We talk about this quite a bit - the state of our skin while taking pred. A few of us swear by never using soap products. Here is an article to back us up:
To wash or not to wash - soap is the question ... - PMRGCAuk
To wash or not to wash - soap is the question ...
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Have you tried handmade soap?
It is still soap. Anything that foams strips the natural oils from the skin and destroys the micobiome. Water is adequate and cheaper - except for hand hygiene. That is different,
Are you just trying to save money again ( just joking!) ππππ
My next door neighboursβ daughter has dropped out and now lives in a horse box in Spain. She has stopped washing her hair and it seems washing in general as she really is rather smelly! Perhaps there is a difference between people who care about personal hygiene and those that donβt!
I believe I would have to be quarantined for a lengthy period of time before my skin adjusted enough for me to be out in public again. When I tried a version of this (not using soap but still washing) many years ago I became odoriferous even to myself so that was the end of that!
Of course there is! I was told by the doctor not to use soap on my body when I was 16 (I'm 80 now).π The reason being I had/have extremely dry skin. I use a warm flannel and 'scrub' - except hands and hair, I use soap/shampoo on those.
I have never known anyone who suspiciously 'moved away from me'.π
I really cannot understand how someone would stop washing themselves!
That reply was meant to be for Piglette!!
My doctor simply prescribed hydrocortisone ointment for the dry patches - which of course resulted in rebound spreading of the condition when I stopped using it, meaning I had to develop my own version of tapering off the ointment and finding another lotion or cream to replace it. A dress rehearsal in a way for pred taper, I guess, but I had to work the whole thing out myself. Quite concerned now as my best, really only, option was discontinued a few months ago and just as there was nothing like it when I first started using it years ago, there still isn't. Not looking forward to next winter. May have to resort to hemp oil, which is a bit messy.
Even dogs and cats wash themselves, but my next door neighboursβ daughter decided not to. Her hair is long and looks awful, I assume she does not comb or brush it. My neighbours are devastated by it all.
Is she okay otherwise? Lack of attention to personal hygiene can be a sign of mental illness.
She has just opted out and refuses to let her son have any vaccinations. I am not sure she has registered his birth yet, he is six years old. I suppose she is just anti-establishment.
That too is cause for concern. I wonder why?
Her parents are quite Victorian in attitude and did everything to support their sons. Her fatherβs attitude was βShe is pretty so should find a husbandβ.
Oh dear. This sounds like the makings of a mini series, except there is that six year old to consider. Does she send him to school?
I think in my province you wouldn't be allowed to send a non-vaccinated child to school unless a doctor said there was a valid medical reason for no vaccination.
No he does not go to school, she is teaching him supposedly. He is totally feral. He never wore nappies when he was a baby and just runs wild.
You'd think social services would get involved.
I Home Educated my children after my eldest got to secondary age , as a personal choice I found they could have more varied options and be themselves outside school , it's a great choice if done responsibly.
We went to a Home School Group and our Home and lesson plans were Ofsted inspected , proving an Alevel education was being enjoyed by age 14. We say my OH works for the " dark side" as he is a Head of Maths!πππ
I also applaud those whom make the decisions to live alternative " off grid" lifestyles and have the energy to do so while looking after and bringing up healthy, happy children .
But that is the point , the children need to be looked after in a healthy and happy way , and sometimes , like in this case , it does not sound like the child is.
Unfortunately , although vaccination has to be a choice decided on by parents , most people whom take the more " only self interested" choice to not vaccinate their children , also take the " only self interested" choice to avoid telling schools that their children have not been vaccinated , especially if they are trying to admit their children to a private school or state school with an excellent reputation.
This is often the little powder keg that small disease outbreaks start from , with these children catching and carrying the diseases onto another .
Usually they infect a much younger and more vulnerable group of children whom are not yet of age to be vaccinated themselves , or older adults whom have come from other Countries were vaccines aren't standard and did not get offered the vaccine or realise they could have it.
The parents own child may still be lucky enough to be running around after a few days of spots ( many aren't and deaths have also occurred) , the person they infected could be the one on a drip in a hospital bed in ICU.
Imagine PMR with Rubella !!!
I am not sure she really is self educating her son. She is a single parent. She seems to have various boyfriends off and on. They seem to be in their fifties and sixties normally.
Unfortunately , because she is out in Spain there probably isn't the same level of State Inspection for Ex Pats as there is for locals or for Home Educated children in the UK.
