Dry Skin: Lotions Aren't The Answer

Woman With Dry Skin

Many of my perimenopausal, menopausal and post-menopausal patients complain of dry skin.  They lube up with all of the things:  lotions, oils, creams etc.  And still their skin is dry and flaky.  The main reason for this is not something that’s cured from the outside.  It comes from the inside. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as we age, we lose our yin or body fluids.  Our yin nourishes our skin, joints, sinews, hair, nails etc.  This leads to the inevitable: dry skin, hair and nails. 

Though yin naturally depletes as age, it is something that we can help and improve.  The main thing that we can do is to eat yin enriched foods.

Fruits & Vegetables

Common Yin-Rich Foods:

• Fruits: Watermelon, pears, bananas, and grapes

• Vegetables: Cucumber, lettuce, spinach, and zucchini

• Grains: Barley, millet, and rice

• Legumes: Mung beans and adzuki beans

• Nuts and Seeds: Almonds and sesame seeds

• Dairy: Milk and yogurt (in moderation)

• Herbs: Goji berries and chrysanthemum tea

Yin foods are typically cooling and are generally better tolerated during warm weather. If you already have a tendency towards a cool body temperature, be careful how much of this you consume. Pears are the exception and are well tolerated year-round.

Foods that can deplete your yin are warm & spicy foods. That'll be another post on another day.

Unfortunately, there does come a time in one's body where you cannot eat your way into a balanced state. And that's where herbal medicine comes in. The herbal medicine that I'm referring to is not something that you purchase OTC at CVS. It's a medicine that is prescribed by your TCM provider.