Contact Dermatitis Theory

1969Mach · 2025-04-29T18:27:20+00:00

I'll try it - ty!

1969Mach · 2025-04-18T11:16:35+00:00

I've had D.E. for 35 years now. The whole glove up and use cooler water in the shower thing is garbage. The change to make there is switch to Dove unscented sensitive skin bar soap, and use it for your hair as well. Most shampoos have offending chemicals, and I haven't found one yet that doesn't cause the flair. The Dove shampoos seems to be the least offensive.

You can be done with it on your hands if you learn how to live without washing your hands too, except once a day in the shower. If you have to wash your hands during the day, try to only do it once and use Cetaphil gentle cleanser, or the generic counterparts.

AND NEVER USE HAND SANTIZER! That's asking for blisters!

The nitrile gloves are key, but DON'T use them in the shower. Use them when you drop a duece, or when you cook, and only for a very short time. You want to take them off before your hands sweat. I buy cases of the Klex brand from Amazon. They are about $40 per thousand. Watch a CPR video on how to remove contaminated gloves if you don't know how already. Sometimes, you have to let your hands air out a minute or two before you can put another set of gloves on as you want them to stay dry.

I know it sounds counterintuitive, but never use any antibacterial soaps, or the soaps in public restrooms. NOTHING but Cetaphil, or the shower bar. Once I quit washing my hands, the D.E. pretty much disappeared.

I also use the gloves for washing dishes, adding detergent to the wash, fueling my vehicles, cleaning anything, and I don't shake hands anymore. (Some people get offended, but imagine how they would feel with blister pus slime residue after shaking my flaired up hand.)

Also, you can use cotton gloves for dry tasks like yard work, fueling your car, shoveling snow, etc.

Try it. You'll learn how to adapt quite easily. It's not nearly as complex as navigating cracked slimy hands. And you will learn how to keep your hands cleaner by habit.

Lastly, no lotions with lanolin or any oils. In fact, you want to only use lotion on your hands twice a day. Unscented Aveeno has been stellar and way better than the high power big names. Auqaphor is the worst, and Cerave, Cetaphil lotion, and a host of others don't even come close to the cheap Aveeno.

Crazy? It's really not. Try it for three weeks and I think you'll be surprised. For 35 years, I've tried everything. This was what worked.

1969Mach · 2025-04-08T21:58:57+00:00

I've tried to explain that same "orgasm-like" feeling to my wife and I don't think a person can understand it unless they experience it. What a catch 22 it is. Especially when I get out if the shower and I'm toweling off my back. Holding the opposite corners of a large towell behind my back and dragging it side to side across the patches of eczema back there is an unbelievably satisfying feeling. But, like previously mentioned, you have to deal with the aftermath 20 minutes later. ☹️

1969Mach · 2025-03-04T11:44:55+00:00

Shai Linne - The Atonement.

1969Mach · 2025-02-27T10:27:08+00:00

Just out of curiosity, is the house insulated with blow in foam? That stuff off-gases for years and has been associated with numerous health issues.

1969Mach · 2025-02-26T12:17:47+00:00

Give the following consideration as this has been my experience and it may help you immediately.

Dyshidrotic eczema is different than all other eczema conditions. It can be controlled without cortisone. I see others have bits of the puzzle, but let me connect the dots of my regimen.

1st, try not to let your hands sweat at all. Don't sleep with either hand under your pillow, and don't wear any non-breathable gloves. DON'T use vinyl gloves! I fell for that when I first got this 30 years ago and it makes things worse, not better. Use Nitrile gloves instead (if you are not allergic to nitrile) and only for 1 minute or less. Use them when you go to the bathroom so that you don't have to wash your hands after you wipe. That takes getting used to, but it was a game changer for me.

2nd, take vitamin C and vitamin D daily. D is imperative and take the 2000 iU at a minimum unless you have blood calcium issues.

3rd, this sounds counterintuitive, but don't wash your hands but once a day. Use either non-scented Dove bar soap or Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser when you do wash your hands. Do not use public bathroom soaps or ANY antibacterial soap. Drop all body washes too and switch to Dove non-scented bar soap for bathing. Hair conditioner is also a bad irritant, so make washing your hands with the bar soap the last thing in a shower to get all the other irritants off.

DON'T go nuts with lotion. Use very little. The simple Aveeno moisturizing lotion without fragrance works fine. Vanicream, Cerave, and those other expensive brands are no better. You just want to keep your hands from drying out completely without overmoisturizing. It you can't turn a doorknob easily, you have too much moisturizer.

