bitch and whine

[rmd]

man, ever since i hit menopause like a brick wall, my skin has been all sensitive. and in the past 48 hours, it's noticed "hey, it's winter! it's dry out! WOOHOO, TIME TO FREAK OUT."

i'm mildly itchy in various spots (at the moment, my upper arms and shoulders, but it varies), and i pulled a bandaid off last nite and there's still a mark where the adhesive was. (i'm not allergic to the adhesive or anything)

i have a doctor's appt soon, so i'll ask if it's okay to up my claritin dose in times like this.

*sigh*

meanwhile, time for ANOTHER mammogram. if L7 or joan jett covered "i enjoy being a girl", i'd have to listen to it a lot on a morning like this. (neither the original nor the phrank version quite fit my mood)

Comments

[kjc.livejournal.com]

I'm guessing you meant Eucerin? It's good stuff, I second the recommendation.

But watch out for the heavy duty stuff that contains urea. I was using that for a week and managed to "bleach" a purple towel pink. (It works really well for some people, but doesn't come off as thoroughly as you might think is all I'm saying; not dissin' the pee or nuthin').

To jump on the CHIME IN train, I get itchy in winter too... since I had the surgery on my right hand, both the doctor and the scar remind me to consistently moisturize it. I've manage to avoid cracked and bleeding knuckles for two years in a row! Woo!

Nobody mentioned moisturizing baths... those help too.

I also use Cetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer. This is the stuff I use on my hands because it absorbs well and fast so my hands aren't slippery. I use it on my face occasionally and it's one of the only products that doesn't immediately clog my pores and give me a bunch of zits.

Also, VERY IMPORTANT, it helps a LOT if you moisturize when you're done showering but BEFORE you dry off. This locks the moisture INTO your skin. You can do this with moisturizer or baby oil. (But not as often with the baby oil - it's pretty heavy duty. During long dry winters, I end up doing up the baby oil thing once or twice.)

Anybody know how to deal with an old acid burn that doesn't want to stay moisturized? That one hurts a lot.

[kjc.livejournal.com]

Stuff I forgot to mention:

- Really hot showers are bad for yer skin and will make you more itchy; shoot for warm-to-hot
- Baths help with exfoliation, which can help with the itching; if you soak in water, rather than just shower in it, you slough off more skin cells (sitting in a steam room has a similar effect, I think, if you combine it with a loofa-enhanced shower afterwards)
- Always test new products on a small patch of skin 24 hours before slathering y'self with it to test for sensitivity