My hands are going to crack and fall off. They were dry and cracked and looking rather old on Saturday, so I slathered on some Night Treatment for hands Friday night before bed. Now, I know I have to be very careful what I use on my skin because I am highly allergic to all things natural...as well as titantium dioxide (which is in sunscreens). But I have never had any issues with this particular treatment before. Apparently, the rules have changed (which should not surprise me, since following each of my three pregnancies my allergies altered just a bit).
I woke up with hives all OVER my hands. AND my hands were still cracky and hurty (sometimes the vocabulary of a four-and-a-half-year-old comes in handy). So, I tried some generic brand Eucerin type cream at bedtime last night. Steve uses it for his eczema because it's supposed to be really mild and free of dyes and perfumes, etc.
By 3am, I was wide awake, clawing the skin off the back of my hands. Scratching and scratching and scratching until I couldn't take it any more. I got up and ran my hands under cold water...the colder the better. I tried to freeze my skin so I couldn't feel the itch. My hands were freezing and numb and I was able to drift back to sleep.
This morning I woke up and my hands were red, scaley, bumpy, flaky and ITCHY! Oh my God, the ITCH! Do you KNOW how hard it is to do ANYTHING when your hands are ITCHY?!?! Crocheting is like torture. Handwashing dishes hurts like hell. And sort of activity starts the itch going like crazy (typing on this keyboard is making me want to run my hands down a cheese grater).
What do I do now? I'm thinking vegetable oil might work to soften the cracks and ease the pain without angering the hives? Anyone know if they make travel size bottles for carrying to work in my purse?
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15 comments:
Do you have anything with menthol in it? I ask because the only thing that seems to quiet down the chronic itch I've had for months is a lotion called Sa.rna that has camphor and menthol in it -- but that "icy gel" stuff works too. Only it's kind of gummy on the skin, whereas the lotion is not.
I hope the hives go away soon.
when I have allergic itches, I have used Weleda Rash Relief cream to great sucess and also love using Pure Olive Oil for scaley, itchy skin issues. I hope you get some relief soon.
No ideas, just hope they get better soon:)
I sometimes use olive oil. How miserable. Yuck. I'd say vitamin E oil too, but it's all "natural" and stuff, probably a bad idea.
No fun.
How about vodka? Not for your hands...for the head...just a thought.
I get the same way during the winter. I've found great relief with Burt's Bees Coconut foot creme. Even though it's "foot creme" it works wonders on hands and anywhere you've got dry skin. It's really mild and it's super thick so it takes a little rubbing in. The other thing that I use frequently is coconut oil. You can buy it in health food stores - it's actually edible but it makes the most wonderful lotion and it smells incredible. And just as a side note... my husband really *really* loves the coconut oil. I'll spare you the details of where he likes to use it. LOL
Allergic to coconut. :o(
(the thought of hives THERE...well...I shudder to think about it...and not in a good way)
I do have some Aveeno with menthol...but it has oatmeal in it. Isn't oatmeal more drying?
And vodka is sounding like a GREAT idea, quite honestly.
My mother swears by Bag Balm -- the original one in the green box that they use on cows. It is very vaseline-like in consistency. For the hands when they get really bad she will put it all over at night and then will cover hands in rubber gloves to sleep in. I have not tried this yet though i do use it regularly as a diaper rash creme and it works fabulously for that.
My mother swears by cognac too, for a different purpose ;)
Bag balm is good, zinc cream, like the kind for diaper cream can work, but for the itch, get some ben.adryl ASAP. It will control the itch and take away the hives while you deal with the redness and bumps.
And get to a Doctor, it sounds like you need a prescription cream for just such emergencies. (We keep a couple of kinds in the bathroom for late night eruptions on the hubby's hands.)
Someone told me Olive oil works great for dry, itchy skin. And yes, it comes in teeny bottles so you can carry it in your purse! ;-)
It may sound weird, but I like using A&D ointment for super dry itchy skin, like on elbows, knees, and knuckles in the dry winter weather. (I think it says it is for preventing diaper rash, and for helping heal cuts and scrapes) Not the white zinc oxide A&D cream, but the translucent yellowish vaseline-like ointment. it comes in tubes and tubs. hope this helps!
Ouch! Hydrocortisone will help with the itch and reaction. Vaseline will help with the cracked hands. But a layer on and then a pair of cotton gloves before bed. The heat and warmth will help your hands heal.
A lot of creams have alcohol in them which leads to more drying. I think Eucerin does. Kind of pointless if you're using it for dry skin.
Bag balm or just plain vaseline. :)
I will try to look up the butt paste stuff we had to use on Angie in the beginning. I want to say that it had aquaphor, nystatin, and Maalox. Chas tells me that he has the recipe on Sardonic Views in a post maybe.
I used oatmeal to scrub soothe bumps on my arms.
But really, you should go see an allergist who can prescribe the best cream for you. Angie has to use some locoid lipocreme for her skin stuff but it works really quickly.
Hugs (but not on the ouchy parts)
that sounds awful! i hope you feel better soon.
oh you poor thing! Oww!
Recently we have been using Cetaphil's lotion- it has no water or alcohol in it.
My husband has also been known to use regular crisco. I know- it sounds gross, but it really does work!! (On his eczema/psoriasis at least)
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