Tips For Preventing And Treating Irritated Skin

 Looking after your skin is important, especially when it comes to aging. Over time, your skin loses that elasticity and defensive barrier that it had back in your earlier years. That’s why it’s important to take good care of your skin throughout your life, starting from as young as possible. After all, preventative efforts are better than having to find ways of reversing the time back.

Irritated skin is common for many people whether that’s a sensitivity problem or a medical diagnosis that causes an array of problems with the skin from acne to infections.

Everything you can do to improve and prevent the appearance of irritated skin is worthwhile. It’s not something that’s enjoyable, especially as irritated skin can be pretty painful. With that in mind, let’s look at some of the best tips for preventing and treating irritated skin this year.

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Use a laundry detergent for sensitive skin

One of the reasons why you might be experiencing sensitive skin is down to the type of laundry detergents you are using. This includes both the detergent and any fabric softeners or scent boosters you’re putting into your washes.

If you’ve experienced irritated skin for a while or it’s just cropped up recently, take note of what you’ve been using in your laundry. Perhaps a change of detergent has caused the irritation. Otherwise, it might be down to your skin creating a new reaction to the detergent or product, despite having used it for so long before.

With most irritated skin that’s affected by your laundry detergent, sometimes, it’s as simple as making a switch to a sensitive option instead. It’s worth experimenting with detergents as not all options are going to suit everyone that deals with sensitive skin. Some may have more irritations to certain ingredients than others do.

Consider switching out perfumed skincare products

Perfumed skincare products are something to be mindful of when it comes to sensitivity. Chances are, you’ve already become aware that some perfumed products give you a rash or don’t agree with your skin, causing inflammation.

If that’s the case, then stop buying any skincare or body products that have perfume in them. While there are fewer unscented products, the beauty market continues to grow and you’ll find that there’s enough to ensure you can use all of your favorite products without needing to struggle.

Again, just like the detergent, it’s good to pay attention to what ingredients are common in the products that don’t agree with your skin. That way, you might be able to put some perfumed products on the skin, so long as they don’t contain certain ingredients you’ve found to be similar to those that have given you a reaction.

Use cooling facecloths to ease inflammation

In order to keep your skin cool and calm, it’s always good to have some cooling facecloths available and to hand. A good way of doing this is to soak some facecloths in sterile water and then put those in the refrigerator.

What that will do is keep them cool so that you can immediately apply a cold compress to the inflamed skin, without needing to use something too harsh on the skin like ice cubes.

While it might not work for everyone when it comes to irritated skin, you might also want to think about putting some essential oil onto the facecloths or within the water you submerge them in. Such essential oils like tea tree oil, for example, are great natural products useful for easing inflammation and redness.

Pat or tap skin dry rather than dragging it

We all have a habit when it comes to drying off our skin of dragging the towel over our body or face. While this may feel like a quick solution and one that you’ve done since a young age, it’s worth correcting this method with pats and taps instead.

By dragging the skin, you’re more likely to cause irritation on the skin and it can also impact the elasticity of the skin as you get older. That’s why it’s important to pat and tap the skin dry when you’re stepping out of the bath or shower, or when you’re drying your face clean.

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You’ll likely notice quite a difference when doing this, especially as it can help reduce the redness that is caused by dragging a hard towel across your skin.

It’s also worth taking a look at what types of towels you’re using on your skin and ensuring these towels are as soft as possible. For example, if your home is susceptible to hard water, then you might want to invest in some cleaning products that will reduce the hardness of the water and leave your towels with soft fluffy options instead.

It’s an effort but one that your skin will certainly thank you for!

Wear loose cotton clothing

To help give your skin the best chance of reducing irritation, try wearing more loose clothing. Ideally, cotton or linen is a great type of clothing material that won’t irritate your skin as much as others will.

If you’re susceptible to chaffing, it’s also worth investing in some anti-chaffing shorts or vests too during the summer.

Keeping your skin soothed is often done with the type of clothing you wear. Try to avoid wearing anything that’s too tight for your skin and is likely going to make you feel equally uncomfortable as well as irritating the skin itself too.

Take a look at your closet currently and if it needs a few lighter and loose-fitting clothes, then treat yourself.

Try different calming creams

There is an abundance of creams on the market that all promise to help ease your skin’s inflammation and irritation. However, when it comes to treating irritated skin, it’s always good to opt for more specialized treatments and products that have some sort of form of clinical and scientific testing where possible.

From Bodewell Eczema Daily Calming Cream to more intense, steroid creams, these are all worth trying in order to resolve irritated skin. Again, the irritation can be caused by a number of issues and each skincare problem can often only be resolved by trialing different products available.

If you’re struggling to find creams that work, then it’s always good to get expert advice and speak to your doctor as a first step to getting a specialist approach.

Approach a dermatologist for advice

Talking of professionals, when it comes to your skin, there’s no better person to help than a dermatologist. A dermatologist is an expert when it comes to your skin, so if you’re struggling to find the reason for the irritations caused, then speaking to someone in this profession is the next best thing.

There are plenty out there who you’ll be able to speak to locally and some may have more specialist knowledge than others. Don’t get disheartened though if the problem isn’t diagnosed, you may just need to find the right dermatologist with the right level of knowledge and experience to hand.

Simplify your skincare routine

Your skincare routine is essential to your skin and so when irritation is being caused, it could be down to whatever skincare products you may be using. With that being said, if you’re wanting to minimize irritation as best as possible, try simplifying your skincare routine.

The more simplified it is, the fewer products you’re using and hopefully, you’re able to identify what the problem is.

Irritated skin of any kind is no fun. With that being said, use these tips to make sure you prevent and successfully treat any form of irritated skin.