Moisturizer to heal skin & relieve itching
A while ago, my husband had some skin issues. He was suffering from irritant contact dermatitis, which is skin inflammation caused by direct contact with a particular substance. His skin became red with rashes and they were spreading and itching badly. The cause of his skin ailment was traced to the body soap he was using and once he stopped using that, his condition stabilized. However, the itching on his skin did not stop and was particularly worse in the middle of the night. Although he was using a topical cream to help relieve the itch, it wasn’t that useful.
I’ve long passed him a body moisturizer but he has never used it even though his skin is rather dry as he felt that moisturizing his skin was a waste of time. But because his skin condition got worse and he was so desperate, he started to use the moisturizer and voila, the itching stopped.
Moisturizers accelerate healing on damaged skin
A moisturizer, as we know it, is designed to make the stratum corneum or outer layer of our skin, softer and more pliant by increasing its hydration. It is a necessity for all skin types, especially those with dry skin. However, moisturizers also impart a temporary barrier to damaged stratum corneum, and it has proven efficacy to accelerate the rate of healing on damaged skin, especially irritant dermatitis (source). In the case for my husband, he used a body moisturizer as often as possible to relieve skin itching, especially right after his bath. I also found out that moisturizers are one of the main treatments for eczema, both to prevent and treat eczema flares.
Moisturizers marked for sensitive skin work better
The choice of the moisturizer is important if you are using it to relieve your skin ailments as some of them may contain irritants or allergens and cause more skin problems. Those mark as hypoallergenic tend to be more suitable; so are those which do not contain mineral oil, petrolateum, alcohol or fragrances. My husband used one of my naturally formulated body moisturizers containing olive oil without too many chemical additives and it worked nicely for him.
So the next time you have itchy skin, consider using a moisturizer to relieve the itch.
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I was told as a person ages, their skin becomes drier. The air-conditioning we come into contact with daily worsen the condition. Besides applying lotion, a moisturising shower gel or cream can also help to relieve your dry skin.
Heat and extended time in the sun causes my skin to feel very itchy. Luckily for me, I have dermasone, an anti-inflammatory cream that I kept from my visit from the National Skin Clinic to calm it down and of course body moisturiser, to make the skin feel “cooling”
May I know what product did your husband use that works? My good friend has a similar recurring problem and I would like to get her a tube to try out.
It’s true. The hormones will affect and the skin becomes dry over time.
The one prescribed to my husband is Gentriderm. It helped to reduce the rashes but not the itch totally.
He used Gentriderm Cream to reduce the rash and then La Claree Olive Body Lotion. You should be able to get Gentriderm from the pharmacist and La Claree is available at Watsons. You can read my review here:
https://www.vivawoman.net/2009/09/02/review-la-claree-oliv-organic-skin-care-range/
I have very dry eczema prone skin and moisturizers are a must for me. A few that I use most often to soothe itchy skin are SkinMD Natural, La Mer and Madara
A really tip. I usually use the anti-ich cream from Clinique, but that can get pricey. Nice to know moisturizers can work the same way. Less dents on your wallet.
SkinMD Natural is a good brand for those with skin issues. Tried their products long time ago and it was quite good. Glad it’s available in our pharmacies too. La Mer is too expensive! But Creme de la mer is great for the face…I remember my skin glowing with radiance using it.
Select those that contain less chemical irritants…or marked for sensitive skin. They should work well.
I had just purchased a bottle of Olive Oil from Muji. I am using it on my body to replaced my drugstore brand of body lotion. I noticed I do not get back pimples & minor skin rashes which I usually do if the product is not natural or organic. However, it costs me SGD16 for 100ml.
The purer the content, the better for our skin. I would think those that gave you pimples probably contains some pore clogging ingredients. $16 is not too bad but it’s not a big bottle though.
I do recommend Sukin’s Aloe Vera Gel(Organic Australian Skincare – Watson/Guardian). It has a soothing/calming effect on irritated skin. It works for me when my ‘feng mo’ attacks.
Oh that’s a great recommendation! Sukin’s is affordable!
I have sensitive skin and I always use emu oil from nature farm to soothe my rashes. it works great! Also try not to use chemical soaps. I order natural emu soaps online but its a tad costly..
Does anyone know of any soap making classes/lotion making classes in Singapore? I tried Jayeon Miyin but they wont have classes anytime soon since they are shorthanded ?
Hi! Recently my husband’s skin issue got worse. His hands have been dry and his skin has been flaky, hard and peeling. Now it’s so bad that it split! Do u think Gentriderm will work for him? Thanks!
Apart from Jayeon Miyin, I don’t know about other soap making classes.
Hmm…not sure…best is to ask the pharmacist. But Skin MD Natural might help. I understand it works for such problem skin.
I recently had a horrible allergic reaction to birth control which triggered my eczema. I had a rash on my face, and body for almost two months until i finally got medicine from a dermatologist. It hurt so bad going outside and sweating a little made my skin sting. Sadly natural things didn’t help a whole lot it was so bad (except ice cream and ice packs).
Although I find that when my skin is itchy and not under attack from dust, and etc, oatmeal and goats milk based soaps and moisturizers work and calm it down. Seaweed as well.
Heat will aggravate it, cold compresses work looooovely. It’ll make you scratch less. Try to cut down on consumption of dairy cause that can cause itchiness too. When my face broke out the only thing that kept it under control from rashes and bumps was vitamin e, then it just became flaky and much less painful. Breaking some capsules and putting it on the area might help.
I’ve dealt with really bad flare ups so i hope this comes of some help for your husband. I certainly know his pain. >_<
Thanks a lot for your tips. Oatmeal is great for calming itchy skin. Vitamin E is a good idea. He started taking flaxseed and it helped…but he developed pimples. Will change to vit E after the bottle is done. ?