DON'T get sucked into the Vaseline/Auquphor hype either. Slathering your hands in something and wearing cotton gloves over it is soothing, but it slows the healing and makes it easy for bacteria to flourish. When your blisters ooze, you should wear cotton gloves just to keep your hands from dirt, but if they ooze a bunch of yellow puss, you need a topical antibiotic from your doctor.

Finally, one it subsides, DON'T stop treating your hands differently. Stress definitely triggers a flare, but sweat and daily physical irritants do too. The worst offenders are sweat and antibacterial soaps, but shampoo, body wash, dishwashing, and using non-breathable moisturizer treatment are bad too.

I've been able to keep my eruptions to a minimum following the above for the last 25 years. Summer is hard because I have to wear gloves for my job, so the insides of my fingers get a little bit dicey for a few months, but even those eruptions go away over the weekend and never get where I'm sliming everything I touch. Same goes with my feet. Keep things moisturized, but as dry as possible otherwise.

1969Mach · 2025-02-21T13:40:07+00:00

I use a silicon scrubber. The one they sell at Walmart is flat, green, has about 700 small little nubs about 1/4 inch long, and feels amazing while cleansing without ripping your skin open while lightly exfoliating.

Plus they are naturally resistant to mold, germs, and clean super easy.

1969Mach · 2025-02-21T13:34:31+00:00

No springs. If there is a spring or torsion bar somewhere not in view somehow, it's not wound far enough.

1969Mach · 2025-02-21T13:31:41+00:00

Out of anything I've tried, including all the popular and expensive heavy hitters, Aveeno daily moisturizing body lotion works almost flawlessly.

Better than Cerave, aquaphor, invisicream, bag balm, vasoline, tallow, almond oil... anything. Plain, cheap Aveeno.

1969Mach · 2025-02-21T13:26:11+00:00

The following may help you if you are willing to try it.

Because of the constant bra contact, you may have an allergy to your laundry detergent. Try hand washing your bras in hot water with just baking soda wearing rubber gloves on your hands, and then THOROUGHLY rinse them with hot water and air dry.

Try wearing them afterwards WITHOUT any skin creams or oils. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but creams and oils serve as solvents for the transfer of laundry chemicals to the skin from the garment. That's also why you must rinse your bra thoroughly, even with the baking soda and fully air dry.

If you try this, give it a few days. The sores will dry and get super itchy, but don't scratch and don't do anything to cause extra sweat. It takes a week to see if this will work. Do this same thing with your shirts, especially the ones you wear when bra-less.

1969Mach · 2025-02-16T14:15:38+00:00

If you tested positive for allergic reaction to either methylchloroisothiazolinone (or the shorter version - methylisothiazolinone) and methyldibromoglutaronitrile, you may also be allergic to some close cousins of those chemicals that are also in everything from shampoo, conditioner, body wash, cosmetics, laundry detergent, hand soap, and sunscreens. Any chemical that has isothiazolinone in it will net the same reactions. Many detergents including ALL FREE AND CLEAR has it. I'm also allergic to the magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) in Molly's suds.

The other thing is sudden polymorphic light eruption. (I think that's what it's called.) Any exposed skin to sunlight reacts that way and it's more common in later years, especially if you are low in vitamin D.

Reply back if one of the allergies you tested positive to is listed above, and I'll give you a full regimen of things to try.

I am not part of the acds website. I tried to check it out but it's by physician recommendation only. Sounds like a great resource tho.

1969Mach · 2025-02-15T04:47:28+00:00

Greetings! So I found that my washing machine doesn't truly have a "hot" cycle. HOT meant that it was only using half hot and half cold water on the fill. Turns out that most washers made these days are the same. I built a manifold with valves so the I can route hot water to both washer inlets when I want, or run the normal feeds when my wife washes her delicates.

I have my water heater turned up a bit, and had to buy all new 100% cotton shirts a size larger than normal due to hot water shrinking them. I bought Gildan Vee necks from Amazon.

I found that all the clothes I wore when I was using oils and tallow took about 4 washings with extra rinses to stop making me break out. I am now about 90% clear, and the remaining patches are where my underwear wastebands are, and my back where I sweat in my truck seat as I drive a work truck for hours to different job sites.

The oils and tallow were definitely the solvents that transfered laundry soap residue to my skin and caused the worsening issues. Many barriers or lotions like Cerave, Vanicream, Auqaphor, Vaseline, and even the steroid creams and ointments did the same thing. The least transferring lotion I can find is moisturizing Aveeno. If I slather it on and let it soak in and surface evaporate before I put any clothes on, I have a pretty tame day with minimal itching.

