Dry skin on nose

[itsmarie760]

Hi! My nose skin gets really dry after a hot shower and the skin is peeling off. Is there any product that could help? Is it dry skin or inflammation??

[ZoieRose]

Thank you the skin on my nose peels so bad and this really helps 

[WinglessOne]

Hi @itsmarie760 ! Is the rest of your skin normally dry (even if it’s not peeling)? 

First thing you can do about your peely nose is to stop taking hot showers. Hot water dehydrates skin. So does steam, if applied to your face for a long time in, say, a long hot shower. It’s better to use lukewarm or tepid water. I know firsthand how hard it is to quit hot showers cold turkey 😄 so look, just lower the temperature shower by shower to let your body gradually get used to cooler water. You don’t need to take cold showers, or even cool showers. Lukewarm =/= cold. 

Resist the urge to exfoliate the peeling skin off your nose. Exfoliation can worsen that skin damage. Instead, focus on helping that skin heal: apply a good moisturizer while your skin’s still damp (but not soaking wet), preferably one that contains petrolatum which is the most occlusive (water loss preventing) skincare ingredient on the market. Shea butter, squalane, and dimethicone are also good moisturizers, depending on your particular skin type/behavior. You can even apply a thin layer of a petrolatum balm (Vaseline, CeraVe Healing Ointment, Aquaphor Ointment, etc.) just on your nose for maximum moisturization and healing. 

[JoSometimes]

Well said @WinglessOne!

I second all of this @itsmarie760. I have dry sensitive skin and I also looove a hot shower. Depending on your current living situation, if you have access to your hot water tank, you can turn down the temperature on it. It’ll make it harder to purposely take a hot shower while also helping the environment and lowering your energy bill! Mine used to be set to max and now I have it in the middle. 

[WinglessOne]

@JoSometimes  Hot showers are so hard to quit! Especially in winter. It took me around 6 months to fully accept lukewarm showers. 😂 Switching from morning to nighttime showers helped a lot, surprisingly. And okay, so did seeing how well all the reactive dry skin on my body responded to cooler water, vs. how parched and itchy-angry it always was after my typical hot showers. My dermatologist had a well deserved “told you so” moment when I mentioned that to him. 

Good idea about lowering your water tank temperature. Also, some (probably most) homes in the US have an anti-scald device installed in shower faucets. @itsmarie760  if you live in a rental, maybe ask your landlord or maintenance staff to check for this and adjust the one in your shower to a lower temperature. If you own a home, you can check for an anti-scald device and tweak it yourself; there are plenty of written and video instructions on the interwebs about how to do that. 😉