Hi all, Just wondered if you can help, I suffer with really dry skin on my right hand, i also suffer from dry skin on my left hand but not quite as bad. The best response I can get from non raw people is to try steroids/apply lots of hand cream (which i forget to do regularly unless its sore because I hate that greasy feeling!)/ wear gloves when washing up etc… I changed my brand of shampoo to see if that would effect it and I don’t wash up on a daily basis (although I use aloe vera liquid when i do). But what I want to know is how to fix it from the inside…. what must I be missing on/low on to suffer from it?? It was really bad last night – to the point where my skin is flaking off and I had little cuts from where the skin has cracked so I put loads of cacao butter on and put cotton gloves on overnight – it was a little better this morning but now, just as bad….
Please help!
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Try avocado or 1st c.p. olive oil. And, probably eating flaxseed or fats. I have dry skin too… but not cuts & cracks. I’m not too sure how to moisturize naturally, but I have tried first cold-pressed olive oil, avocado, and coconut butter topically.
Drinking lots and lots of water helps too.
When my mother had a super bad rash all over her body (from detoxing), she had a hot bath and spread some avocado all over. It totally got rid of the pain. So I figure it would be similar for your situation.
I’m no doc and I can’t see your hands, but it sounds like it could be eczema or something. It could be caused by allergies or food toxins or possibly by emotional issues. If you’ve never tried it before, EFT (www.emofree.com) might be helpful. It sure couldn’t hurt!
My partner has terrible eczema. It used to be much worse when he ate sugar and/or wheat (secondary yeast). His is totally emotionally based – worse with stress, and a way for him to express repressed anger from his childhood and early adulthood. His skin is showing his anger.
IF you are looking for a good moisturizer to go with your internal dry skin solutions, then I would suggest coconut oil. My one year old used to have all sorts of weird skin bumps like rice crispies! Well, we started using it on our bodies, face and hair, and the results have been miraculous, even the bottom of my feet are super soft, and that is a miracle indeed!
It sounds EXACTLY like the problem I had once. I tried everything, & people would tell me I was dehydrated, or put coconut oil on it, but I felt the same – I want to fix it from the inside. I found the answer by accident. I found avocados on sale super cheap, so I mixed them up with some fresh salsa. I ate 13 (small size) avocados in 24 hours! My skin started to feel better, and after that first “megadose” of avocados, I was able to just eat them regularly and it completely went away. Thank you for the reminder – I have it coming back now (though not to the cracking stage yet), AND I have been craving avocados, but I hadn’t made the connection yet. :) Thank you for helping me pay attention to my body. I was struggling with what to put on my salad tonight, so I guess you answered that, too.
Edit: I knew it wasn’t dehydration because it was only on my hands & I was drinking a ton of water. When I put avocados on my skin, it wasn’t enough & it HURT!!!!
p.s. I had the same thing with coconut oil that you described – helped a little, for a little. It almost seemed like when I used coconut oil it was worse afterward.
Try dry skin brushing. It will help exfoliate the dead dry skin and your skin will start to produce more of its own oil and nourish itself and become softer. Also, my mom moisturizes her whole body and hair with olive oil.
Another option to try – do you have access to aloe vera?
It has fantastic healing properties for the skin – and absorbs in really quick without feeling oily. Just grab a large leaf and slice it open. Spread the jelly all over the infected area. I sometimes mix the aloe vera jelly with some oil and use as a lotion.
I grow an aloe vera plant on my balcony – totally drought resistant (great for when I forget to water) and so easy even I haven’t killed it yet (and thats saying something)!
Yes, I agree with winsome aloe vera is great! You can eat it internally as well. For me flaxoil and a lot of flaxseeds vere the solution for my skin problem. My skin had rashes all over my hands, the back of my knees and elbows. It was soo itchy that I had to scratch it all the time, on my hand it was often bleeding it was soo dry. I had eczema since early childhood, and after I changed all my cleaning and body care products to organic ones, cut out all processed food and eating more omega3 from flax I recovered!
Thanks for the really good comments guys, I’m pretty sure it’s not dehydration as I drink AT least 2 litres or water a day (normally 3, or 4 if i’m at the gym). And I’m pretty sure it’s not eczema as it doesn’t itch and only hurts when the skin cracks… One of the wierd things is the fingers on my palm side of my hand look all wrinky like when you stay in the bath too long but the wrinkles are indented…. strange eh? I’m going to do some experimenting with avocados and coconut oil I think… I normally have half an avo in my green smoothie each day but I’m gonna try eating a few more over a period of 1 or days and see if my hands change, if that doesn’t work I’ll try coconut oil…
Thanks again… I’ll keep you updated!
Ooh yeah I have an aloe vera plant that I bought for my tortoise but he doesn’t like it…. I’ve tried putting it directly on my skin but same as the cacao butter or creams it helps for a little while but then it’s back to as it was before… I’ve heard about putting the gel into a smoothie though – I could try that!!
Katy – My fingers are wrinkly/indented, too, like you describe! I kept thinking I must be severely dehydrated, so I started drinking a ton of water this weekend, but yesterday it was making me sick trying to drink water! Last night after I posted about eating avocados, I went to make my dinner & realized that my hands have started hurting from it. I ate 3 large avocados and this morning my hands are still dry, but not as bad & not hurting any more! I just looked at my fingers, and they are not as wrinkled/indented as they have been, either. I was going to get on & tell you that flax oil may help, but flybaby beat me to it. :) Let us know what happens/works/doesn’t work.
I can’t eat enough avocados to do the trick right now – only about 1 a day, and I am getting the little cuts now. I just put some olive oil on my hands, and I think I’ll make something with a lot of flax and see if that works.
Sweet almond oil, rubbed into my skin, seems to be helping quite a bit. I couldn’t stand to eat more than 1 or 2 avocados per day, so I decided that wasn’t going to be the main solution this time! :P