Health Hazard of Dry Skin

[(PeteCresswell)]

Unsolicited piece of advice #4,387: use moisturizing creme on your skin to keep it from getting dry and cracking.

Went to the family doc today with a foot/shin that was about twice it's normal size and all sorts of "interesting" colors. I probably should not have driven - I felt that bad.

He said: "Major infection".

I said: "How does that happen without a portal for the infection to enter through?".... i.e. I have had no cuts or any other lesions...

He said: "Portals? You have hundreds of them."... and pointed to the dry cracked skin.

Turns out each crack is a mini portal.... "Mini" to the eye, but plenty big for bacteria.

My wife has been on my case for years and years trying to get me to apply moisturizing creme - but it always seemed un-macho to me so I said to myself "The hell with it - I can live with a few cracks until spring".

Now I know....

[philo]

Thanks for the warning.

Same problem here...and my wife finally got me to do something about it.

[FrozenNorth]

Get the wife to apply the cream, it can lead to other things, if you get my drift.

[Stormin Mormon]

Yes, I know all about haircuts and shaves.

[FrozenNorth]

Never had sex obviously.

[Don Y]

As you age, skin dries out, gets thinner, etc. Here, it's very dry for almost all of the year. Leads to dry/itchy skin. Scratching leads to small tears in the skin. Fingernails are great for carrying staph into those tears. Do the math...

Colleague ended up with a significant MRSA infection. Scarey. Almost requires a nurse (or, someone who's really adventurous!) to change the dressing, keep it clean, etc.

Working around the house, car, etc. just ups the ante! Too many extra opportunities to cut/scrape/bruise/etc.

I currently have Eucerin's "Daily Moisturizing Cream" and "Dry Skin Body Wash" that I apply (not religiously) during showers. I've tried many different products and can't say any are notably "better". It boils down to what they each *feel* like on your skin (I don't like greasy, sticky, etc.).

Good luck with the foot/leg! Extremities can be particularly tough to heal (circulation issues, "usage", etc.).

[hubops]

My long-time-fav for healing-up cracked hands is A & D diaper rash "ointment" < not A & D diaper rash cream > .. they both come in a similar squeeze-tube .. It is greasy - yes - but it works for me. I just work it for a minute or two - then grab a paper towel to remove the excess greasiness. We found that was the best for baby-bottoms - and it has worked best for my winter hands as well ... I very seldom need more than 2 or 3 applications over 2 or 3 days and I'm good to go ... John T.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: [e-mail] ---

[Stormin Mormon]

I've had sex since the day I was born. I've been M since day one.

[FrozenNorth]

Righty or Lefty is not quite the same, try someone of the opposite sex.

[Don Y]

I htink htey call that "A & D *Prevent*". A difference in the ingredients from that to the other A&D ("A & D

*Treat*") which, IIRC, is used AFTER "diaper rash" develops. There's a difference in ingredients. [MD recommended it as part of the prep for colonoscopy]

I don't like greasy so tend to prefer "creams". E.g., cortisone cream instead of cortisone ointment, etc.

I'm not fond of things that cause the hair on arms to stick flat to the skin; then, feel like they are being tugged on each time the skin wants to flex.

[An advantage of the Eucerin Dry Skin Body Wash is that it doesn't really stay ON your skin as much as soaking *in*.]

I don't like anything on the palms of my hands as it tends to interfere with handling components, typing, etc. But, then again, the palms tend not to need moisturizing while the backs of my hands do get very dry/cracked.

For me, the issue is making sure I don't let an itch get started as I can do real damage to the skin in short order. I have a fair number of "seasonal allergies" (that really are NOT seasonal in that they never go away!) that are quickly triggered by exposure to certain things (mainly plants). So, I'm careful to wash thoroughly after yard work and pay attention to what gets on me.

[For highly localized itches -- e.g., mosquito bites -- I've found very hot water directly on the spot for as long as it can be tolerated seems to KILL the itch... as long as you don't then "wake it up"!]

[philo]

HA!

She might

[Paintedcow]

Most of those lotions dont do anything unless you can get off the calouses first. While I did try both an electric sander and an angle grinder, I quickly learned that is a good way to burn the skin.

Now I use a piece of 30 grit sandpaper and just sand off the dry skin on my heels and other parts of the foot (By hand). Then I apply a lotion, which in my case, is a product made for horses, which works much better than the stuff sold (for human use), in the pharmacies.

