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Progress Dealing With Sore/dry-skin Fingers


bellowbelle

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I've 'talked' in a few other threads (back a ways) about having a very bad problem with dry skin that splits and gets really sore, on my fingers. This has been an on/off problem that started years ago. (Probably it's psoriasis, actually -- that's my guess.)

 

Ironically, rather than keep me from playing my concertina, this problem is partly what leads me to play it; I can no longer play the guitar (strings hurt too much).

 

At the Northeast Squeeze-In, I met someone with the same problem who recommended liquid bandage stuff. That's helped a lot, for a while, though I got kind of tired of that. And, of course, I've tried lots of products, and sometimes rely on paper-tape bandages and maybe cover that with surgical tape.

 

I did get a prescription (lotion) from my doctor, but, I quit using it because I didn't like it. (And, the place I go to for treatment is....well, in my opinon, way too busy, and it's more like....um, fast-food health-care, I think....I don't push for much beyond the basics, since I don't really want to be that vulnerable to them, etc....)

 

Anyway, the latest and greatest in my never-ending quest for the great sore-skin treatment is this:

 

I cover my hands with Scargo, which may be found here: http://www.mothernature.com/shop/detail.cfm/sku/54055 -- and it's found other places online, too.

 

Then, I put on food-handler plastic gloves:

http://glovesaver.com/fohaglfap.html

 

So, I wear that stuff for a while, and it makes a big difference.

 

I have tried the same type of 'body wrap' idea but using essential oils, but the Scargo (which has camphor in it) seems to be the best stuff so far.

 

-- Just passing on the info.

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Good for you, Wendy! That looks like good stuff. Have you tried sleeping with the stuff and the gloves on? I forget where I read that lubricating your hands and wearing white cotton gloves at night was an old custom of our foremothers to keep the skin soft and smooth.

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Wendy:

 

I do a lot of machine shop work, and a lot of harsh chemicals. Every winter, I get the same skin-splitting you describe (though mine appears to be seasonal). I use Bag Balm from Farm and Fleet or Tractor Supply stores. It's designed to use on cow udders to cure chafing, cracking, etc. You might give it a try!

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Crabbtree & Evelyn Gardner's Cream.  Very nice on the hands and smells wonderful.
Yeah, but Tractor Supply is more fun to shop at!! (Plus, I don't much care to smell like potpourri!)

To each his/her own. Maybe Wendy doesn't care to smell like a tractor... or is that like a cow's udder? :D

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[

Maybe Wendy doesn't care to smell like a tractor

 

They must sample everything...but always come home with avacado soap.

 

Now ask me if I'd rather date a woman who smells like machine oil or like produce! :lol:

 

 

Seriously, though, I'm very sensitive to perfumes, and I can't abide scented stuff! Therefor, I stay away from perfumed personal care items, scented candles, incense, potpourri, etc. They aren't worth the allergies to me, even if I like the smell.

 

 

(Plus, you can't buy ammo at Crabtree and Evelyn!)

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AMMO!?! :ph34r:

 

I hear you on the perfume. One dear colleague (who has now retired) would bathe in a very expensive perfume that really took my breath away (and not in a good way). When using the classroom after her I had to fan the door in an attempt to rid the space of what I can only discribe as a stench.

 

She has been gone now since September 04 and on a humid morning it's still lingering there making my skin crawl. :blink:

Edited by Mark Evans
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what I can only discribe as a stench

 

I know what you mean...my mother-in-law uses a hand lotion that literally makes me open all the car windows when she applies it! Udder Butter or Bag Balm has a smell, but it doesn't seem to set my sinuses off....

 

AMMO!?! 

 

What???? Are you saying that you don't support my rights as a gun owner? The 33 1/3 ammendment to the constitution of these here United States guarantees me the right to keep and arm bears while waving my whiskey bottle at the nieghbor's kids and shouting obsceneities.....

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Uh....well, Greg...I spelled that right didn't I :unsure: . I would never think of curtailing your right to bear arms. Oh, no, no never! Honest!

 

Dear dad was an NRA member (what a collection of historical guns). He felt it very important that he leave me his NRA membership card in his will. :blink: The only firearm I have is the dragoon pistol carried by my ancestor James Clay in that little dissagreement we had with the Crown in 1776. It is in a display case...locked.

 

My brother and I have everything else locked away where he lives in Florida, I hope.

Edited by Mark Evans
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I was just tweaking you a little! I no longer own guns (The wife is a tree-hugging liberal commie pinko foreigner, after all)...And I did say keep and arm bears (seems only sporting).

 

 

We do have a way of going off-topic, don't we? My bad!!!

 

My family wasn't even here yet in 1776...we did get us some Yankees later, though.

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I would never think of curtailing your right to bear arms.

'S what happens when people haven't learned to spell properly. That was supposed read, "the right to bare arms," i.e., to roll up your sleeves and learn to play the concertina. (OK, the fife. But it would have been the concertina, if it had been invented by then. :) )

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:) Yeah, I've heard of the bag balm....that was mentioned in the old thread, too. I'm not sure if I've tried that, but I've tried 'Badger Balm' and many products.

 

I tried scrubbing, too -- with both salt and sugar and various products, to remove or soften 'scarred' skin that builds up around the splits. Temporary results, but, so far, the Scargo product seems even better.

 

Anyway, those of you who've suffered from 'the splits' know how awful it can be!

 

As for smelling like a tractor...hmm, I don't know if I want to, but my family might actually prefer it to some of the essential oils I've used!! My daughter is the one who named me 'Geranimom,' in fact, after geranium oil.

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My daughter is the one who named me 'Geranimom,' in fact, after geranium oil.

 

Now that's a clever retort! I'll try the Scargo. I have a type of psoriasis where the skin on my knuckles becomes "stiff" ( for want of a betterterm) and eventually just falls off. Neosporin helps the raw skin heal, but the cycle repeats eventually.

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....wearing white cotton gloves at night was an old custom of our foremothers to keep the skin soft and smooth.

 

Well, I have tried this at night, but...I'm all for the plastic gloves over cotton, especially since I use food-handler-type gloves that have no powdery stuff on them (...they are nice to actually use in the kitchen with food, too!).

 

Since I bought a bulk load of gloves, even with the shipping it works out to only about 2-cents per glove (until the manufacturer reads this post and raises the price.... :blink: ).

 

Said Relcollect:

.... Neosporin helps the raw skin heal, but the cycle repeats eventually.

 

Yup, seems like the same type of thing. Weird stuff.

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I recently had a chap working for me who suffered the same sort of allergy you describe his problem was a reaction to washing up liquid.This is also common in our trade ( applied film and graphics).The solution is to change to baby shampoo.

Al

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