You may wonder how the ever-changing weather affects your skin health, and more importantly, scar treatment. You may get frustrated because as soon as you figure out a skin care regimen that seems to working for you, the seasons change. Suddenly, what worked in winter doesn’t work in summer, and vice versa. Here’s how you can protect your skin through all seasonal changes, and ensure your scar keeps fading as the years go on.
Hot Weather and Skin
In the summer, all that hot and humid air encourages water loss from your body, resulting in dehydration. Nothing is worse for a scar than dehydration! Your skin, especially the scarred area, may start to feel red, dry and irritated. That’s why you need to increase your water consumption in summer and moisturize more. You may find that you need to increase your daily use of Scarfade during the warmer months as well.
Wash your face and body more often in summer, as the increase in heat can cause you to sweat more and produce more oil. Good news is, humid air can help speed up skin cell production.
Cold Weather and Skin
Cold temperatures coupled with low humidity levels create dry air that takes moisture away from your skin. The harsh cold air and dry artificial indoor heat can make skin problems worse, leading to cracked and bleeding skin. You may see flare ups in skin conditions such as eczema or psoriasis as well.
You want to make sure you’re treating the initial wound carefully when it occurs in winter. All that dry air causes cracking in your skin, which isn’t conducive to new skin cell production. Plus, winter is cold and flu season, and those viruses and bacteria are proliferating. Your immune system will kick in to keep those offenders at bay, which is awesome for your overall health but not so awesome for any open wounds you may be nursing. Infection can result if you don’t take precautions, and an infected would won’t heal fast or correctly.
Fun Facts
Here are some fun facts about winter skin healing.
Did you know…
- Colder temperatures encourage slower blood flow — necessary for proper wound healing?
- When you don’t have good circulation, the wound doesn’t get the oxygen it needs?
- It’s harder to stave off harmful bacteria in winter?
- Poor circulation does not regenerate skin as easily as strong circulation?
- Staying inside all winter with little to no exercise impedes healing due to the reduction in blood flow?
In All Seasons: Keep Your Scars Moist
Each season has the potential to dry out skin, which is bad news for anyone looking to fade some scars. That’s why you should commit yourself to keeping your skin moist in all seasons, using moisturizer with aloe coupled with twice-daily Scarfade applications. Use massage to really infiltrate the gel deep into the skin.
On top of keeping your skin moist, get outside and get active to encourage proper blood circulation and wound healing. If your wound is just starting to heal, make sure it’s covered with a loose dressing so as not to restrict circulation. Low-impact activities such as yoga, walking, and swimming are excellent choices.
If you would like to know more about how Scarfade helps in all seasons, check out our FAQs.