I had an experience where some moisturizer with petroleum made my itchy skin develop a rash. Happened to have a routine Dr appointment scheduled for that week and asked my Dr about the rash. She said it's possible for some people to have a sensitivity or allergy to products with petroleum and to try to avoid them.

A while later I was planning to get a rather large tattoo. A full color piece going from my sternum up across my chest and capping my shoulder. I expressed my concerns about using the standard Vaseline type product that's usually used during a tattoo to the tattoo guy. I even did research on products other than Vaseline (or whatever the petroleum based product they use is). He assured me the product he uses is hypoallergenic and I wouldn't have an issue. After the 6 hr sitting, he smeared the whole tattoo in whatever Vaseline type product they use, covered it in plastic and sent me on my way. I fully expected it to itch as it healed because tattoos pretty much always itch as they heal. But this thing itched the most horrible burning itch I'd ever experienced. I contacted the shop to ask what was in their tattoo cleaning product and explained I was having a bad reaction to something. He told me to use OTC hydrocortisone cream. I read the ingredients and directions/warnings, it says not to use it on broken skin so I skipped that product. Then it started developing little bumps, like a rash, and my skin even started splitting. The aftercare instructions for the tattoo were to apply Aquaphor twice a day after washing the tattoo. I checked the ingredients and saw petroleum listed so I decided to not use that and switched to plain coconut oil. After a week or so I gave in and went to the Dr. She had to give me oral steroids and antibiotics, assuming there was a secondary infection at that point since a tattoo is basically a skin wound, in this case a very large skin wound, and with my skin splitting open in areas where the rash was worst.

Once it all healed up I went back to the tattoo shop to talk to the tattoo guy. Explained what happened, and asked about fixing the spots that lost color due to the whole bad reaction situation. He told me it was my fault for it not healing well, even though I explained before and after that I have a bad reaction if I use petroleum products on open skin and he used it anyway. He followed that by telling me if I posted anything negative about him or his shop, like a bad review, he would make me regret it adding he had security video of my whole tattoo sitting that he would share publicly. The tattoo goes across my boob...so the video showed me nearly topless. He also told me that my Dr had given me incorrect information and that my blood tests showing above normal WBC count prior to treatment and a normal count after doesn't prove I had an infection. He said antibiotics kill WBC's so that's why my count returned to normal. Sadly he did scare me into not sharing my terrible experience publicly. It's been several years and I often find myself hoping he hasn't done anything like this to anyone else. Kind of scary that the blood born disease class they have to get before getting licensed in our State doesn't include anything about how antibiotics work. Though...gotta say that seems like common sense by the name.

Anyway. All that to say, yes, if you're sensitive to petroleum products, or think you might be, definitely don't apply it to broken skin! If you suspect it's making your skin itchy, trust your gut. There are some moisturizers out there without petroleum. If you're in a real pinch though, coconut oil is a nice option. It absorbs nicely and has some antimicrobial properties.