Rash

For several years I've been struggling with a rash on a few fingers that has been slowly getting worse, to the point of being chapped and bleeding. I tried wearing rubber gloves instead of putting my hands in the dishwater, but eventually that wasn't doing enough and the latex itself proved to be an irritant. I tried lotions, and it didn't help much. I even tried using Melaleuca dish soap. Although it helped, it didn't help enough. I tried making my own lye soap for showering, and that helped too, even though the slow downward slide of itchiness and scabs continued.

This December I started using Burt's Bees Thoroughly Therapeutic Hand Creme. In January Jane gave me some Melaleuca Renew skin therapy lotion. (Somebody here had come home from the hospital once with a small tube of Renew, and it was awesome stuff!) Those lotions have helped a lot.

But last month I found something that has made the biggest difference -- using a shampoo with no lauryl or laureth sulfates. That organic shampoo cost a fortune at the health food store, but it's the main thing that has my hands on the road to healing!

I'm hoping that -- like Katie -- I'll also see some significant improvement once I have a dishwasher. :-)