People often confuse dehydrated skin with dry skin. However, both concepts of skin problems are quite different from each other. Dehydrated skin means your uppermost layer of the skin does not have the necessary water level – due to dehydration in your body. Dry skin is a skin type that occurs when your skin does not produce enough oils to stay moisturized and protected from the environment.
Here we have examined the causes and symptoms of dehydrated skin alongside the relevant questions like why is my skin dehydrated and how to hydrate skin. Give a few minutes of reading to the crucial topic below and better understand where you are lacking in keeping your skin hydrated.
Table of Contents
Dehydrated Skin: How Does It Look?
Any type of skin whether it’s oily, dry, or a combination skin – can show problems with dehydration. This water deficiency can cause skin on your face or even all around your body to start feeling uncomfortable, especially after taking a shower. However, the symptoms of skin dehydration can be less or more visible in different people but they seem quite similar to dry skin and people often confuse both terms.
Dehydrated Skin vs Dry Skin
Dehydrated skin and dry skin appear to be quite similar. But the fact is both problems occur due to different factors and are not similar in treatments as well.
Dry skin occurs when your skin does not produce enough amount of natural oils – that is required to maintain healthy skin.
In contrast,
Dehydrated skin occurs when you don’t consume the sufficient amount of water that a healthy skin demands.
The dry skin problem occurs due to a few specific reasons:
- Some people naturally possess dry skin type
- When a person has a certain skin condition like eczema or dermatitis
- When a person washes his face quite frequently that strips the oils present in the skin
If you are unable to identify whether it is dehydrated or dry skin, examine the symptoms and reach out to your healthcare professional for an accurate solution.
Why is My Skin Dehydrated: Causes and Conditions
The simple answer to the question of why is my skin dehydrated is:
When you lose or use more amount of water than you consume
Common Causes Includes:
- Not having enough amount of water
- Losing extra fluids through vomiting or diarrhea
- Having a sunburn
- Too much sweating
- Having a constant fever
Some people are more at risk of dehydration in comparison to others. For instance, elderly people who often lose their sense of thirst while aging. Other than this, toddlers, infants, and children are also at more risk because they are more likely to experience vomiting and diarrhea.
Health Conditions
Sometimes dehydrated skin is a result of certain health conditions. People usually overlook the fact that a problem in your health can lead to many changes including dehydration in your skin cells. For example, cystic fibrosis, kidney dysfunction, and diabetes can make people urinate or sweat too often. This extra sweating or urination can lead to a reduced amount of water in your body.
Dehydration: Symptoms, Causes, Treatments, and Ultimate Preventive Measures
If you want to know more about the topic of dehydration and complete guidelines to deal with it, let’s give a thorough reading to the article. Here you can better understand the concept of dehydration and its preventive measures which can help you stay hydrated and well overall. Moreover, the article also highlights different treatments that can be incorporated in case you are already facing dehydration issues.
Dehydrated Skin Symptoms and Signs
Dehydration up to a moderate level is quite common. One of the most common symptoms of it is dry skin patches. These patches might seem scaly, itchy, and quite rough. Some people also show dull complexion and even sometimes more noticeable fine lines on their skin. Dehydration can also be seen in the form of less elastic skin than its usual look.
Dehydration Symptoms in Toddlers, infants, and children:
- Dry tongue and mouth
- High fever
- Sunken eyes
- Irritability
- Strong, dark, and smelling urine
- Unusual drowsiness or sleepiness
- Not producing tears while crying
Dehydration Symptoms in Adults
- Dry lips and mouth
- Feeling thirsty
- Dark color urine with a strong smell
- Sunken eyes
- Dizziness and tiredness
- Less sweating than usual
- Less urinating than usual
How to Hydrate Skin: Preventions and Treatments
As per NLM (National Library of Medicine), a person should add the following practices to avoid dehydrated skin and to answer how to hydrate the skin:
- Drink a sufficient amount of water throughout the day
- Have plenty of water whenever exercise
- Drink an extra amount of water when you are sick
- Have more water when the weather is hot
- Avoid having caffeinated drinks and sugar
- Be aware of when you need to see a doctor
Sometimes while having treatment for a certain problem people face the issue of dehydration in their skin and body. This can be due to a certain medicine that can affect your fluid balance in the body. Some of those medications are:
- Laxatives
- Blood pressure drugs
- Diuretics
- Antihistamines
- Antacids
In such cases, you can cope with the condition by having extra fluids. But if you find the situation persists or worsens, try to reach out to your doctor as soon as possible. Because the severity of dehydration is not only bad for your skin but it can be life threatening as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does dehydrated skin look like?
Dehydration on your skin appears to be itchy and dry even sometimes in an uneven complexion. Most importantly, when your skin is dry due to dehydration it does not appear similar to naturally dry skin. Because when your skin is naturally dry it appears more like a lack of natural oils. Dehydration in your skin can be mild to severe depending upon the overall condition of the hydration level in your body.
How to hydrate your skin?
There are numerous simple ways to keep your skin hydrated. The most easiest and important one is to keep yourself hydrated by having plenty of water and fluids. Other than this make sure to use sunscreen as it can keep your skin tone even and protected from UV rays. Eat foods that can promote the hydration process in your body and exfoliate your skin once a week to keep it fresh. But in case you are not getting any positive results even after doing all these things consult your doctor. Constant symptoms of dehydrated skin can be a sign of an underlying condition that might need treatment.