What causes dry skin?Updated a year ago
The thing about skin types is that they’re fairly innate. They’re largely based on the level of sebum your skin produces, which isn’t something that changes easily. With that in mind, these are the main factors that cause dry skin:
- Genetics: Many skin conditions are inherited. Chances are that if many people in your family had dry skin, you will have dry skin as well.
- Hormones: Hormonal fluctuations have a major impact on how much sebum the skin produces. In particular, the fewer androgens cycling through the body, the likelier it is for the skin to be dry.
- Age: As we get older our skin tends to get dryer since the body often produces less of the hormones that contribute to sebum production.
- Certain diseases: Diseases with an impact on hormones can also lead to dry skin, especially if they reduce the amount of male hormones the body produces.
- Medications: Certain medications can cause the sebaceous glands to produce less oil, which will make the skin dryer. That’s actually the mechanism of action behind isotretinoin, an acne medication, but it can also be the result of hormonal medications.