June 05, 2019
In this Q&A session, Dr. Michele Burklund, Puriya’s Chief Science Officer, talks about Dry Skin and Eczema.
The questions in this session include…
- What exactly is dry skin?
- What typically causes dry skin?
- What are some lifestyle tips to improve dry skin?
- How does the Mother of All Creams address dry skin?
- How can I protect my skin going into summer?
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Right below, you will find the transcript of this video.
Transcript:
(00:02) – Hi, everyone. Welcome to our weekly Q&A session. My name is Dr. Michele Burklund, and I’m the Chief Science Officer here at Puriya. And so, a lot of what I do is the research, the formulation, the educational material, and once a week, I am here with you answering your questions. So, if you are new to this series, every week we go over a different condition. Some weeks we cover pain, fungal infections, eczema, dandruff, scalp conditions, there are so many different things. And this week, we are covering eczema and specifically, dry skin. So I will wait just a little bit until we get more people. Feel free to let me know where you are viewing this from in the world. And I know it’s a Friday morning too, so good morning to everyone.
(00:58) – I also wanna remind you to sign up for our newsletter, because we have weekly Q&A sessions and you can find out what the topic is, if you wanna join us live, if you have any questions beforehand. And we also have an interview series called Living Well where we interview doctors and natural health experts on many different subjects, and it’s just about every week, and you will get an announcement ahead in the newsletter, along with different tips and information about how to live a healthy life. So we have a lot of great things going on, and… Oh, hello, David. I’m glad you joined us too. Hello from California. So I’m gonna kind of discuss the basics of skin care and dry skin. And so what exactly is dry skin? Well, dry skin is actually a lack of water in the superficial layer of the skin called the epidermis.
(01:55) – And the epidermis is composed of both fat and proteins. So the lipid portion of the epidermis along with proteins, help prevent skin dehydration. But when you are deficient in fats, which we’ll get into a little bit later, or proteins, the skin moisture evaporates more easily causing dry skin. So dry skin can affect any area of the body. It can affect your face, it can affect arms, hands, lower legs, and it can affect anybody at any age as well. So symptoms of dry skin include feeling tightness, feeling skin tightness, flaking or peeling, deep cracking in the skin that can even bleed, redness, itching, and more visible fine lines and wrinkles. So the other issue with the dry skin is that because it cracks and because it’s so dry, it allows more surface for the bacteria to get in and to enter the skin causing more risk of infections as well.
(03:00) – So lots of reasons why we don’t want dry skin. And right now, we’re gonna go over what typically causes dry skin from external and internal sources as well, which I think is a great question. So dry skin can occur for many different reasons. A lot of people don’t know what’s causing their dry skin, and typically, it can be from harsh chemical products that can strip your skin of natural oils. That’s a big one. Also, colder temperatures with very low humidity can also cause dry skin and take all of that moisture away. Something interesting too, a lot of people forget about this, but central heating. So as we’re going into summer, you’re not gonna need this as much, but central heating can dry the air and, in turn, can dry your skin as well. It can really dry out your skin. So taking showers with a very hot water can also dry out your skin. Swimming frequently in chlorinated pools. And as you age, your skin naturally produces less oil. So some other reasons, too, that you can have dry skin include deficiency in fatty acids, specifically omega-3, not drinking enough water. Synthetic fragrances that have alcohol too can also dry and strip your skin of moisture.
(04:22) – Genetics, of course. Some people are predisposed, some people have a lack of specific proteins and stuff, which make you at higher risk for having dry skin. Hard water, so hard water is mineral… Or it’s water that can be in your house that has really high mineral content, and that can also dry out your skin. And certain medications or acne medications can also dry out your skin. And cleansers, that could be disturbing the pH, the natural pH of your skin too. Okay, so we know everything that can cause dry skin. So let’s talk now about what are some lifestyle tips to improve dry skin. So, number one, avoiding harsh soaps and chemical-laden ingredients that are in typical skin care products. So very soon our new website will be coming up. Probably, I’m thinking in this week. And on our website, we have an amazing list of not only ingredients we do use and why, but also ingredients we don’t use. And I think that’s very important to educate all of you out there on what ingredients to avoid, whether it’s specific chemicals or a lot of products that the pH is just… It’s imbalanced with your skin and it causes that disruption.
(05:43) – So I think that’s very important. And I also recommend all of you guys when our new website is up, which will be very soon and I’ll let you know in the next session, to go there and read more about what we have in our products and of course, what we don’t as well, and go out. And we also are creating an e-book that really gives you the inside information on how to go out and buy good products for everything that you’re looking for and kind of like an overall clean living guide. So we’re very excited about that. Another thing you can do to prevent dry skin is to have a humidifier inside your home. So if you are still using central heat, which you might be in some areas of America and some areas of the world, then consider using a humidifier too to kind of balance out the dryness in that environment. Something that a lot of people don’t talk about, what I think is very important too, is to wear breathable fabrics, which includes cotton, silk, linen, bamboo, hemp.
