The influence of climate on the treatment of dry skin with moisturizer

Abstract

The climate influences the development of dry skin, and the treatment of dry skin must be adapted according to the climate. Therefore, it is important to know how the climate influences the development of xerosis. It is well known that dry skin most often occurs during winter at temperatures below freezing point. That means that dry skin occurs more often in the colder climate zones of the earth, well known from northern Europe, northern states of the USA, and Canada. Also, a high altitude predisposes to dry skin, not only high in the mountains, but also in the highland of Mexico. In the cold climate zones in Europe, often people have the impression that indoor radiator heating leads to dry skin, whereas heating by an old fashion oven as was often used in private homes until the 1970s was more pleasant to the skin. It is also known that strong winds lead to dryness of the skin. Also, artificial ventilation by air condition may lead to dry skin. Air condition may lead to a pronounced skin drying because it reduces the water content of the air. This is a desirable effect in hot and wet climate, for example, on the east cost of the USA in summer time, but it may lead to problems in desert zones like in the US southern mountain region (e.g., in Phoenix) where the relative humidity is low.