
In the winter, low humidity and temperature can dry out your skin. Indoor heating also decreases the humidity in your home.
2) Chemical irritants
Many products like dish soap and laundry detergent can contain harsh chemicals. These substances can damage your skin’s barrier and cause dryness.
3) Hot water
The hot water from showers or washing dishes can reduce your skin’s moisture.
4) Medication
Dryness may be a side effect of some drugs, like topical retinoids.
2. Eczema
Eczema is a skin condition that causes itching and redness. Although it can surface anywhere on the body, it does often affect the hands. Since the skin becomes so dry, it leads to cracking, as well as possible flaking, peeling, intense itching, and scaly patches.
3. Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a disorder of immune dysfunction that makes skin cells grow too fast. As the extra cells build up, the skin becomes scaly. Inflammation also plays a big part.
The rapid accumulation of cells can lead to dryness and cracking, along with red patches, silvery white scales and itching.
4. Diabetic neuropathy
Cracked heels are a common complication of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The condition can lead to diabetic neuropathy, or nerve damage due to diabetes. In diabetic neuropathy, your nerves can’t properly control the skin’s moisture. This can lead to dryness and cracking, especially on the feet.
What is the treatment?
1. Moisturising cream
Since dry skin can cause or worsen cracking, it’s important to keep your skin well hydrated. There are creams made specially for these types of conditions, as they tend to be more effective in retaining moisture and speed up the skin’s recovery process. For example, the DD Cracked Skin Repair Cream is best suited for this type of condition.
Why choose DD Cracked Skin Repair Cream?
DD Cracked Skin Repair Cream is specially made to moisturise and speed up the healing process of cracked skin. It contains a unique combination of urea, hyaluronic acid, ceramides and olive fruit oil that further strengthens the skin barrier and retain moisture.
3 Main Actions of DD Cracked Skin Repair Cream:
1) Soothe
Sodium hyaluronate can help to restore the moisture to dry, cracked skin while also providing a soothing effect to your skin.
2) Relieve
Urea strengthens the skin barrier and retain moisture for your skin. Olive fruit oil provides relief and speeds up the healing process.
3) Moisturise
Ceramides preserve the water barrier of skin which further moisturise dry skins.
2. Topical steroid cream
A topical hydrocortisone cream can be a good option for cracked skin that has red patches or itching. This type of cream contains corticosteroids, which reduce irritation and swelling.
Hydrocortisone creams are available in different strengths. The mildest strengths are available as over-the-counter (OTC) treatments that you can buy at your local drugstore. But do take note to not use it for extended periods of time as it will have risk of thinning your skin.
3. Prevention
Here, we will be presenting a few tips to further prevent the trigger of cracked skin:
If you work with chemicals, wear protective gloves on your hands.
Wash your hands in lukewarm water (water that is too hot or too cold can aggravate skin).
Avoid harsh cleansing products (use products that have a skin-friendly pH value).
Drying the skin by blotting, not rubbing.
Applying moisturizer immediately after blotting.