This animal product says "Not for use on humans", so I am not recommending it, or saying the name of the product, but the ingredients are the same things used in "for human" products, just much stronger.

This works quite well.

Of the (For Human) products, I find a product called "No Crack" to work the best. It's made for cracked hands, but works on feet or other body parts too.

[Mayayana]

| Unsolicited piece of advice #4,387: use moisturizing creme on your skin | to keep it from getting dry and cracking. |

I guess one unsolicited piece of advice deserves another. :)

You leg should have never got to that point. You're not just needing moisturizing cream. You're needing to pay attention to your body... and actually live in it. I'm repeatedly amazed seeing how many people don't actually feel their bodies, letting them get out of shape, eating junk, ignoring posture... Then I turn on the evening news and see ads for drugs to treat hearburn, headache, constipation and sleep problems. None of those things should happen at all under normal circumstances, yet many people think of them as normal.

I think people vary a lot in terms of skin -- whether theirs is sensitive or not. For what it's worth, I like to keep the house very cool in Winter. 62 day/55 night. It's much kinder to skin and sinuses than "room temperature". The relative humidity is higher. It's also conducive to wakefulness. Occasionally in the Winter I get calves dry enough that they itch. Then I put on safflower oil after a shower, mixing it with the water to spread it out. I also like the generic, 365 fragrance-free body lotion at Whole Foods, especially for my hands. It's mainly rapeseed oil. I have a brother who now swears by the blend of petroleum jelly and lanolin used on cow udders, but that would be for extreme skin damage.

If you look at moisturizing creams you'll see that most are merely petroleum jelly with gimmicky trace additives. A few are vegetable oil-based. The former are greasy but protective, good for extreme outdoor exposure or badly damaged skin. The latter are better for daily moisturizing. The prices can go wildly high, with claims of miracle ingredients. (If you look at unit pricing stickers in CVS you'll see that prices go up over $2,000/gallon. Even the most intelligent, level-headed women can be ninnies when it comes to scams in pretty bottles.)

I go to a dermatologist who pushes Amlactin, an absurdly overpriced blend of petroleum jelly and lactic acid. It's all snake oil. But I'm guessing the Amlactin people have some kind of inside connection with dermatologists.

You should exepect to pay a bit more for vegetable oil-based products. The ingredients are higher quality. But there's also a lot of snake oil in that market. In that case it's New Age snake oil and "magic from the East" snake oil, but it's still snake oil. The main ingredient is just oil. I like the cocoa butter or rapeseed oil products because they're closer to human skin oil than petroleum jelly. The latter is greasy and hard to wash off, more for emergency treatment than for moisturizing. As far as I can see, the only reason to prefer creams over plain vegetable oil is that the former seem to have anti-oxidant preservatives. In some cases vegetable oil can go rancid on the skin, producing a sort of bitter smell. But lathering up with plain oil before fully drying off after a shower is an easy, non-greasy way to moisturize the whole body.

[hubops]

Bag Balm is available here - but apparently it's considered a veterinary product in Alberta

It seems expensive at first glance but the 10 ounce can will last a long time if just used for cracked hands. Like my favourite A&D ointment - it's greasy - but it works. John T.

--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: [e-mail] ---

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Mayayana:

My impression is that "Moisturizing" creams do not moisturize at all.

Instead, they create a barrier to prevent the skin underneath from losing moisture.

My guess would be that plain-vanilla Petroleum jelly would work quite well for that - but make the skin greasy enough that most people would seek other solutions.

[Muggles]

I found a cream that has Vit E and Tea Tree Oil in it that works well on very dry skin. For just normal use of skin lotion I use Aveeno Stress Relief as a 24 hour moisturizer. It works pretty well, I think.

[Paintedcow]

Bag Balm is now sold for human use (and costs more). Also, they sell Mane $ Tail shampoo for humans, which was originally made for horses, (good stuff).

I know a farmer who gives himself shots of animal penecillin when he feels sick. That I think is crazy, but I'll use most animal ointments and other external stuff. Animal Iodine is exactly the same as the human variety, and so on, (but a heck of a lot cheaper per ounce).

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per [e-mail]:

Dunno about penicillin injections, but my #1 daughter-the-farmer and her husband relied exclusively on animal meds and bartered veterinary services for their own medical care until Obamacare came online and they could afford medical insurance.