Your skin does not just serve the purpose of looking at yourself in the mirror. Your skin acts as the primary protector of your body from the environment including irritants, toxins, and moisture loss. The skin barrier serves to protect you from all these things by retaining moisture within the skin and repelling other elements.
If the function of the protective barrier weakens, then you might notice stinging from products that have never before bothered you, feeling of tightness of the skin, and persistent dryness. This condition is called “damaged skin barrier.”
The good thing is that skin barrier repair need not be very complicated at all. More often than not, the best way to go about it is to make your skincare routine simpler and provide consistent support to your skin.
What Is a Damaged Skin Barrier?
The barrier in the skin is mainly related to the outermost part of your skin referred to as stratum corneum. It includes skin cells and natural lipids such as ceramide, cholesterol, and fatty acids. It can be compared to the brick wall whereby skin cells act as the bricks while lipids fill the gaps between them.
When it is intact, this barrier prevents water loss and offers protection against any external irritant. However, once this function is impaired, the skin may become more susceptible to the loss of water and irritations. Research on barrier-restoring therapies also highlights the importance of restoring and maintaining the skin barrier’s structure and function. (1)
What does a compromised skin barrier mean? In simple terms, it means that the function of your skin as protection is no longer working efficiently enough.
This does not necessarily mean that your skin will peel or be excessively dry. There will be times that you will feel certain sensitivity or discomfort in your skin from the products that you use.
Damaged Skin Barrier Symptoms to Look For
Wondering about the possibility of having a damaged skin barrier? Some of the skin barrier damage symptoms that you should look out for include:
- Chronic dryness or flaking
- Tightness after washing your face
- Rough skin
- Sensitivity
- Redness/irritation
- Itching
- Stinging when skincare products are applied
- Uncomfortable skin even after moisturization
However, these symptoms are not only associated with damage to the barrier. Conditions like eczema, rosacea, psoriasis, and acne may influence the skin barrier as well; hence, any serious symptoms should be diagnosed by a dermatologist.
What Can Damage Your Skin Barrier?
Your skin care regimen can help or hinder the process of maintaining the skin barrier.
An example would be the misconception that a greater sensation means greater efficacy of the product. Too much exfoliation, rough scrubbing, and harsh cleansing will stress out the skin.
Other factors to consider include:
Over-Cleansing
Excessively cleansing the skin or using harsh products may strip away certain oils from the skin. Excessively hot water is known for drying out the skin because it strips away its natural lipids. It is usually advised that one use lukewarm water while washing the skin.
Over-exfoliation
It might be helpful to exfoliate for some skincare purposes, but doing it in excess can irritate your skin even more. In case your skin is peeling, stinging, or sensitive, you should try pausing from using exfoliating products.
Too many active ingredients
Combining multiple potent active skincare ingredients could prove challenging in figuring out what your skin really accepts. The moment you feel that your skin barrier is compromised, adding more products may not be the solution.
Stress in the Environment
Sunlight, dry air, wind, pollution, and even exposure to water may create stress in the skin. The environment is as important as the skincare products you use daily.
How to Repair Skin Barrier: Start With Less
If you are looking for information about how to restore skin barrier, the initial step can be quite unexpected: you should stop what is worsening the situation.
Instead of introducing five additional products into your skincare regimen, simplify it a bit.
- Gently cleanse
Go for a cleanser that is gentle to your skin and does not make you feel squeaky clean. Use warm water and avoid scrubbing.
Gentleness in cleansing is much more important than the need for that extra “clean” sensation.
- Moisturise regularly
Moisturizing is one of the key elements in restoring the integrity of the skin barrier. A good moisturizer may help decrease the dryness and improve hydration capabilities of your skin.
Choose moisturizers based on products that are able to hydrate the skin barrier, including glycerin, ceramides, fatty acids, cholesterol, petrolatum, dimethicone, or any other suitable emollient. Ceramides, cholesterol, and fatty acids are natural elements of the lipids found in skin.
Creams and ointments are more efficient moisturizers than light lotions for very dry skin.
- Apply moisturiser at the right time
Time plays an important role. Moisturizing when your skin is still slightly wet after washing will allow you to trap in the moisture. (2)
- Allow your skin to rest from unnecessary actives
When your skin starts behaving oddly and becoming sensitive, you should think about decreasing the number of exfoliating agents like AHAs or scrubs, and other possible irritants.
It’s not necessary for the skin to always be exfoliated in order to be healthy; sometimes it’s best to do nothing.
Skin repair strategies can involve different approaches depending on the cause and condition of the skin, which is why simplifying a routine can be a useful approach when irritation is related to excessive product use. (3)
- Protect your skin from the environment
A proper barrier regimen should not only include cleansing and moisturizing but also include proper daily protection from the sun and covering up exposed areas to prevent unnecessary stress on the skin by the environment.