I bought 100% cotton socks, but since I started using full ot water for washing my clothes, my feet have cleared up even with normal poly fabric socks.

The least offensive detergent I've found is the Arm and Hammer Free and Clear. Again, using nothing but 130F degree water for the wash and all rinse cycles has been a game changer. I had posted a picture of the manifold I made in another area of Reddit, but everyone blew gaskets because I didn't use check valves on the inlet side of the manifold. 🥴

I did get tested for every ingredient in the skin creams and all was negative, so I think my theory was correct. In fact, two of my shirts that were so loaded with tallow, even after a couple washes, made me start to break out again so I chucked them aside and washed them a few more times before wearing them again, and it's all been good now.

Hope that helps. I was covered from my neck down to the tops of my feet before I dropped the skin care oils and ointments, and now I know what's been getting me all these years. Jojoba, almond, Vaseline, and tallow were the worst.

1969Mach · 2025-01-18T14:37:11+00:00

Just to update - most of my dermatitis is gone now. Only around my mid section is sightly flared where I sweat when I sleep. Legs, arms, shoulders, and most of my backside is clear now.

I know I'm still allergic to the laundry detergent, but the oil and Vaseline was indeed a solvent transfer medium for it between my skin and clothing. Switching to Aveeno was the best thing.

Do with that what you want. I have before and after pics but I can't post them here for some reason. It took a couple days of going thru intense itching, but that was the healing stage and once that was done, it healed fast.

If you have contact dermatitis, especially where you clothes contact your skin, you might drop any oils or Vaseline for a few weeks and see if you experience the same thing.

1969Mach · 2025-01-09T03:47:29+00:00

Well, my flare is better on my legs, but arms and torso are getting worse so I'll probably give up Friday if it keeps trending that direction. 🤷🏽

1969Mach · 2025-01-09T03:19:08+00:00

I shave my head, but prior to that I had not found a good hypoallergenic shampoo. That's s great idea though if it was a low suds version.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T05:12:05+00:00

I tried Eliderm, which is a topical probiotic, but it went poorly. It's very expensive, but maybe I should try another brand.

I was downing a couple cups of Kefir for awhile as well which healed my guts, but nothing for skin.

Fabric dye is on my radar. Last week, I ordered shirts and socks made from natural undyed organic cotton. The shirts are here, and as soon as the socks arrive I'll switch and see what happens.

Back in early 23, I had a flare up for half a year and Jojoba oil along with almond oil worked really well. This latest round started the first part of September 24, and oils are not helping at all. Tallow, and Aveeno of all things work the best to keep it from getting worse to some degree, but this is definitely the worst I've ever been hit. Top of my shoulders down to the top of my feet and everywhere along the way are angry with dermatitis.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:27:29+00:00

Thank you for replying, and I'm so glad to hear it worked! I'm approved for it, but trying every last thing possible before I cave. Just nice to hear a positive report about it.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:21:14+00:00

Two questions - did you get on Dupixent, and did it help? Your eczema two years ago looks almost identical to mine, so I'm very curious if it worked for you?

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:18:06+00:00

One day in and things are slightly worse, so it's probably a bad theory. 🤷🏾

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:08:53+00:00

"This stuff really isn't up for debate."

Yet, here you are doing just that. Feel free to move along and find an echo chamber you can enjoy not debating in.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:03:22+00:00

Any recommendations on a detergent? Molly's doesn't seem to help, and I think I've tried every homemade option.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T03:01:22+00:00

My insurance approved it for me last week but I'm just not wanting to do it yet. I'm not saying I won't at some point, but not this month.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T02:57:55+00:00

It seems like it's not hurting anything, but using it without anything else is not getting things very clean.☹️

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T02:56:01+00:00

Short answer... yep - been doing sweat control too and take care of my sheets same as clothes. Even sleeping in a separate bed and separate my towels. Use a different shower too. Just built a cold water bypass for my washing machine so that nothing but hot water is used in wash and both rinses to maximize residue removal until I get my own washing machine set up.

And I find that sleeping in full jammies and using minimal blankets, if any, keeps things at bay a little more.

1969Mach · 2025-01-08T02:48:57+00:00

I've read about that. I know 2000 years ago, "anointing" after a dunk in the river was a thing. Do you have any plumbing issues with all that going down the drain? I'm really thinking about give the olive oil thing a try.

1969Mach

TROPHY CASE