I know a couple whom helped found and live on a well known Off Grid Community in Spain , and they have noted a wide variety in the level of responsibility to the Community and the greater enviroment of some of the newer members over the years.
They find it very upsetting , even to the point that they are considering moving because they are finding it hard to cope with seeing all of their good work in creating a positive and balanced Community slowly being misused and dismantled.
Um, if you are resident for more than 6 months of the year you are subject to the same rules and regulations as the locals. But maybe that is ignored too.
Yes , I think it had more to do with the inspections of people in alternative education and communities , they visit but do not push in too far , as they have few enough resources to do the work in the first place. It's probably how many people talk through the cracks.
My friends Community had a big building in the middle for schooling and community events but it is not being run or used as it used to be .
She just lives in her horse box and there are a few other drop outs from around Europe there are no facilities.
How old is she ??? 14 or just acting like it.
I can cope with personal decisions like not washing at all as an individual choice, as long as I can stand down wind , but when you start having responsibility for other little people , and the wider communities health in your choices you need to start making more sensible decisions.
Someone needs to tell that " young lady" that she may have been brought up believing she was the most important person in the World , but she really isn't.
Not giving children vaccinations with care or registering their births is just negligent.
She is 39. I think she was rather ignored as a child and her brothers were the important ones. She had very little confidence.
Yβall are making me laughπ! Back in the day I was a minor rebel, I always appreciate a little anti establishment, itβs good for the soul.
No problems with a bit of anti establishment activity , I was a teenage rebel myself
( most people think I've not grown up much more since!) , I respect positive activism and dreamt of a far more alternative lifestyle than my OHs " sensitivities" would allow , but there is a difference between " living the life " healthily and with care for yourself and others or pretending to " live the life" and just being a negative drain on others and doing harm to yourself.
Hands up for the real " Good Life"!
Most BO is actually due to clothes not being washed properly.
But I do take slight umbrage at it being suggested I don't care about personal hygiene!!!
It actually all started in the early stages of PMR. I was going to the gym - having showered as everyone else does and using deodorant. However, I realised I stank after a class, no other word for it. I tried various deodorants but am a bit limited as I can't use any containing aluminium. Nothing worked - and in fact, normally fresh sweat shouldn't smell at all, it is bacterial action that creates the smell, and I smelled bad within a short time of having had a shower.
My training suggested I try stopping deo altogether and see what happened - after all, I didn't think I could smell any worse 
Almost as soon as I stopped using deodorant and soaps at all the smell was less unpleasant and within a couple of months the problem seemed to be gone altogether. It has never returned - unless I use soap in which case I notice a different smell briefly but after a short time things are back to normal. Initially I washed a lot - don't need to be quite so enthusiastic now.
There are suspicions that certain autoimmune illnesses cause a change in body odour - Parkinson's for example can be detected by a change in how patients smell to some others and to dogs and evidence is emerging that Parkinson's is autoimmune in origin. And that much a/i disease is associated with the gut microbiome.
I donβt think I inferred that you did not care about personal hygiene, in fact the exact opposite is true. I am sorry if you misunderstood me.
Who called you smelly??
There is a big difference between what you do and what it sounds like Piglettes irresponsible neighbours daughter does.
I don't do too much soap , I have a special moisturising deodorant that I make myself as the one I was medically recommended cost a fortune ( and really stank) . I have to have the extra moisturising because of the Sicca , it's to stop rubbing more than anything else.
I don't wash my hair with soap everyday as it strips the oil from your follicles .
Indigenous Americans apparently traditionally didn't wash their hair but used oils and combing to keep it clean and beautiful .
I try to find a balance between what's good for my skin ( no soap , or using washing products using oils ) and what allows me to have the odd feeling of pampering that I used to get before all the skin related issues began.
The best thing you can do for your skin is from within , lots of fluids and vitamins and minerals .
If your skin isn't well fed , especially on drugs like steroids, I don't think it matters what you put on the outside the skin will get dry , sore or thin.
β’ in reply toPMRpro
I wAs reading today about how people with that extra potent sense of smell that end up in tea, wine and perfume "sniffing" may identify illnesses. A woman like that noticed a change in her hubby's odour. She did some work with Parkinson's patients and realised her hubby had the same odour. He was DX with Parkinson's. I know diabetes makes my odour change depending on my blood glucose.