(06:42) – Natural products on your skin, which help your skin breathe because a lot of synthetic products can also upset your skin or cause irritation. So another thing we can do internally, which I love, telling a lot of patients, if they ever from dry skin, is to eat foods high in Omega-3s. So, you have fish, you have foods like avocados, there’s nuts and there’s lots of oils that you can put on your food, coming from Greece, I used to think that I ate a decent amount of olive oil, but when you actually go there and see how much olive oil they put on their food, raw olive oil, it can be amazing, inside your body too, so I highly recommend that, don’t be afraid to put it on and to put on more than you think, because you would be surprised of how much you can even how amazing it is for your body too. So staying hydrated, the simple act of just drinking more water throughout the day can also help a lot with dry skin, also changing your razors after five times because adult blade can make dry skin worse. So that’s a simple thing that a lot of people overlook that I think can be helpful. Also, putting a filter on your shower to help remove hard water or chlorination, those little things can also improve your skin content overall.
(07:58) – So I highly recommend that. And the time you put on moisture, so what we have here at Puriya is the Mother of All Creams that helps lock in the moisture and we’re getting into that in a little more detail, but the time you put it on, I think it’s very important too, so right after you get out of the shower it’s a great time for your skin to, kind of, soak up all that moisture. So, we recommend doing it at that time, too. So the time you put on moisturizer and the amount and the times of day also putting it on twice a day, I think can really help if you are suffering from very dry skin, so remember to drink a lot of water, eat more fruits and vegetables and nuts that are high in Omega-threes, moisturise and pay attention to the type of water that you’re using or if you need to put a filter on it as well. So our moisturiser, our cream, the Mother of All Creams and it’s definitely called that for a reason, ’cause it does so many amazing things, has a lot of very moisturizing ingredients. We have avocado oil, jojoba oil, shea nut butter, honey, amaranth, carrot seed oil, vitamin C, vitamin E, aloe vera gel and so many more amazing botanicals, too, so it’s a great formulation to really get in and nourish the skin. And this fits very well with the next question, how does the Mother of All Creams address dry skin?
(09:27) – So we discussed some of the ingredients, but the formulation, the key mechanisms of action we wanted to get into, was to rehydrate the top layer of the skin cells and then seal in the moisture, so we wanted to focus on protection, and then repairing the skin barrier providing nourishment with the skin with a lot of those great oils I just recommended. And then also supporting the co-factors in collagen production and skin rejuvenation too. So many different factors going in there. But all of it comes together to not only nourish the skin and help with dryness, but help ease different symptoms, whether it’s itching or inflammation as well, that we’re talking specifically about dry skin today, because we could talk a lot about skin inflammation and trust me, we will do that in another Q&A session as well. So I have one more question today, and I think this is a very fitting question. Since, it is almost June and how can I protect my skin going into summer? So, first off, we will always recommend wearing sun protection factor.
(10:36) – Now the question is which one? And there’s so much information out there, and we have some information coming out this week, in our newsletter too, so be sure to sign up for that, which goes into more detail about sunscreen on which ones to buy, and which ones to avoid. But the overall message is to wear mineral-based, sunscreen that does not contain nanoparticles and also something that’s often overlooked is to wear natural clothing that actually has a tighter weave to it, so if it has a tighter weave, it prevents the sunlight from entering the skin naturally, and also the forehead and the shoulders are the most popular areas for sunburn and sunburn is another reason why people can suffer from dry skin too and that’s how we formulated the Mother of All Creams because sunburn also has dryness and inflammation.
(11:29) – So, all those different things from wearing a good SPF, covering your shoulders and your head consider wearing a hat and shawl. And another key topic to address while we’re here, to us as a naturopathic doctor, I always wanna discuss the importance of Vitamin D. So if you’re covering up in the sun, which is great and it’s protecting your skin I would always recommend having a regular testing of your vitamin D so you know where you are, and in case you need to supplement that as well because Vitamin D is so important for the immune system and so many other systems within your body. And so the American Academy of Dermatology, also recommends avoiding the sun and tanning beds because of that risk of skin cancer, but that’s where vitamin D comes in, so I don’t want everyone to hide indoors. I want you to do the office and I want you to go outside in nature and enjoy and, wear Natural SPF, that’s mineral based and check your vitamin D often. I think that’s the perfect balance between the two. Don’t be afraid to go outside. We want you to enjoy nature and everything that it has to offer.
(12:41) – So, also, we have a very exciting thing, I’ve been formulating some pretty amazing supplements, and one of them is going to be going with the Mother of All Creams, an eczema cream, creating this great foundational support, so we’re very excited about that it’s gonna be nourishing from the inside out, so you can take an oral supplement and a topical and it’s kind of addressing the root ’cause because here at Puriya, we want to have a complete holistic focus.
(13:08) – So it’s very exciting, we have a lot of very exciting things coming up soon. And speaking of that, on a Tuesday, June 4th, at 9 AM Pacific time we have another interview with Rozi Berry who will be sharing her amazing story about how naturopathic medicine changed her life and how she’s become a huge advocate for naturopathic doctors and being with the naturopathic principles, so we’re very excited to have her and I’d love for you to hear her story. It is next Tuesday and you can always follow our Facebook Live sessions here to get reminders on the next one. So I will see all of you next week. Thank you for joining me today, be sure to, if you have any questions, write them in the comments below, sign up for our newsletter so you won’t be left out on upcoming interviews and future Q&A sessions, finding out about the topic too. So have an amazing weekend, and I will see you next week. Take care.