For the four decades that I have practiced Dermatology, one of the age-old complaints is dry, cracked skin, and this is almost universally much worse in the winter. Cool atmospheric air does not carry as much humidity as warm air, and as we heat our homes, we drive much of the rest of the moisture out. Consequently, one will also see the skin drying out at this time, leading to what has long been called “winter itch”.
There have been many products on the market to address this and some are legitimately quite helpful. There are two substances among several others that are most helpful in trying to improve this condition, glycolic acid and urea. However I have never seen any products with both of these in the same container, and several years ago I decided to work with a biochemist to try to produce such a product. We immediately discovered why these were not combined. When we incubated them to determine stability, we encountered monstrous overflowing of a foam-like substance. After much experimentation and trial efforts, we finally came up with a successful method of mixing the two in a moisturizing base, thus the birth of our product Keralyx.
When Keralyx is used much like a standard moisturizer, we see a much higher ability to dissolve away the dead outer scaly portion of the skin that becomes so cracked and flaky. The product also chemically bonds water to the next living layer, giving a much more plump moisturized look of the skin than with standard products.
Keralyx has now become a standard of treatment for dry scaling hands, arms and legs that get rough with exposure, and even cracked heels, that beforehad, used to even cause bleeding.
Keralyx is available year round at our front desk and website.
Michael L. Maris, M.D.