# Dry skin problems.



## boarderaholic (Nov 25, 2013)

Hi everyone! Its been awhile since I've lurked/posted on here, so bear (bare?) with me. 

Now to crack on. What does everyone do about dry skin? Now that it's winter, everything feels way worse. There has been a chunk of my thumb that has refused to heal for a few weeks now. Unfortunately, with the nature of my job, I have to wash my hands frequently, and have resorted to sleeping with a humidifier at night. That helps, but only so much. 

What does everyone else do to combat the issue?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Are you in the UK? You might need something stronger than this- but my mum, a nursery nurse in a baby unit, swears by something called Baby Bottom Butter from Waitrose. It's all natural and I think petrochemical free. Obviously it's a barrier cream for nappy rash but you can use it for other bits of dry or chapped skin, as I have for my children. I hope your thumb gets better soon.


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## brotagonist (Jul 11, 2013)

Number One: hydrate from the inside, ie., drink a lot of water.

Number Two: seal in the moisture and replace the skin's protective oils with good plant-based creams and oils, such as pure shea butter, mango butter, jojoba oil, calendula oil, rice bran oil, etc. If you want something less greasy, when it is not practical to have oil on your hands, try fractionated coconut oil, but it is not a substitute for the fattier varieties.

I find that these help a lot. I also have itchy, chapped and cracking skin in the colder months and from excessive washing.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

Yes, barrier cream would be excellent.

I use E45 for dry skin. It's unperfumed which I prefer.


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## mirepoix (Feb 1, 2014)

I've asked Madam what she uses. Apparently something called 'Caudalie oil' is what all the cool kids are in to nowadays. She also uses it for 'cuticle health'. However, if she can't get that she settles for coconut oil, which is what she puts on my hands after she's trimmed and filed my calluses - although I didn't know that. I thought it was just...stuff.
As for myself, I second a previous post in the call for hydration. And perhaps in the long term a look at the diet.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Why I post young:

OZ Naturals Super Youth Moisturizer with 2.5% retinol, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E

Oz Naturals Super Youth Eye Gel with plant stem cells, matrixyl 3000, peptide complex, hyaluronic acid and vitamin E.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

View attachment 56239


Oil of Alas; sometimes steal it from my wife, because I'm worth it........


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

I do drink a lot of water. That's good advice.

As for creams, I use Diprobase, which is white paraffin, on the advice of a skin specialist. 









I also use Nivea, Vaseline, Zinc Ointment, E45 Cream, and Cocoa Butter.









I am a Slippery Customer.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Chug a couple tablespoonsful of flax seed oil, one in the morning, one at bedtime. Dove Beauty Bar in the bath. [I am too much of a challenge for the 'beauty' part, but the skin approves of it.]

Drink a lot; water if you insist.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

brotagonist said:


> Number One: hydrate from the inside, ie., drink a lot of water.
> 
> Number Two: seal in the moisture and replace the skin's protective oils with good plant-based creams and oils, such as pure shea butter, mango butter, jojoba oil, calendula oil, rice bran oil, etc. If you want something less greasy, when it is not practical to have oil on your hands, try fractionated coconut oil, but it is not a substitute for the fattier varieties.
> 
> I find that these help a lot. I also have itchy, chapped and cracking skin in the colder months and from excessive washing.


Number one looks better in theory than in reality. Nothing is worse than having your bladder feel like it's bursting and you aren't home!!!


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## boarderaholic (Nov 25, 2013)

Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely hydrate, just because it's good for you.


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## Posie (Aug 18, 2013)

1. Drink lots of water.

2. Invest in a juicer and make cucumber juice on a regular basis. (My skin looks and feels great when I do this, and I've gotten a few compliments.)

3. Use lotions made from mostly natural ingredients. (I like Lush.)

4. Any activity that increases blood circulation in the skin will help your skin absorb whatever you put onto it. (I do cup-massaging.)


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## ptr (Jan 22, 2013)

I use a handful slush of good quality Olive oil and a pinch of sea salt flakes once a week, maybe twice in the winter when its drier; I rub my hands together until most of the oil has been absorbed, then I wash of the remains with a very mild soap and lukewarm water. I've done this since I was a teenager and have never had any problem with dry hands.

/ptr


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

boarderaholic said:


> Thanks for the suggestions! I definitely hydrate, just because it's good for you.


Ahh!! The proclamations of the very young!!!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

^^^ And the undoubtedly older. I keep hydrated because I know what it feels like to be dehydrated. 
*Hor-r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ible!*


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## boarderaholic (Nov 25, 2013)

Ingélou said:


> ^^^ And the undoubtedly older. I keep hydrated because I know what it feels like to be dehydrated.


This... And as an athlete, I must stay on top of my hydration game or else things usually end up going badly.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Hand cream helps, wear gloves outdoors as much as possible, don't wash your hands too much (but we are supposed to wash them to control germs). It gets worse the older you are as your skin loses resiliency. Watch the humidifier that you don't get moisture on the outside walls and grow mold. It will happen where you don't see it, like behind furniture.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Reduce the dry humor.


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## Giordano (Aug 10, 2014)

You may want to initially treat the thumb as if it were wounded.
Put your favorite cream/ointment and bandage it at night before going to bed.
Take it off in the morning but use latex/vinyl gloves at work, if feasible.


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Move to a tropical climate! 

But I can't and it is going to the teens (F) here tomorrow.


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

brotagonist said:


> Number One: hydrate from the inside, ie., drink a lot of water.
> 
> Number Two: seal in the moisture and replace the skin's protective oils with good plant-based creams and oils, such as pure shea butter, mango butter, jojoba oil, calendula oil, rice bran oil, etc. If you want something less greasy, when it is not practical to have oil on your hands, try fractionated coconut oil, but it is not a substitute for the fattier varieties.
> 
> I find that these help a lot. I also have itchy, chapped and cracking skin in the colder months and from excessive washing.


Right on -- and the more the merrier: hydrate, take vitamins A&D, E, fish oils, etc (mind your intake here-- these oils have a thresh hold of consumtion) and get the same in your diet, avocado, other healthy oils.

Hydrating from the inside out is the primary remedy _and_ ultimate preventative -- slathering all the other stuff on the outside may help but is already a sort of bandage.

If you live with dry forced air or radiator heat, humidify most of the rooms in your entire flat / house.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

In addition to drinking plenty of water and eating oily fish twice a week, when I have a dry patch on my skin I apply vaseline with aloe vera. Cleared up dry flaky skin on my forehead within a couple of days of twice daily application.


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