A friend doesn't use soap or deodorant and I always know if she is stressed because her odour changes. I always say you have been talking to X and she says how do you know that. I also used to be able to smell heart conditions. No idea how to describe it but I would go to a house and could smell it then someone would tell me they had heart issues or had a heart attack. Adrenaline us dead easy to smell too.
I try and use aqueous cream but it does get slippy in the shower so careful now. I have changed to double base gel and put it on before and after showers, but cant give up my soap as for some reason I get boils and sores without. I have resolved dry skin by showering only when I go out. I don't see anyone but the dog on those days and she smells worse than me....I hope.
sciencefocus.com/the-human-...
You could save the NHS a fortune ...
β’ in reply toPMRpro
πππ since my sinuses started being stupid in past few years my sense of smell not quite so good but still quite sensitive.
I think my sense of smell is good - but I can tolerate all sorts of things OH complains about! Or maybe he's a wimp - he never changed nappies ...
β’ in reply toPMRpro
I don't mind nappies until they get on solids. But having picked up dog poop for years and picked up poops by other dogs that people leave in the middle of paths I usually have a strong stomach. You just seperate the mind from what you are doing. My dad was a demon nappy changer for all the grandkids and apparently used all my siblings and me. Mind you he liked babies until they could talk back! (Κα΄ΚβΏ)
Mmmm. So that's where my name comes from ΰ² οΈ΅ΰ²
I can smell when the OH is close to a low sugar episode , or when he has some Ketonosis starting when he has an infection.
Diabetics often smell like fruity cider , ketones smell of pearl drops.
It makes it really hard for diabetics if they have a low sugar episode in a public place because it's not just that they look like they are mucking about because they are drunk but they smell like they have been drinking , especially the breath.
Its what makes me mad about my OH when he goes out alone and leaves his diabetic bracelet at home.
I've seen the shop assistants at Tesco's trying to evict him from the supermarket in the past because he'd wandered off and been hit by a rapid low , it was only when I arrived that they realised he wasn't drunk and helped him out. If I hadn't been there he would have been left stumbling around confused and delirious in the car park , not just from his behaviour but the added smell.
Typical man ...
Don't think even the bracelet would have saved him when he " decided " to have a hypo at the edge of a cliff surrounded by a fieldworth of over curious bullocks and then chose to tell me he hadn't packed his own snacks!!π£π£π£π£
Thank goodness for my homemade isotonic drinks and a big stick is all I can say.
I'd have to leave him to his fate now as there is no way I could half carry a man for nearly a mile these days.
Hm. Interesting - juryβs out ...π€
My skin reacts badly to soap and I only use it on my hands. I have not used it on my face since my 20s. I usually just use water too unless I have a bath when I do like a few bubbles. For years I used Ecover washing up liquid in the bath which is gentle and unperfumed but this has resently been "improved" and I can no longer use it.
I am very sensitive to smell and anything perfumed gives me a headache ( except essential oils ) even unperfumed deodorants smell to me so for years now I've used a crystal deodorant.
It's amazing isn't it when the stuff you are meant to use to wash a saucepan is gentler than the stuff you are meant to use to wash your own skin.
That's probably the big point about articles like this , people just don't realise how many chemicals they are smothering on themselves using their branded beauty products , and that rather than doing them good they are storing up trouble for the future.
The old formula washing up liquid contained whey, which was very soothing. This has now been removed probably so it can be called vegan friendly. I did write to Ecover just to see if they had any old stock, but no. Surprisingly you're not supposed to use it in the bath!
I agree about the chemicals I spend ages reading the lists on the side of bottles etc.
Needless to say I cant use make up either. It saves me a mint
ππππ
My old bath " sock" had so many kitchen ingredients it looked more like I was trying to bake myself into a cake than soak the woes of the day away.
I told Pro on a post not so long back that it dropped off while the bath was filling , by the time I noticed it looked like I was going to bathe in a vat of Victorian Workhouse Gruel!ππππ
I did use milk powder along with the oats and honey which would probably return you on your " merry whey" !! ( Ohh ! Groan! What a pun!).
Just read this:
healthline.com/health/beaut...
It all looks like too much work! I guess soap is the lazy way out....
Except the alternatives are for the people who simply can't believe water is all you need! I use water and a very well soaked loofah pad for arms and legs. Don't need to be rough about it.
A lot of money is spent convincing people that they do need all these things.
I love the fact that they make exactly the same stuff with the same ingredients now but just remove the colouring and put it in a clear bottle with pictures of herbs on it to imply its far more natural and better for you than it was before.
