Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Dry Skin Bleg

One of the girls has a problem with severe dryness on her hands. We've used Vaseline and Eucerin cream, but neither seems to work for long. Does anyone have any recommendations for an industrial-strength moisturizer suitable for six-year-old skin?

17 comments:

love2learnmom said...

We have huge problems here with dry hands in the winter. Though we've had pretty good luck with Aveeno, occasional treatment with a prescription cream (I think it has a steroid in it) makes an enormous difference. Might be worth checking with a doctor. I'm pretty sure it was okay for the littler ones (I need to get a new prescription for it this year), but we did use it rather sparingly. It was very inexpensive - especially for a prescription.

Anonymous said...

I've found that Aveeno moisturizer works very well and seems keep skin moisturized for the whole day.

Unknown said...

I've had good luck with Gold Bond Ultimate Healing w/ Aloe so far this season.

Anonymous said...

Gentle Naturals Baby Eczema Cream. Fragrance free. Steroid free. I can only find it at Target in the baby section. Green and pink box with Pooh and Piglet on the front. My son has eczema. This is the only thing that works. It's a thick cream and please be careful - it does stain clothes. But apply it a few times during the day and I mean a good lathering too. Especially apply at night when your daughter goes to sleep - maybe even put on mittens so she doesn't rub the cream everywhere. Problem will go away!

Anonymous said...

We like aquaphor and my friend runs this online store and we just discovered her body butter which is amazing. It goes on real soft and silky and does wonders for dry skin.

http://mamashouseofcandles.com/

Unknown said...

I have a sample of the aquaphor if you wanna try it--and I recommend putting it on before bed and covering with cotton mittens or gloves (if she'll keep them on) all night. I'll bring it to Mass Sunday :)

Anonymous said...

Lansinoh

Anonymous said...

Udder Balm

Catholic Bibliophagist said...

You may also need to change her hand soap because that may be contributing to the dry skin.

I had this problem with Fillius when he was young. Aveeno Moisturizing Bar for dry skin did the trick. We tried just about every hand lotion available and Aveeno lotion worked best. It's also not greasy which is a plus for daytime use.

TS said...

A more permanent solution might be moving to the Yucatan Peninsula. Boy would I be jealous! Your every post would be a trip log!

Ken & Carol said...

All these ideas sound worthy of a try, maybe a round robin might be good. If you are serious about "industrial strength" then you can't go wrong with Bag Balm. Tex calls it Udder Balm. There is a balm in Gilead that . . .

Rebekka said...

Ooh, a problem dear to my heart. In nursing school I had to have a class in hygienic handwashing. Also, dry hands are something every nurse complains about!

First of all, make sure it's not eczema, because then you would be better off with a prescription treatment for eczema in addition to any other plan of attack.

Secondly, make sure that the hand soap you're using is free of perfumes and other irritating ingredients. Make sure that when she washes her hands she wets her hands thoroughly first, does not use too-hot water, and DRIES them completely!!! Every time!!! If you only half-heartedly dry your hands you can easily end with chapping, especially in winter.

Thirdly, I'd recommend a lotion with 5-10% urea. This is why people used to pee on their chapped hands in winter in the olden days. Urea softens the skin. You can ask the people at the drugstore but I think there's something called Aqua Care in the US that contains a fairly high amount of urea.

Fourthly (?), moisturise the hands after *every* handwash, not just at bedtime or periodically. If she fusses over any greasy feeling, let her wipe the excess off the palms only on a paper towel.

Hope that helps!

Rebekka

mrsdarwin said...

Thanks, you guys. These are great suggestions. She had eczema as a baby, but I think that this is just sensitive skin. I might try the Aveeno first just because that's easy to lay my hands on, though I'll take you up on your offer, Audrey. :)

Anonymous said...

Drink more water!

Anonymous said...

Maybe check with your pediatrician to see if it could be a fungal infection. My brother had a lot of problems with dry hands, and it turned out it was fungal. A prescription cream took care of it. Anti-bacterial soap can make the skin prone to fungal infections (and is really unnecessary if you are washing hands properly).

Erin said...

I have really dry skin too, and what helps me is Aveeno Baby lotion. I use it when I get out of the shower, after I wash my hands, after I do dishes, basically it's what I use to follow-up any water-soaking, which oddly enough is both the cause of dryness and part of the cure. Soaking dry skin in warm water, and then slathering on lotion locks in the moisture. And since my cuticles suffer the most with dryness I also top off with Burt's Bees Beeswax Hand Creme on my fingers around the cuticles. Hope that helps. :)

CMinor said...

Around here I use a lot of Udderly Smooth, available cheap at many Wal-Marts. It's less greasy than Bag Balm so you can actually handle stuff after using it!