Water & domestic applications

by Trish
in DAILY CARE
1 Apr 2008 | 0 Comments

WATER, YOUR HANDS AND DOMESTIC APPLICATIONS

Whilst we are on the subject of water, this month I thought it might be appropriate to look at what it means as someone with eczema, to have your hands in water and deal with harsh detergents and chemicals; actually what it is to deal with water on the outside of your body. We've learnt that the intake of clean water is very important, nay, crucial to your good health especially that of your skin, but what does the topical application of water mean to your sensitive allergy prone skin?

I experienced for many years what is known as Aquaphobia - Fear of water. My fears were founded in the fact that water applied to my skin caused me great discomfort and stress. It didn't matter whether the water was tap or river or ocean, I was afraid of it all. I used to have to talk myself into taking a shower or bath! Tap water, as we know, is treated by many different chemicals before it is released for domestic use. It travels via a massive maze of pipework and drainage systems before it even gets to our homes. By the time it comes out of our taps it may contain a cocktail of chemicals including chlorine and it's by-product, lead. Studies have already shown that chlorine is a skin irritant and through my own personal experience I can agree with that.

WATER AND RECREATION

I just cannot swim in a chlorinated pool. Domestic salt water pools are ok IF they have only a little bit of chlorine added, none at all would be better. My skin reacts immediately upon contact with chlorinated pool water. Swimming in a chlorinated pool creates an intense burning itch that spreads all over my body and my skin becomes fire truck red and distressingly itchy, my core temperature rises and my whole body moves into stress. It is extreme, so I tend to avoid a day at the pool, besides, a day at the pool ususally means hot weather, which for me is also a distress factor; intolerance to heat is something we will look at later. I also avoid being splashed at the side of the pool for the same reasons. So, you can see even on a hot summers day, I'd rather be in the shade or next to a fan, than next to or in a chlorinated swimming pool!

Going to the river or seaside is different. Even though my skin reacts to the water on contact, whilst I am in the river or ocean, my skin actually feels almost normal. The content of river and ocean water is entirely different to what comes out of our taps. The difficult part is coming out of the water, that is the challenge. As the water dries from my skin I feel an itchy sensation that is quite different from the distress of chlorine. The itch is less intense but there nonetheless. I just like to find a quiet cool place where I can have a bit of a scratch and then apply some soothing moisuriser. After that my skin feels stimulated and cleansed from this natural source of water. I'd like to approach the subject of scratching later on this website as well as in the Product guide. A dip in the ocean or a clean river is actually very therapuetic not just for my skin but for my whole body and soul. The energy and vitality that comes from these natural bodies of water is invigorating and healing. The same process of a light scratch and the application of a soothing moisturiser follows a dip in the ocean. I can put up with a little itchiness for the wonderful benefits of the healing properties of this type of water. The ocean is another amazing source of natural healing - a subject I would like to approach at another time on this website.

So lets get back to the day to day stuff, the domestics of dealing with water use.

As revealed elsewhere on this website, I am soon to be 45 years of age. I have been married and have raised two children who are now young adults. I have had households to run and jobs to hold down and each and every day faced with simple domestic chores that require getting ones hands wet! My own mother was never one to allow any of her 8 children to miss out on all aspects of domesticity and having a skin condition was no excuse to get out of doing certain chores, especially those that involved water. Her solution was to put rubber gloves on my hands so that I could participate in family household chores such as washing dishes, cleaning the bathroom, washing floors or even the car. The first and biggest problem I encountered with the rubber gloves was the fact that they made my hands very sweaty inside the glove; well that just created an itch that was impossible to ignore. Trust Mum to find a solution... putting on little white cotton gloves underneath the rubber gloves was perfect, now I didn't have to miss out on all those chores! Thanks mum XXX

Wearing gloves to do household chores has now become second nature to me. The cotton gloves protect my hands inside the rubber gloves. The rubber gloves not only protect my skin from the effects of the water but also protection from harsh chemicals and detergents.

THE WHITE GLOVE EFFECT

The white cotton gloves are widely available through almost all supermarkets and grocery stores as well as most chemists/pharmacies. They are relatively cheap, although I am one to always keep my eyes open for sales and bargains no matter what the product I buy. As far as rubber gloves go I always buy the ones that are silverlined or no lining at all. The flock lined ones make it difficult to get them on over the white cotton gloves. I have tried the cotton/flock lined rubber gloves on their own and they too irritate my skin and do not have the same effect as the white cotton gloves.

I find that no matter what the household chore, white cotton gloves are the first things to go on my hands. I wear them underneath gardening gloves, as extra protection; I wear them under the industrial cotton gloves I use to handle our dogs (yes I am allergic to dogs, but that is a whole other article!); I sometimes wear them just on their own to do some chores such as dusting or vaccuuming, where I don't want contact with other household allergens.

FOOD HANDLING AND PREPARATION

I also wear them underneath the food handling gloves I use for cooking and food preparartion. I don't really know if I am allergic to latex, but latex gloves against my skin do make my hands sweaty and itchy. The powders that are inside food handling gloves (are there to make it easier for the glove to slide on to the hand) irritate my skin. I'm not sure what the powder is but it sure does bother my skin even with the white cotton gloves on! I only buy the 'Powder Free" food handling gloves, they go on very easily over the white cotton gloves and come off just as well. I find my cooking life is alot less stressful when I don't have to deal with the stinging or itch that comes from handling some foods as well as constantly washing or rinsing my hands at the kitchen sink. The latex food gloves rinse off easily and when you are finished they are simple to dispose of. The white cotton gloves are washable and reusable and believe me, I use them to death!

So what about bathe-ing and showering you ask? Well that is a whole article on its own and one that requires a lot more attention. We will look at batheing and showering in more detail later on this website and in the Product Guide. Don't despair, bathe-ing and keeping your skin clean are very important issues to someone with eczema so we will cover this in great detail. In the meantime, when you have household chores or cooking to do; or a child that is using their skin condition as an excuse not to participate in shared domestics, don a pair of white cotton gloves and a set of rubber gloves and you can achieve more domestic bliss than you thought possible.

Give yourself the White Glove treatment!

Next month, let's take a look at Bedding as an important part of daily care. Going to bed can be heavenly bliss or ... NOT! We spend many hours each week sleeping so the bedding you choose for this condition is very important. Come on back next month and let's take a look at what it takes to achieve comfort and rest in bed.

Water & domestic applications

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