This has become known as the 8 by 8 rule, but the funny thing about it is that no one knows where it came from. No one knows who came up with this rule and no one is even quite sure of why we should follow it other than the usual water is good for you spiel.

For people with dry skin, the myth was perpetuated. All over on websites you will see under the rules of how to take care of your dry skin: Drink more water. There have been several answers to this drinking of water. Supposedly drinking more water will moisturize your skin; that is the biggest claim. Except drinking more water to moisturize your skin is a complete and utter myth. So why do people keep saying it if it is unture?

The reason people continue to claim that drinking water will help your skin is because skin care myths tend to spread like wildfire. Water is a good form of moisture, and your skin is made up of individual cells. It seems only natural that drinking up a lot of water, which your body requires anyway, will transfer over to your skin, thus getting it more moisturized from the inside out and help stop your dry skin problem.

However, it simply does not work this way. It sounded perfectly logical and it seemed as though everyone was saying it, so it must be true, which is why people continue to say so. Just like sites continue to say that facial exercises will help rid you of winkles when in fact, it has been proven that facial exercises will do the exact opposite.

Dry skin is usually the result of outside elements. Though dry skin can be present due to the intake of certain medicines and dealing with certain illnesses or conditions, such as psoriasis, the majority of the time skin is dry due to wind, sun, dry conditions, and other skin irritants.

That is why you must treat your skin from the outside first, as that is where the damage is being done. Adding moisture with lotions and creams and sealing it in will help your skin, not simply by drinking more water. If that were the case, all of us with dry skin would not still have a dry skin problem.

Even though drinking water will not help your dry skin problem, water is a necessary element for survival and keeping healthy. We need to drink water for a variety of reasons and it can help our bodies overall, even if it is not the one cure all for dry skin. People who are active or as people age, they become more susceptible to dehydration and need to be sure to drink more water to keep hydrated.

If you have been constantly drinking water in the hopes that it will help your dry skin, you may be a little disappointed, but you can ease up now. The only true way to help your skin is to avoid hot, lengthy showers, use moisturizers, and in general, use a good skin routine to baby your skin in order to keep it soft and healthy.

Always be sure to use sunscreen before you go outside in the sun, and carefully bundle up during winter, taking care of lips and hands as they are very vulnerable during winter months. Drink water when you need to, but not because it helps dry skin.