Winter Skin Itch
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Fri Sep 17, 2004 11:59 am

Hello,

As fall and winter approaches I am dreading another bout with "winter skin" my legs particularly around the ankles itch like crazy and create tiny blisters from scratching so much. I moisturize after my shower but I must confess I shower daily (even in the winter).
I use moisturizing shower gels but I am still plagued with this problem. I have tried using Gold Bond and Aveeno products but nothing works. Aside from infrequent showers can anyone suggest a good moisturizer? Thanks!!

free skin care · Fri Sep 17, 2004 12:09 pm

I am a big fan of Emu Oil!!!! My legs can actually flake in the winter. I would wake up at night scratching. Emu oil is a staple skincare product in my house. I put a capful in my bath and after a shower I moisturize my body with it.

Emu oil can be purchased at most health food stores and of course on line. Just compare and make sure you are getting PURE Emu Oil. It should be mostly a white creamy color. I get 16 oz. for $28.00. That will last me forever.

Just do a search on benefits of Emu oil and I think you will be very surprised.

Good luck with those itchy legs. Smile

free skin care · Fri Sep 17, 2004 1:58 pm

adonis59 wrote:

Hello,

As fall and winter approaches I am dreading another bout with "winter skin" my legs particularly around the ankles itch like crazy and create tiny blisters from scratching so much. I moisturize after my shower but I must confess I shower daily (even in the winter).
I use moisturizing shower gels but I am still plagued with this problem. I have tried using Gold Bond and Aveeno products but nothing works. Aside from infrequent showers can anyone suggest a good moisturizer? Thanks!!

Definitely sounds like Excema caused by a deficiency in Essential Fatty Acids. I sent you an e-mail in more detail about how you can get flaxseed at health food store and use it, as well as eating certain other foods rich in EFA's.

JUDY

Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:51 am

Thanks Ladies for the great info...I will definitely purchase the Emu oil and some flaxseed.

Kind regards,
Jon

Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:22 am

I too, itch...but in a different way. Its fine when im covered up in long sleeve and pants but when im wearing skirts and tshirts etc. my skin itches and gets rashy and bumpy in some places, seems its only like this when my skin gets exposed to air, but strangely enough my face is not affected (but my neck is when its not covered). Little red bumps appears after i scratch, but it does go away within half hour or so. I moisturise regularly and every time i come out of the shower, i have a feeling its my blood actually Confused

, everyone tells me so, but i have yet to go take a blood test at the doctors, im scared of needles! Embarassed

and i have been noticing near my ankles white dots/patches. do u know wat it is?

free skin care · Mon Sep 20, 2004 7:39 am

JudyMarshall wrote:

Definitely sounds like Excema caused by a deficiency in Essential Fatty Acids. I sent you an e-mail in more detail about how you can get flaxseed at health food store and use it, as well as eating certain other foods rich in EFA's.

JUDY

I take EFA's daily and I still have really bad eczema. How much do you suggest I take? Can one take too much?

-Cheri

free skin care · Mon Sep 20, 2004 4:14 pm

phredd4 wrote:

JudyMarshall wrote:

Definitely sounds like Excema caused by a deficiency in Essential Fatty Acids.
JUDY

I take EFA's daily and I still have really bad eczema. How much do you suggest I take? Can one take too much?

-Cheri

Cheri....

I found a great site that gives info on EFA's and lots of other nutrients that may help with Eczema. It even has some recipes! Smile

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/hk/remedies/disp/1,1459,459,00.html

Hope this helps!

JUDY

free skin care · Mon Sep 20, 2004 5:23 pm

My son (8 years old) has dry, itchy skin, and excema, and what helps is using fragrance-free and soap-free shower gels (avoid products with SLS listed as it can be drying/irritating), supplementing with an EFA blend, and moisturizing frequently. For him, we like the Mary Kay Hydrating Lotion (scent-free and few ingredients) and Shikai Borage Therapy Lotion (also scent-free and really moisturizing-one of my favorites, too). The thing that has helped the most is the EFA blend; his excema clears up within days of getting him back into the routine of taking it consistently.

Hth.
Tina

free skin care · Mon Sep 20, 2004 6:17 pm

Another thing that can help with eczema, psoriasis and some other skin irritations is keeping a balanced body pH. All of us have a pH balance. It's the balance between acid and alkaline.

Our body does a great job of maintaining that balance, but we hinder it's efforts if we are eating too many acid creating foods, too much sugar, too much protein, too few fruits and veggies, too many processed, cooked foods as opposed to fresh uncooked fruits and veggies.

