Update on my hands

[lenarenee]

Lenarenee, you made my day! Y'all know me well enough not to put "Teresa" and "normal" in the same sentence! That is awesome.

Thanks everyone for your concern and care. You were right. My hand have had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic ointment I was putting on them to help heal the lye burns and prevent damage/infection. Go figure! Apparently since the skin was already damaged, I ended up getting a reaction from using it so many times. I probably wouldn't have gotten a reaction if I stopped using it Monday morning. (My theory, not the nurse's.) i went to the local CVS and saw a nurse at the minute clinic. When she saw my hands she said it looked like I was having an allergic reaction. Then I told her what happened. I also remembered that years ago (2001 or 2002), I had surgery and the site got infected. I had to put Neosporine on it 3 times a day and cover it until my follow up the next week. The area with the Neosporine was blistered. Just like my hands. I guess short term us doesn't cause a reaction (I use it on my face when I get bad breakouts), but long term use (or on damaged skin) does.

This does not surprise me since I am allergic to the non-latex bandages and nitrile gloves. I cannot wear either one because, you guessed it! They make my skin blister and itch. I have to use latex bandages and latex gloves. But it's OK if medical staff use nitrile while treating me, as long as they don't leave it on my skin for any great length of time.

Oooohh Teresa . I'm allergic to Neosporin type products as well - you have my sympathy. The reaction can go very deep and take months to heal at our age so I'll say again - the fewer unnecessary ingredients in your skin care the better until you are completely healed + an extra week or two of time.

About my "normal" comment - I actually thought I should pm you and make sure you understood it was actually a compliment not a criticism. (Your personality worries me a little because I suspect we're complete opposites. So picture me staring at you like come from another
galaxy! :shock: )

 

[galaxyMLP]

I'm so glad to hear you have learned what caused the bumps/blisters! I was going to comment about it not looking like a burn at all but I saw how many people did that already and I didn't want to just pile it on since I already figured you got the message!

I'm really really glad that now you can begin to let your skin recover since you've isolated what has caused the bumps!

On a side note, I can't imagine being allergic to nitrile gloves or neosporin! I wore gloves all day sometimes in the lab and I can't stand the smell of latex so not being able to use nitrile ones would make me cringe! I also really dislike the texture of most latex gloves. I'm glad to hear you're not allergic to nitrile and latex though. That would make things difficult!

 

[Serene]

Oooohh Teresa . I'm allergic to Neosporin type products as well - you have my sympathy. The reaction can go very deep and take months to heal at our age so I'll say again - the fewer unnecessary ingredients in your skin care the better until you are completely healed + an extra week or two of time.

Me too. Only difference is that in my case it makes me go into Anaphylactic shock. I cant even be in the same room while is being applied to someone.
It is the first thing people open to apply to any cut, etc. It has happen a number of times where people open the package, without knowing of my allergy, and I reach for the Epipen along with my purse for the emergency room visit.

 

[lenarenee]

Oooohh Teresa . I'm allergic to Neosporin type products as well - you have my sympathy. The reaction can go very deep and take months to heal at our age so I'll say again - the fewer unnecessary ingredients in your skin care the better until you are completely healed + an extra week or two of time.

Me too. Only difference is that in my case it makes me go into Anaphylactic shock. I cant even be in the same room while is being applied to someone.
It is the first thing people open to apply to any cut, etc. It has happen a number of times where people open the package, without knowing of my allergy, and I reach for the Epipen along with my purse for the emergency room visit.

That's a whole different kind of allergic Serene! Makes me grateful for my "little" problem.

 

[cmzaha]

But like Serene, little allergies can immediately turn big without any notice.

 

[topofmurrayhill]

Teresa I think you may need to phone home.

 

[Spice]

Glad to know you will be healing. Hope that you get better quick.

 

[TeresaT]

I took a Benadryl (and a nap) after seeing the nurse. A lot of the bumps and redness have gone because of that one dose. I now know what "contact dermatitis" looks like and will be able to take action sooner if it happens again. I've also got Rx hydrocortisone cream to put on the rash for the next two weeks. I was looking for aloe vera gel in CVS which the nurse recommended as a moisturizer to help soothe the skin, but all they had was the liquid. I bought it anyway. I'll finally try AVL in soap since y'all are always saying how good it is. :wink:

I have mineral oil, vasiline, organic sunflower oil, regular grape seed oil, flax seed oil, sesame seed oil, olive oil, Shea butter, coconut oil and castor oil in the house. I need to check to see if any of these can soothe and nourish the skin. I know they can, but considering what my hands have been through, do I want to put any of these on my skin? I also have dandelion flower infused sweet almond oil, but again, do I want to put that on my beat up skin? Gotta do some research on WebMD and MayoClinic.

