itch

[Old Greenhorn]

My doc said to quit using Ivory soap.

Figures, something else I've used for years thats bad for me.
Next it'll be crest toothpaste..

Or beer!!

OK, you guys are scaring me now! They take beer or coffee away and I will just call it a day and cash in my chips.

[SwampDonkey]

I keep the RH in the house here at around 45%. Without a whole house humidifier it would be 10 or 15% in here and my nostrils would be bloodied up with cracked lips for sure. Not pretty. ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Dry is not one of those problems we have here at least outside. Inside however it can get dry and we keep a pot of water on the woodstove all the time. I just checked and it's 55% outside and 60% inside. Later in the winter we have to watch it more closely. But that's why is always feels so cold here, high humidity.

[Raider Bill]

My doc said to quit using Ivory soap.

Figures, something else I've used for years thats bad for me.
Next it'll be crest toothpaste..

Or beer!!

I quit drinking beer several  years ago.
Only drink ale now. 🍺 

[farmfromkansas]

My itch has just been all over.  Wake up at night scratching my legs.  Have one little spot on my calf that has bumps, scratch it off and it is ok till next time. ??? beenthere suggested cetaphil cream, my wife bought some, tried it last night and I slept fine.  Didn't even take a lot.

[Old saw fixer]

I use Gold Bond lotion for Diabetics on my itchy legs that most often present after a shower, it works well.  We use Dial soap, and I miss the old yellow Dial!  Doesn't even smell the same anymore. 

[SwampDonkey]

I don't like to get RH more than 45% in the real cold, condensation on windows when the fire goes out, plus it can reach the attic space if it is too high. The moisture on windows is at the bottom of the upper pain, it does not freeze. I have double hung windows, so not as energy efficient, but easiest to clean. The air exchanger helps keep moisture in check, sunny days up here are real dry outside. The exchanger will draw excess moisture out and ends up in a pale. That pale does get near capacity at times. ;) Right now I see 40% RH in here with the furnace pushing out heat.  ;D

[kantuckid]

Production workers in the tire plant I worked in as a mechanic, often got rubber poisoning from handling it all shift. It's was very common and itchy, nasty problem so many went to dermatologist and were prescribed a lanolin based lotion/cream.

 I never had that issue but now in old age it gets to be an issue mostly during the heating season. Nose, eyes and thin, senior skin. Plain old high quality skin lotion helps the most for me. My problem is exacerbated more so by me not bothering to use the stuff.
 
All year I get a periodic crotch itch in that deep skin fold-Walmart athlete's foot/jock itch cream keeps it under control. 
Netty Pot use helps nose & sinus issues along with allergies. I also smear some Vick's in my nostrils when they get too dry. 

[firefighter ontheside]

I've always taken very hot showers, but in the past 3 or 4 years I get very bad dry skin in the winter, so I have taken to reducing the temp of my showers.  It helps, but I still have the problem.  

[Old saw fixer]

I shower with tepid water, just enough hot mixed in to keep from getting chilled.  It helps with the itchy dry skin. 

[mike_belben]

I think id rather itch than give up lobster showers.

In the last year the skin on some of my finger tips and webs cracks and bleeds.  Antibacterial soap really exacerbates it.  i think its fungal

[doctorb]

Mike-

If it's fungal, there are plenty OTC anti-fungals to try, like Lotrimin.  If it is fungal, it doesn't take long to improve.  So, if you haven't tried it, purchase a small tube and give it a week to work.  If it's not remarkably better after that, it's probably not fungal.  My guess is that it's not fungal, but fungus can be a great masquerader.

[mike_belben]

Ive had a strange skin issue since 1998 from those parris island showers.  A lot of foreign feet goes thru there. 

Have tried many antifungals and been to doc plenty of times and its still with me.  The one on my hands hasnt really responded that well to anything. Doc gave me a tub of triamcinolone acetonide usp .1% cream and that doesnt work much better than just hand lotion. 


If my hands are in soil and dirt all day theyll get better.  Wash dishes in antibacterial soap and theyll bleed and sting.  I have to wear dish gloves now like a sissy

[SwampDonkey]

I would test the water for hardness. When you put your hands under the tap the water should feel slippery at your finger tips almost like soap on them if the water is soft. And no minerals around faucets and toilet bowls. Cut's down on the cleaning several fold. 8) That soap and antibacterials is removing the natural oils in your hands that make them stay supple and probably exasperated by dry heat in winter.