Where Does Body Care Fit Into Skin Barrier Repair?
Barrier care is usually considered from the point of view of facial skin care; however, one should not forget about body skin. Constant showers, use of hot water, abrasive soap for cleansing the body, shaving, dry air, and other factors can cause the skin on the elbows, knees, hands, feet, and legs to become dry.
Here is when the body-care regime comes into play.
Select mild body cleansers to cleanse the body and not depend on rough soaps. Pat the skin dry after bath and not scrub it hard. Then use a moisturizing product when there is still some moisture left on the skin.
The Good Hygiene Co.‘s regimen is easily incorporated into this straightforward philosophy, as well. Proper hygiene needn’t imply getting stripped down to bare skin by cleansing, but rather cleansing to get rid of sweat, dirt, and debris while maintaining comfort and softness through your body care products.
The objective here is not to construct a complex regimen, but to create one that is sustainable for your skin.
How Long Does Skin Barrier Repair Take?
The healing time for skin barrier depends on individual factors because the reason and degree of skin irritation vary from one person to another.
Irritation due to over-cleansing or over-exfoliation can be healed once the irritant is withdrawn and mild skin treatment is performed. Nonetheless, persistent irritation might have a hidden reason which should be examined professionally.
Rather than anticipating an immediate change, pay attention to whether your skin feels less tight and less sensitive.
Consistency is more important than switching around products.
What Should You Avoid When Your Skin Barrier Is Damaged?
In case you have irritated skin, do not make your regimen into an experiment.
Try to keep it down to:
- Tough rubbing or scrubbing
- Bathing in very hot water
- Over scrubbing your face
- Trying out too many new products simultaneously
- Applying lots of chemical exfoliants
- Using products that burn and sting constantly
- Touching and picking on irritated skin
Remember, just because something stings does not mean that it is working. It is always better to have calm skin.
When Should You See a Dermatologist?
Dry and sensitive skin doesn’t always occur because of a compromised skin barrier.
If you experience ongoing irritation such as redness, severe itchiness, swelling, flaking, oozing, pain or frequent rashes, despite the use of a gentle skincare routine, see a dermatologist for advice. You could be dealing with underlying issues like eczema, psoriasis or other types of skin disorders.
Diagnosis is essential since repairing the barrier is not a solution to the existing skin condition.
Conclusion
Damaged skin barrier is nothing but skin barrier that is no longer working efficiently as it should be. Dry skin, tightness, roughness, sensitivity, reddening and stinging could be considered its symptoms.
If you are unsure about how to fix the skin barrier, do not go on adding more and more products. You can start from the beginning – clean your skin, do not exfoliate too much, moisturize it, protect it from external factors, and let it heal.
Good skin hygiene is not about giving your skin that stripped and “squeaky clean” feeling. Good skin hygiene means maintaining the cleanliness of the skin without compromising its natural defense capability.
As you simplify and standardize your skincare process, your skin gets the opportunity to do what it is best at doing – protecting itself.
FAQ
- Can a damaged skin barrier cause makeup to look patchy?
Yes, as makeup would settle on flakes, dry areas or lines on a dry or uneven skin. To make sure that your skin surface looks healthy, you should moisturize your skin and avoid using skin products that might irritate it before applying makeup.
- Can shaving affect the skin barrier?
Yes. Shaving generates constant friction, which may lead to temporary irritation especially if the skin is already dry or irritated. Sufficient lubrication, no repeated strokes on the same area, and moisturizing after shaving can make the process more bearable.
- Does drinking more water repair a damaged skin barrier?
Proper hydration is an aspect of good health, yet the act of drinking water alone does not constitute a sufficient therapy for a weakened skin barrier. Barrier maintenance can be achieved through moisturization, cleansing, and avoiding irritation.
- Does fragrance make skin barrier irritation worse?
It might. As the skin becomes more sensitive, the products that worked before could sting or irritate it. This is why a simplified skin care regime is beneficial during this time period.
- Can body skin develop barrier problems even if facial skin is fine?
Absolutely. Not all body parts have the same exposure to cleansing, friction, shaving, sweating and external elements. Even if your facial skin is perfectly fine, the skin on other body areas like your arms, feet or legs could feel dry or irritated.
References
- Barrier-Restoring Therapies in Atopic Dermatitis: Current Approaches and Future Perspectives – Aug 2012 – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3432345/#sec3
- Optimal application method of a moisturizer on the basis of skin physiological functions – Nov 2021 – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9543289/#jocd14560-sec-0006
- How to Promote Skin Repair? In-Depth Look at Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Strategies – April 2023 – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10144563/#sec5-pharmaceuticals-16-00573
