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TIFU by not moisturizing

I'm a dude in my late 30s, and my entire life I've thought that moisturizing was a bullshit marketing term to sell women's beauty products. I never thought it meant anything substantial. The term "dry skin" never meant anything to me.

However, the last few months my legs have been really itchy. Like, everywhere, especially on my shins. I do laundry and wash my sheets on a regular basis, so I was pretty sure it wasn't bugs. It was itchy enough that I was scratching pretty deep, and the scratches weren't healing. In fact, I got two staph infections in the skin (like giant, painful zits) in the last two months that were large and painful enough that I had to go see a doctor and get them taken care of, which was both physically and financially painful. The second time I went to see the doctor was today, and he finally explained the FU to me.

As you get older, your body stops being so great at moving water everywhere around your body, so your skin tends to dry out, especially in the legs and extremities. This leads to dry skin. The thing about that is that water is the basis for your blood, and therefore your immune system, so dry skin is more prone to infection. If I want to avoid more skin infections, I have to use moisturizing soap and lotion going forward.

TL;DR - Moisture is the essence of wetness. Wetness is the essence of a healthy immune system that protects you from skin infections.

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