One really bad ph "unbalancer" is soft drinks. You want to maintain a neutral pH which is about 7 on a scale and a soft drink is a 2. So, if you're drinking several soft drinks per day, you can imagine what that does to your pH balance and how hard your body has to work to try to balance. Sometimes, we work our body so hard with our bad eating habits, it manifests it's "tiredness" in disease. That's a super simple way of saying it.

What is happening with some skin eruptions like eczema and psoriasis, is that the body acidity is trying to "get out" and the skin is one place where it can. The body works very hard at getting things outside that are harmful to it.

My husband had psoriasis for 4 years, really bad before we knew about pH balance. It seemed he would break out the worst around June when the weather here started getting hot. He would scratch in his sleep and that made it so much worse. He had finally taken to wearing long sleeves even in summer because his arms looked so gross. When we learned about pH balance and he got his pH more in the neutral zone, his Psoriasis never broke out again. It's been 8+ years now. Rarely, it will begin to "sting like ants biting" and try to break out. That's a signal that he's getting "unbalanced" (in pH I mean Laughing

) and he has to work it back into balance. I can't do anything about his other aspects of "being unbalanced." Laughing

If a person wants to find out what their pH is, you can get a roll of pH test paper at most major health food store (Whole Foods, etc. in the US) and you just put the paper strip in your mouth, wet it with saliva, take it out and compare the color of the strip to the colors on the chart and you know approximately what your pH is. It's reflected in your saliva. If you do this, you want to not have eaten for at least an hour or the enzyme activity in your saliva can throw the reading off.

Well, that's my alternative health lecture for the day. Very Happy

JUDY

free skin care · Tue Sep 21, 2004 1:40 am

Judy, do you think that PH balancing has a role in other skin conditions, such as acne? I have struggled since I was a teenager (32 years old now) and while certain topicals may help some, nothing ever completely clears it up. My skin is very reactive; it can look clear one morning and have breakouts and irritation by evening. Like soft drinks, could coffee be another offender? I do drink a lot of both, but would happily do away with them if it would help my skin. Anyway, eating a good diet and eliminating soft drinks, etc. could help my overall health anyway Laughing

The connections between internal body processes and skin health facinate me; many books mention that the skin is an overall indicator of internal health, but few really describe how acne may be related.

I would love to hear more of your alternative health lectures Exclamation

Tina

free skin care · Tue Sep 21, 2004 5:29 pm

tinamarie8 wrote:

Judy, do you think that PH balancing has a role in other skin conditions, such as acne? I have struggled since I was a teenager (32 years old now) and while certain topicals may help some, nothing ever completely clears it up. My skin is very reactive; it can look clear one morning and have breakouts and irritation by evening. Like soft drinks, could coffee be another offender? I do drink a lot of both, but would happily do away with them if it would help my skin. Anyway, eating a good diet and eliminating soft drinks, etc. could help my overall health anyway Laughing

The connections between internal body processes and skin health facinate me; many books mention that the skin is an overall indicator of internal health, but few really describe how acne may be related.

I would love to hear more of your alternative health lectures Exclamation

Tina

Actually, pH is important to our skin in two ways. Most of us are familiar with the fact that the proper pH on the skin can contribute to the health of the skin and it's good condition. When we cleanse our skin, it changes the pH and the purpose of most toners is to return the skin to the proper pH so that it can accept the following products.

Inner body pH is different and when I said that your pH needs to be about 7 (neutral), not acid and not overly alkaline, I was referring to the pH of body fluids. Think of it this way, your skin is made up of cells and although we think of the skin as "outside" all of it is not outside as there are layers under that ouside layer. All our cells are constantly bathed in body fluids. Alkaline water can be as high as 10 or 11, whereas a soft drink is about 2 and coffee is about 4. Which do you think is best for your cells to be bathed in?

Also, a mother's alkaline fluid is highly alkaline. Look at the condition of that baby's skin after being bathed in that alkaline fluid for 9 months.

Another point is that it's well known that people with degenerative diseases, including cancer have acid body fluids. Healthy people have alkaline body fluids because the cells are healthy. Also, alkalinity is an unfavorable environment for bacteria. So, that says to me that alkalinity could be good for acne.

I'll keep searching a bit longer. I didn't find anything specific about pH and acne, because most of what I found dealt with the pH of the skin, but what I did find about that said that pH is very important to acne prone skin and there are products out there that use pH to correct acne.

You might do a search on pH and acne. You'll probably find quite a few sites.

JUDY

free skin care · Sun Oct 24, 2004 5:58 pm

Thanks for all of the great info, Judy. Smile

You certainly have sparked an interest in me to learn more about PH and health. I am fascinated by subjects like these. I will do some searching on this subject when I have time.

Thanks again,
Tina

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