[mike_belben]

its conditioned city water and ive been doing the same thing every day for like 30 years so its odd the be an issue all of a sudden. 

[Bill]

My all time favorite - esp with the ladies - Bag Balm - for what I believe is just dry skin ( hands legs or arms )  in winter time or extended hand washing other times of the year . Local hardware stores carry 10 oz tins for not too much and last pretty long . Sometimes I ll put a pair of white socks over my hands to sleep - to save the bedding  . . .

Some of the cheaper corn husker/intensive care type creams also work well for me - mostly.

[kantuckid]

On skin lotions I have a private theory that a girl by the times she's oldish may have skin that's absorbed a tanker truck of skin lotions?  :D My gal feels my hands and quarrels at me all the time at sandpaper hands. No itichies though just thin and hardly serviceable now days. I go through far more nitrile gloves than once was and 100% more than when I wish they'd been invented-looking back on my greasy days. 

[btulloh]

Tried some cetaphil yesterday after seeing that recommendation a few posts back. Very impressed. Amazed actually.  Really effective after just one use. No odor, not greasy. Picked it up at Sams Club, 28 oz. for $14.  Looking forward to seeing the results after a week.

[SwampDonkey]

You fella's remind me of my old aunts, with all your morning primping to cover 70 year old skin.  :D

I'm just ribbing ya's. :D  I know irritable skin ain't fun. ;)

Just to add, the last of 3 of dad's sisters died this morning. Dad and siblings are all gone now. She had dimensia bad and refused to eat. When you stop eat'n at that age you go fast. Her sister did also.

[Old Greenhorn]

Sorry for your loss SD. I am still coming to grips with that realization. All my Dad's siblings are gone too. Dad was the last, 4 years ago. Now I am loosing 1st cousins and I am the youngest of that generation.

[mike_belben]

Sorry to hear that SD.  

[gspren]

Condolences SD, that is a reminder to me to visit my last aunt, dads younger sister just turned 90 and is in an assisted living place that just reopened to limited visiting, I'm all out of uncles. 

[421Altered]

Ok guys since it's the time of year for dry skin itching, I'll post what works for me, your results may vary.  I have had for many years dry skin, especially in the winter.  My dermatologist says no hot or long showers!  Hard not to in the cold months, really feels good to warm up after a cold day, but, not good for our skin.  My wife and I used to have a lot of itching until we quit using all fabric softner's.  Also, when washing your clothes, always rinse twice, it helps remove all soap, which can cause itching..  Also, for folks that have hair on the head, especially thick hair, after shampooing, rinse, rinse, rinse that soap out, or it will cause your head to itch.   We also only use unscented Tide detergent.  Scents are bad for your skin.  We only use Dove sensitive skin hand soap.  And when all else fails, when we have to use medicine, we use Ammonium Lactate lotion 2% for skin splits around the nails.  It's prescription only, but inexpensive and a bottle lasts us years, and it only takes a dab to work.  The itchy scaly skin on my lower legs, I use Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream .5%.  Prescription only, but cheap, and a tube lasts a long time.  Someone else on here said they had tried .1% and it didn't help them.  My doc started me on .5% and it worked, then, changed my presc to .1% and it didn't work, so I went back to .5% and it works for me.  So, get the point 5% stuff first.  It's also important to remember if you are having really itchy skin, you have to do a wide ranging attack, only doing one or two things may not make any difference.  Also, itchy skin, unless its poison ivy or the like, cannot be cured, you just have to learn to live with it and manage it.  I hope some of these things help ya'll, it's really bad to see people painfully itch and not be able to help them.

[btulloh]

That's a very comprehensive list. Makes sense that there are multiple factors. I'm going to incorporate  some of your suggestions.  Hot showers are going to stay for now though.

Interesting about that cream. May have to get a prescription and try some. The cetaphil cream someone mentioned early has really worked well for me but there's room for improvement. I think some of the extra rinsing you mentioned could be a big factor.  I'm just not ready to give up hot showers though.  

Good report.  Thanks.

[btulloh]

Got to thinking about the extra rinse you mentioned on the clothes. These new high efficiency front loaders (effing front loaders) use very little water for washing and rinsing. It's not hard to imagine that they're not getting all the soap out of the clothes. Seems like that could be a big factor.