Dry Skin Disorders

2 minute read

By Shawn Hayes

Dry skin disorders are when an individual, simply put, has a condition that involves excess dryness of the skin. Dry skin disorders consist of excessively dry skin, as well as cracked and scaled skin types. There are a lot of different varieties of dry skin disorders and their causes and origins all vary as well. People suffering from dry skin disorders should consult dermatologists for medication or other treatment types to manage dry skin problems.

Types

Some different types of dry skin disorders include psoriasis, eczema, hypothyroidism, contact dermatitis, uremia, ichthyosis low levels of Vitamin A, fungal skin infections, sunstroke, pregnancy-related conditions and heatstroke.

Causes

There are a lot of practical causes that also lead to dry skin disorders (from mild to severe) to develop. Some of these very simple and common causes include various cleaning products and chemicals, home heating, low humidity and rubbing alcohol.

Contact Dermatitis

Contact dermatitis is a dry skin disorder in which the skin reacts negatively to an irritant. Different types of irritants for contact dermatitis include dry skin, cracked skin, red skin, skin patches all over the body, excessive irritation and itchiness and a rash all over the body.

Eczema

Eczema is an extremely common dry skin disorder that is a form of chronic dermatitis. Eczema manifests itself in many different types of symptoms, including itchy skin, inflamed skin, crusting, scaling, blisters, skin cracking, skin swelling, skin redness, skin inflammation, tiny raised bumps (papules) and ichthyosis (areas of scaly skin).

Psoriasis

Psoriasis is yet another common dry skin disorder that is a chronic, autoimmune condition. Psoriasis is characterized by inflammation, scaling and dryness of the skin. This scaling happens as result of the outer layer cells reproducing on a more rapid basis than others and then accumulating on the surface of the skin.

Shawn Hayes

Contributor