Extreme Dry Skin!

[Grey]

In our family of four three of us have very dry skin.  We moved from the south where there was much more humidity.  Now the dry skin issues are extremely worse.  Feet and hands are cracking open.  We use lotion multiple times a day.  We've tried a few different types of lotion to no avail.  We have tried Vaseline also.  We've lessened our exposure to water in an attempt to make things better.  Any assistance is greatly appreciated!  Thanks in advance.

[Kat Kanning]

Sympathy, but no real good advice.  The only things that helped me at all was avoiding being in water and eating more oil.

[Grey]

...eating more oil.

What types of oil?

[littlehawk]

Vaseline and other fancy OTC handcreams plugs skin pores and do little for dry skin (and it's loaded with contaminants) Try some Virgin pressed olive oil or grapeseed oil on your skin. Olive oil is great when taken internally as well. You might want to try Burts Hand Salve too. I love that stuff.

[Scott Roth]

Unrefined sesame oil is great for dry skin.

[littlehawk]

Unrefined sesame oil is great for dry skin.

Agreed! any "clean" vegetable oils are good (almond oil, coconut, etc). I'd like to use the term "organic" but that means little ever since the USDA took over the organic labeling and loowered the bar. Thryroid problems can cause dry skin too.

[Tom Sawyer]

We really like Hemp Hand Protector sold by the Body Shop. The stuff is almost a magic cure for sunburn as well.

[Pat K]

My ears peel and flake so much
I'M afraid some day I will wake up ear less.

[Kat Kanning]

Pat van Gogh

Oils: avacados, coconut oil...like listed above.

[Grey]

Thanks for all of the suggestions.  We'll try the different oral and topicals recommended and let y'all know how it goes.

[Walker]

What method do you use to keep your dwelling filled with moisture?

We run the heat a lot in the winter, so the air becomes very dry.  I hang very large, thirsty towels that are totally saturated in water.  They are completely dry in about 12 hours.  I work at home and my skin hardly cracks at all.

[Grey]

What method do you use to keep your dwelling filled with moisture?

We run the heat a lot in the winter, so the air becomes very dry.  I hang very large, thirsty towels that are totally saturated in water.  They are completely dry in about 12 hours.  I work at home and my skin hardly cracks at all.

Started using a humidifier two days ago.  Can't tell much difference yet.  I hung a towel last night but the only good place to do this is the bathroom as it will drip.  Fortunately where we are is very small so affecting the level of water in the air shouldn't be that difficult.  We also switched to using the central air vice small ceramic heaters so we'll see how things go.

[Tom Sawyer]

We keep a pot of water on the wood stove.

[Grey]

We keep a pot of water on the wood stove.

We will do that as soon as we live somewhere with a wood stove.  Can't wait!

[KBCraig]

Shea butter is good, but they put the name on anything that contains even a drop of it, so you do have to do some research. Check the "ethnic beauty products" section for good moisturizers.

Shea butter is vegetable fat, from a nut.