Red, Dry Skin on the Ankle

Red, dry skin on the ankle could potentially be the sign of a larger issue. Learn about red, dry skin on the ankle with help from an accredited dermatologist in this free video clip.

Video Transcript

I'm Dr. Lawrence Samuels, chief of dermatology at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and founder of Rx Systems PF. Today I'm going to explain to you how to get rid of that red itchy scaly skin around the ankles and sometimes it will even extend up onto the leg. The fact that you actually have redness indicates that there's more than just that dry skin. So there's actually some inflammation and I many times have patients come in and they go I've been using moisturizers and it's not alleviating my problem and the reason is is they're not treating the inflammation first. There are various over-the-counter hydrocortisone preparations. The 1% would obviously be the most effective and it needs to be applied at least twice a day. It would be very easy to dampen the skin a little bit so that you make sure the hydrocortisone cream rubs in thoroughly. If after two to four weeks you've seen very little improvement, it may actually be time to seek a consultation from a dermatologist but for today, we're going to assume that the hydrocortisone cream relieves that redness and a lot of that irritation. Once it's done that, you need to use an effective moisturizer and I actually recommend beginning to use the moisturizer along with the hydrocortisone cream. So what would happen is after bathing or after you dampen the skin, you would apply the hydrocortisone cream, rub it in thoroughly, wait two or three minutes and then apply your moisturizer. If you have red, dry, irritated skin obviously your normal lotion moisturizers are not really going to be good enough so you really need good protein moisturizers. I happen to like the rejuvenating protein moisturizer from RX Systems PF. It contains pepties, collagen, soluble collagen, elastin, antioxidants, so it helps really hydrate that dry stratum corneum skin. So again, if you have red, dry, irritated skin around the ankles, it's important to bathe, even to use some type of reparative or exfoliating cleanser, then use your hydrocortisone cream, 1% twice a day, make sure it's thoroughly rubbed into the skin, wait two or three minutes, use your good protein moisturizer. Again this is Dr. Lawrence Samuels, chief of dermatology, St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri, and founder of RX Systems PF.

Red, Tingly & Dry Skin

Red, tingly and dry skin could potentially be caused by a number of interesting things. Find out what it means if you have red, tingly and dry skin with help from a board-certified dermatologist with a private practice in New York City in this free video clip.

Video Transcript

Hi, this is Dr. Debra Jaliman, a board certified dermatologist in New York City, and author of the book, Skin Rules: Trade Secrets from a Top New York Dermatologist. Here to talk about red, peely, dry skin. This is a complaint I here many times from my patients, and the first question I have to ask is, what products are you using? Many people get into this problem because they're over using products. So, the first thing you want to look at is, what is your cleanser? Maybe you're using a very drying cleanser, that either is anti-bacterial, or has glycolic acid or salicylic acid. So, the first thing is, change to a mild cleanser. Look for a cleanser with glycerin or ceramides, or one that says it's super-fatted and is hydrating. The next thing you want to do is, look at your other products, maybe you're using a lot of products with acids. For example, with retinol in it, or with retinoids, or you're using a lot of salicylic acid products or benzoyl peroxide. And all these products are drying out your skin. Many people over use the products they have, it maybe that they're not using a lot of acids, but the acids they're using, they're using repetitively. So, I see patients that are using their acids, instead of once a day, they're using them twice a day. So, you may want to cut down on your products and use them less often, or just discontinue the products. And then, you can use moisturizers, look for moisturizers with hyaluronic acid, with glycerin. If you don't have oily skin and you tend toward a more dry, then you look for products with jojoba oil, you can look for avocado oil, you can look for shea butter. And that will add moisture to your skin. Also, cut down on the heat of the water that you're using to wash your face, especially in the shower and every time you wash your face. If you use very hot, steamy water, it'll dry your skin out. You can also put a humidifier in your bedroom, the humidifier will add moisture to your skin and will help to prevent it from drying out. The other thing is, when you dry your face, don't dry it vigorously, pat it dry because that'll help to preserve moisture in the skin and won't irritate the skin. The other thing is, don't use abrasive brushes and abrasive sponges. Many people I see, are using loofahs on their faces, they're over-exfoliating. Many people over-exfoliate with grains, for example, and over-dry their skin. So, you have to treat your skin delicately, you don't want to over scrub it like a pot, because that will really dry it out. So, those are some tips, so that you don't end up with over-dry, peely, red skin.