 

[Susie]

I would avoid the Vaseline. It is the primary inactive ingredient in Neosporin until your hands are completely healed. It would be rare to have the reaction to petroleum products, but stranger things have happened.

 

[Navaria]

I took a Benadryl (and a nap) after seeing the nurse. A lot of the bumps and redness have gone because of that one dose. I now know what "contact dermatitis" looks like and will be able to take action sooner if it happens again. I've also got Rx hydrocortisone cream to put on the rash for the next two weeks. I was looking for aloe vera gel in CVS which the nurse recommended as a moisturizer to help soothe the skin, but all they had was the liquid. I bought it anyway. I'll finally try AVL in soap since y'all are always saying how good it is. :wink:

I have mineral oil, vasiline, organic sunflower oil, regular grape seed oil, flax seed oil, sesame seed oil, olive oil, Shea butter, coconut oil and castor oil in the house. I need to check to see if any of these can soothe and nourish the skin. I know they can, but considering what my hands have been through, do I want to put any of these on my skin? I also have dandelion flower infused sweet almond oil, but again, do I want to put that on my beat up skin? Gotta do some research on WebMD and MayoClinic.

If you do, maybe try just a little spot on the edge. See how it goes before covering everything. The last thing you want to do is make it worse! I couldn't imagine having my hands hurt like that. I'd go nuts having to sit and baby them. Shoot, I can't even talk without using my hands! Lmao

 

[lenarenee]

I took a Benadryl (and a nap) after seeing the nurse. A lot of the bumps and redness have gone because of that one dose. I now know what "contact dermatitis" looks like and will be able to take action sooner if it happens again. I've also got Rx hydrocortisone cream to put on the rash for the next two weeks. I was looking for aloe vera gel in CVS which the nurse recommended as a moisturizer to help soothe the skin, but all they had was the liquid. I bought it anyway. I'll finally try AVL in soap since y'all are always saying how good it is. :wink:

I have mineral oil, vasiline, organic sunflower oil, regular grape seed oil, flax seed oil, sesame seed oil, olive oil, Shea butter, coconut oil and castor oil in the house. I need to check to see if any of these can soothe and nourish the skin. I know they can, but considering what my hands have been through, do I want to put any of these on my skin? I also have dandelion flower infused sweet almond oil, but again, do I want to put that on my beat up skin? Gotta do some research on WebMD and MayoClinic.

Applying mineral oil, Vaseline, sunflower, grape seed oil etc can interfere with the RX cream's ability to get at your skin. That may be why the nurse suggest aloe. (I worked for years as a technician in a compounding pharmacy so have a little knowledge about skin/ointments)

More things for you to research if your nurse didn't tell you: hydrocortisone and triamcinolone are steroids and usually recommended for use only when needed to get healing started. If the skin is healing at a normal pace, you don't need the cream any more, steroids can slow healing, and thin the skin over time. Check with your nurse.

She did tell you use a thin layer, right? More is not better - after all it only takes a fraction of a millimeter to cover your skin.

What ever you use on your skin - test on a small rashy area first! Stay home, snuggle with dogs and watch movies to keep your hands out of trouble!

I expect that in 24 hrs your hands are going to look very different, especially if she gave you triamcinolone! So glad you went to the nurse!

 

[Arimara]

I would avoid the Vaseline. It is the primary inactive ingredient in Neosporin until your hands are completely healed. It would be rare to have the reaction to petroleum products, but stranger things have happened.

Applying mineral oil, Vaseline, sunflower, grape seed oil etc can interfere with the RX cream's ability to get at your skin. That may be why the nurse suggest aloe. (I worked for years as a technician in a compounding pharmacy so have a little knowledge about skin/ointments)

More things for you to research if your nurse didn't tell you: hydrocortisone and triamcinolone are steroids and usually recommended for use only when needed to get healing started. If the skin is healing at a normal pace, you don't need the cream any more, steroids can slow healing, and thin the skin over time. Check with your nurse.

She did tell you use a thin layer, right? More is not better - after all it only takes a fraction of a millimeter to cover your skin.

What ever you use on your skin - test on a small rashy area first! Stay home, snuggle with dogs and watch movies to keep your hands out of trouble!

I expect that in 24 hrs your hands are going to look very different, especially if she gave you triamcinolone! So glad you went to the nurse!

I agree with these two on this. My experience stems from my daughter's horrible eczema (which is under control) and some of my own skin issues. aloe vera gel isn't always a gel, if memory serves me right. it's a great product though. As far as oils go, I'd avoid the heavier ones for now and try the lighter oils when your hand heals up. I'm biased towards a blend coconut, olive and sweet almond oils though. Olive oil should stay on the skin much longer than the other two so I'd cap that at 20% since absorption is something you will need.