Living with Ichthyosis

Moisture, moisture, moisture!!

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Moisturizing

The pro's & Cons....

Moisture, moisture, moisture, That seems to be the common goal and solution for anyone having Ich.

I personally, look at it a little differently. Moisturizing is an important part of your regimen, but change the thought process just a little, instead of constantly trying to moisturize, how about we look at it by also finding a way to "retain" moisture and oils that your skin already possesses.

Oils  ??? I stay away from using just oil in the winter and use more in the summer.  Your clothing only absorbs it all off your skin, and its like throwing money away. Oil mixes with oil, so when your clothing soaks up all the oil you put on it takes along with it the oils from your skin. If you are outdoors and swimming or something of that nature, oil would be fine. Glycerin cut down with water works better. (my opinion)

So you need to use something a little heavier and not so absorbent. Remember, your clothing is your worst enemy when it comes to placing a barrier on your skin. That is what you really need to do. After moisturizing and taking that nice cool shower, Yes, cool.... I failed to mention that earlier.... I do not take hot showers. Although the humidity that builds up in a shower or bath is nice, the heat is doing more damage than need be. Anyway, back to the notion of a lotion....

Vaseline works well, used very little in the places necessary,  I will sometimes break the Vaseline down a little using mineral oil.......I don't know about anyone else, but both my brother and I CANNOT use anything scented, such as Vaseline with baby powder scent or baby lotions. I turn red as a beet.....so that tells you something right there. Your skin is already in a fragile state, why encourage the "Ich" monster to rise up even more than he has too ???

Here is a mixture I have been using for treating my "Ich", It actually works and I don't use it as often anymore ( once in the morning and at night, unless winter is really dry. I tried many lotions and different ways of trying to keep it on. That seems to be the biggest part of keeping your skin moist. I figured I needed away for the moist lotion or what ever I was using to "Adhere" to my skin without too much absorption from my clothing, evaporating or getting rubbed off before it had time to be absorbed by my skin and protect it longer.

My Remedy for Moisturizing 1 Large container of Vaseline 1 Cup Crisco (Do not use lard, it is saturated fat) 4 oz mineral oil 1 Stick of  Deodorant ( the white solid powder one i.e.. Old spice, Sure, etc. ) 4 oz USP of Natural Glycerin.  I mixed all these ingredients in a blender, placed it in empty squeeze bottles (Wal-Mart sells blank ones) The solid deodorant not only made it smell nice, but held it together so that it stayed on longer than regular oil or Vaseline. Also for some reason, it didn't  stain my clothing as bad as straight Vaseline. There was no irritation or reaction from the deodorant at all.   I came up with this mixture after my trying to mix baby powder and oil failed. I ski in the winter, so I was looking for something that would not feel cold on my skin in the low temperatures.

A person with Ich can spend a lot of money yearly on products to relieve the pain and moisturize their skin. I don't know about everyone else, but my insurance doesn't cover most of it. It used to when I was using things prescribed by a doctor. 

I have found that by going to your local dollar store, you will find a lot of moisturizers similar to and at times the same as ones you are already using. I found Keri, eucerin, and some J&J lotions and oils at one. Although they do not carry products on a regular basis. (Because they buy out resale lots of  goods from distributers and close outs from different companies.) A lot of the stuff you will find is also imported or made to be exported under a different label.

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Are you getting what you are paying for???

Here is the ingredients of this tube of Coco Butter.

Water, Stearic Acid, Mineral Oil, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Triethanolamine, Cocoa Butter, Polysorbate 20, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate) Titanium Dioxide, trisodium EDTA Methylparaban, DMDM Hydantoin, D&C Yellow #10, FD & C Yellow #5, Fragrance.

Directions: Apply Freely

Keep in mind the ingredients in products are listed in a "Quantity Order". In other words, for Example in this product, Cocoa Butter is the 6th listed ingredient, so basically you are paying to receive more water and mineral oil. It would seem to me that this tube should be labeled  "mineral Oil with Cocoa Butter"

Also look at some of the chemicals, this is something I (as an Ich sufferer) would never place on my skin.  It has Alcohol and titanium dioxide which is used to make paint. What is the Fragrance ??? Also note that it fails to let you know that the vitamin E (Tocopheryl Acetate) is synthetic.  

Try to stay natural and avoid Man-Made chemicals. If you are unsure of the ingredients, don't use it.

 coming soon!

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Vaseline, Crisco, Sure and Swan are all registered trademarks and own by each company respectfully.