Of all of the skin conditions one can have, few are as bothersome, painful and downright annoying as dry skin. Most people, if left with a choice between living with oily skin or dry skin would choose oily skin every time. Dry skin can crack and even bleed if left untreated.

Trying to pinpoint the causes of dry skin can be tougher than you think, too. There are obvious reasons why you might develop dry skin but there are also several risk factors that you might not think of. Let’s take a closer look at dry skin and what causes it to happen.

The first, and maybe the most overlooked risk factor when it comes to developing dry skin is genetics. While we may point to the weather or the humidity, our DNA has a large role to play in the kind of skin we have. If there is a history of dry skin in your family, there is a much higher than usual chance that you could develop dry skin, as well.

Almost everyone experiences dry skin at one point or another, but if your suffering is chronic, genetics might be one of the reasons. What makes the genetics answer so tough to take is the fact that there is very little that can be done about the root cause. You are simply left to administer treatment instead of a cure.

The second biggest risk factor when it comes to dry skin is your age. While it is never safe to make broad generalizations, for the vast majority of people out there, the older you get, the dryer your skin gets. We all start out as kids with what is, most likely, the best skin we’ll ever have. Then the teen years hit and we experience a period of oily skin.

In our early adulthood we usually level out and have either generally normal skin or skin that is a little oily or a little dry. But as time marches on, most people begin to experience dry skin more and more often. It starts as a seasonal ailment, but it begins to happen more and more frequently. While it isn’t carved in stone, you can be pretty sure that the older you are, the better your chances will be of dealing with dry skin.

Another major factor when it comes to dry skin is your sex. Studies have shown that women are significantly more likely to experience dry skin more often then men. Why? Scientists aren’t completely sure, but they believe it has a lot to do with hormones and how a woman’s body stops making as many hormones once menopause sets in.

For men, they don’t begin to experience serious dry skin until they reach their mid-80’s. For women, chronic dry skin can set in much earlier, even as early as the late 40’s, early 50’s.

The final major risk factor for dry skin is the amount of direct sun you’ve taken in over the years. It’s true that most people think that tanned, beautiful skin is more appealing than pale, white skin, but if you want your skin to stay smooth and moist well into old age, you would be wise to apply a little sunscreen if you are going to be outside for more than 20 minutes. Nothing dries out skin faster and can lead to chronic dry skin quicker than a few decades of sunbathing.

Staying ahead of dry skin can seem like a battle you just can’t win. Every winter, millions of people, young and old, apply layer of lotion after layer of lotion to keep their hands moisturized. But you can get a leg up in the battle against dry skin by doing your best to avoid these common risk factors now. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.