Iβm glad they specified continued importance of hand washing! On deodorants - I donβt need one any more!
Like Scats I use the crystal, haven't been able to use a regular deodorant for many years. One kind was okay until, like so many things, it was "improved". But I do think once I adapted to it the crystal has been much more effective.
I was using crystal for about ten years but now save my pennies!
I sweat far too much to stop using anything.... And it's less than $10 for a year.
As long as the bugs are the right ones it doesn't smell providing you rinse under your arms and groin where the apocrine glands.
Not interested in sweat-soaked blouses or t-shirts. Nope not for me. And probably not for anyone who is near me either. It looks gross even if one is not smelly!
I really do think that someone should give all these product producers a lesson in the real definition of , " improved" .
I have rarely seen anything labelled with it that was better than what was there before , it was usually worse , except maybe for orange smarties!
"They" always take out the best things. Like the coffee flavoured Quality Street chocolates. And I liked brown Smarties - because they look like chocolate - but I don't think they make them any more. I think I march to a different drum. When we were choosing a new door for our house some years ago I was told that the design I liked had been discontinued "because not enough people wanted it". However when I found the same door at another store the salesman pulled up his socks and got me it after all! And I guess if you live long enough things do go out of style and that's just the way of it. Only, you're right, the "new" thing really is seldom better than what it's replacing. And what I hate is when a smaller company gets bought up by the big one and with a monopoly they then discontinue the things which weren't the biggest sellers, which usually means I've lost something, like my favourite style of pen (Sanford bought Osmiroid) or, more recently, my best body cream (Glaxo Smith Kline bought Steifel). π
Don't get me on to quality street Heron , don't do it!!!
It is the Family Curse of Christmas when I open the tub and then have my annual moan about the loss of the Cracknell , which was my all time favourite.
Totally agree with your point about smaller companies being bought by bigger companies and then you lose what made them great.
It even happens to big companies too , just look at what has happened to Cadburys . I hardly ever choose it now , the quality has gone down across the board , and even the girls boycott Creme Eggs because they don't use Dairy Milk on them anymore so they don't taste right ( I never liked them!).
And since when were we meant to be able to look through the chocolate on a digestive like it is a window to the biscuit beneath.
I will be worrying when I finally use up my stockpile of my favourite cocoa butter creme moisturiser , they changed owner a few years ago , and as ever " improved" the formula to include all the things that I didn't want to use which is why I bought it in the first place. When a cream has had the same recipe using good ingredients for over 60 years , why change it!
Actually ,to return to the subject of soap, my very most favourite soap ever, made by a company in Cheshire I think, Grossmith, was bought by Nestle, and then you couldn't get it any more. I switched to Pears, but recently stopped using it when I saw the list of ingredients. I don't think it was ever really the same after they switched its manufacture to India from the UK, seemed to dissolve away really fast so the formula must have been changed.
Yes , I remember that soap I think , it may be what everybody had in Cheshire ( did it have an orange label with a black and white drawing on it?) .
Pears has gone down hill too , you can't carve it the way you used to either ,as you say it crumbles .
It does make a huge difference which country manufacture happens in , it's the same with medication , I think it is because they can also change the quality of raw ingredients from Country to Country .
You can even get big differences between things made in the EU or in the UK.
Did you know that original Oreos made in Dublin+ UK are vegan but ones made elsewhere are not.
I'm not vegan but went on a hunt for the naughtiest snack food available to vegans a few years ago to give my daughter's friend the chance of pigging out at a music festival like her friends.
There are some rare occasions when unhealthy additives are the only thing to fit the bill!
Have you ever tried Dr. Bronners Magic Soap ?
I have heard of it, not tried it. Right now I'm using something called Nova Scotia Fisherman, although not all their "flavours" work for me a couple do.
I hand sanded the bedroom floors in our old house and waxed them with a beeswax/carnauba wax mix. The other main ingredient was vodka! I wanted to avoid the noxious fumes from modern floor finishes. And I have to say they looked very good when finished, although the last one was done after I got PMR so it wasn't much fun to work on.
Totally agree. I've lost count of the products I have stopped using after they were supposedly "improved".
When the hormones reduce so does the smell .
β’ in reply toBlearyeyed
I wish someone would tell my body that.
Blearyeyedβ’ in reply to
Maybe your Body Bacteria have their own form of AI condition and suffer from leaky gut syndrome with added flatulence !
β’ in reply toBlearyeyed
Definitely π₯
π€£
Very apropriate name then!
