How Does Dehydration Affect the Skin?

Does dehydration really affect the skin very much? Yes, it actually does! If your skin is dehydrated, that means it lacks water. Dehydration affects many aspects of the human body. This can be both internally and externally. Hair, skin, and nails need the proper moisture and vitamins. Your skin relies on hydration to keep it looking and feeling healthy. If the skin lacks hydration, it may appear dry, scaly, more wrinkly, and feel itchy. In this article, we will look at some of the effects dehydration can have on the skin in the short and long term and how it can be treated.

What is dehydration?

Dehydration will happen to your body if it loses more fluids faster than it is taking in. As humans, we constantly circulate fluids through our bodies with urine and sweat. If we are not getting enough fluids, it can make the body dehydrated. Tears, vomit, and diarrhea can also create more dehydration, so increasing fluid intake during and after any of that is important. When you are dehydrated, it can create symptoms such as feeling extra thirsty, darker colored or stronger smelling urine, feeling lightheaded, feeling extra tired, and having a dry mouth, lips, eyes, and skin. Even worse, if dehydration is left untreated, it may lead to even worse symptoms. If your skin is dehydrated, you are likely looking to fix this. Let’s first look at how we can identify if your skin is dehydrated.

How to check for dehydrated skin

It is easy to test your skin to see if it is dehydrated visually. A pinch test is simply a test done by pinching gently on a small area of skin either on the cheek, chest, abdomen, or back of the hand. If the skin then snaps back to normal quickly, with minimal wrinkling, your body is likely hydrated enough. If the skin shows wrinkles and takes longer to bounce back to looking normal, your body is most likely dehydrated. Dehydration can be on a scale from mild to severe. 

Short-term skin health

Luckily, if dehydrated skin is caught in time, it is easy to eradicate it fairly quickly. You may notice darker circles under the eyes, skin itchiness, increased skin sensitivity, or a dull appearance to the skin. These things may be due to dehydration. In the short term, all of these things can be fixed easily by getting proper hydration into the body daily. If hydration is properly increased, it may take just a few days to notice an improvement in the skin.

Long-term skin health

If letting it go on for a longer-term, dehydration can cause the skin to show more fine lines and wrinkles or even lead to deeper ones. This can often happen a lot sooner in age than it should during the skin’s natural aging process. If the skin is severely dehydrated, especially for a long period of time, it may take a while to see improvements in it, even when changing hydration levels going forward. Sometimes it may even be permanent damage.

How to help fix dehydrated skin

Avoiding certain foods and drinks that can cause dehydration to potentially get worse is recommended. Caffeine and alcohol are, unfortunately, at the top of this list. They are some of the worst offenders for skin that is dehydrated. Instead, opt for extra hydrating drinks and foods. Some ideas for hydrating drinks would be low-sugar sports drinks, coconut water, tea, electrolyte-infused drinks, and the water course. The most hydrating foods are fruits and vegetables.

Choosing products to help hydrate the skin is also recommended. However, this will only help temporarily. Skin is best improved when it is hydrated from the inside out. A faster option is available rather than waiting for the digestive system to help hydrate the body from anything consumed. IV treatments can help dehydration very fast. In the next section, we will look into this option.

IV treatments to help dehydration and the skin

Drip IV treatments are becoming widely popular for many reasons. They can help a variety of ailments in the body, including dehydration. IV treatments are done by injecting hydration, vitamins, and minerals into the bloodstream. Some vitamins included in drip IV therapies can also positively impact the skin. Some of the vitamins that may be included in a drip IV treatment are vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K. All of these vitamins can help the skin look youthful and healthy. They can also help improve the skin if it has been dry or dehydrated currently or in the past. If you have had dehydrated skin, drip IV therapy may be the best way to improve your skin.