Winter Sports and Skin Irritations: How to Deal With Them
Winter Sports and Skin Irritations
Winter is just about here, which means that winter sports are a given. Just because it’s cold outside that shouldn’t prevent you from participating in such activities like skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling.
Regardless of what kind of climate you live in, you’ll find that the weather can often play cruel tricks on your skin. The elements can be extremely harsh and brutal in the winter as a combination of both wet and dry weather can lead to a variety of skin problems, with a lack of humidity being the main culprit; so you still want to be prepared.
How Your Skin Can Become Irritated
In sports such as skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling, you move fast, going at rapid speeds where the wind can whip at your face, especially if it’s not protected. Of course you’ll most likely be bundled up as it’s cold outside, but even if you’re protected you can develop skin irritations and chaffing as well as wind burn from moving fast.
Dry air can be extremely harmful to your skin, especially if you’re in a low humidity area. If you’re skiing and there’s no humidity in the air, your skin can become dry and can start to crack. This is the same as if you have a wood stove that sucks all the humidity out of the air; in most cases you’d probably run a humidifier to add moisture to the room; well, your skin needs the same kind of treatment so it doesn’t dry out.
Other Harmful Elements
Itchy legs is a phenomenon that often occurs while skiing, which is often brought upon by being in a high altitude with no humidity. While you’re probably wearing ski pants at this point, your skin can dry out, so it’s important to hydrate yourself by drinking plenty of water and by moisturizing your skin as a precaution.
The sun can also be instrumental in dehydrating your skin; not only can sun screen help prevent you from getting burned, but it can also serve as a protective barrier against UV rays that generate when the sun reflects off the snow, while helping to moisturize your skin.
Protective Measures
As cold weather can be frustrating to deal with, it’s best to be dressed in many layers. Your feet are crucial as you need to keep them warm and prevent them from frostbite. Some may say that layering your feet with thin socks helps keep your feet warm, yet this can actually make your feet colder, when compared to wearing thick socks, or moisture wicking socks that can help keep your feet dry.
You also want to wear layers over your body, such as thermal underwear, and ski pants that are waterproof and breathable, as well as insulated jackets and gloves, and don’t forget sunglasses!
Doc’s Skin Care makes two unique products that can also be beneficial to you in cold weather:
Doc’s All Natural Cool Weather Embrocation™ is an all natural cream that works as a protective skin barrier to help prevent nasty aftereffects such as wind burn. It’s great if you’re an avid skier as it can protect your face in frigid conditions.
Doc’s All Natural Chafe Stick™ helps prevent chaffing in areas such as thighs and feet. While used by long-distance runners, it can also be beneficial to skiers and snowboarders who experience itchy legs and it can help prevent any possible irritations in areas such as your feet.
With a little TLC and some precautionary measures, you won’t have to suffer while having fun this winter.