ππππ you are on form today!π
I think Pongo is the scientific name for orangutan?
So it is, that's nice. She won't need soap then. I was going by the sound of it, not so clever.
I saw a lovely film once of an orangutan copying a human who had just washed in the river, it was lathered from head to toe, having a lovely time. I hope it could rinse it all out or it will be itching forever.
As you know, when my skin thinned I was told about Double Base gel and followed the instructions to the letter.
I do not shower everyday and have not done so since I was 41 and had a rash which would not go away and a young Lady GP............said do not shower everyday and stop using soap. You are stripping the natural oils out of your skin and not giving them a chance to recover.
I did and had no problem till pred and thin skin.
I wash my hair, but only use Johnson's baby shampoo once a week.
PS: Those hand gel's contain micro plastic.
I believe microplastics have been banned in countries like the UK and Canada since at least last year?
1 July 2018 banned, I still have the last bottle I bought previously to that date.
I have not yet worked out how to get rid of it either..............π€
You might as well use it. The microplastic is going into the environment one way or another.
I never bought anything with micro plastics in in the first place , as I did wonder about how good it was for the environment as soon as I saw it , so I can't really picture the size of the mini balls.
Would it be possible to use a really fine mesh kitchen sieve to pour it through to get the plastic out and put the plastic in the bin so you could feel happy that you weren't sending it off into the Water Cycle , or am I thinking of toiletries that are different to what you are discussing.
They are as far as I know microscopic. I have never knowingly bought any of these products either, but perhaps most of us have unwittingly in the past. I don't think they are detectable.
I think the ingredient, once we knew what to look for, was one of those chemical names we tend to skip over unless looking for something specific. I do remember after learning about the plastic reading a label and seeing it there, a kind of plastic, which I would never have noticed before and wouldn't have been looking for until it got into the news. Needless to say I didn't buy it. I use very few cosmetics and "extra" stuff, really only the basics, although this thread is all about shedding even those basics. My household cleaning products have always been vinegar and baking soda.
There is a problem with washing our clothes too. Most fabrics, natural and synthetic, leech out micro particles into the waste water when washed and using a supposedly environmentally friendly detergent or even washing balls doesn't deter this.
Just off for my alternate day shower; longer than one day and I would be whiffy!
The problem is with the fabric, not the actual washing of the clothes. The blended fabrics are apparently very difficult if not impossible to recycle, too. The "fashion" industry has a lot to answer for.
Is there a point at which older, frequently washed, items shed less than a new replacement? Getting pure cotton jeans here that fit me is impossible - and the ones that do fit have a few percent lycra. Plastic ...
I really upset a shop assistant once by rejecting some of her offerings as plastic - not plastic madam, polypropylene ...
β’ in reply toPMRpro
And we haven't even touched on the manufacturing process of those jeans or any item.
I believe mine were at least made in Italy ...
β’ in reply toPMRpro
Keeping miles down is the first thing to check of whole goods. It when you start asking where zips are from, the cotton for stitching etc. You could go bonkers trying to manage it sometimes!
It's like fruit and veg. I try to buy all the stuff from as close as possible. But sitting 15miles from the rhubarb triangle in Yorkshire I can only get rhubarb in supermarkets from Kent.
Oh I know!!! I don;t mind asparagus from Italy - it comes earlier than the local stuff and is half the price! But South America? Not on your life! But our Spar is very good - there is almost a choice of tomatoes from Italy (yum) versus from Holland (pointless usually). And the selection of veg is seasonal, very Italian ...
I have with difficulty found winter boots made in Canada. I cannot understand why we are not net exporters of winter boots!
But buying local is sometimes not the best choice. When looking up glyphosate on wheat I discovered it's used on other crops as well, including lentils. Canada is the world's largest producer of lentils so I was always puzzled why the organic ones were imported from the Middle East. Well, now I know. Sigh.
I used to have a small Fairtrade shop , selling the items of clothes , home wares and foods and toiletries from home and abroad .
You are right about the difficulty in finding things that might be produced more locally but may not be done so in an environmentally or organic way.
And when it comes to clothes and jeans , it's not just the type of fabric a products made from , or the air miles that travels , there is also the enviromental fall out of the production and dyeing process.
Often the biggest labels , and the best quality products have the worst records for using chemicals and allowing them to leach into the local environment.
Many big brand make up and toiletry companies may also have stopped animal testing for products sold in the UK or Canada but continue to do animal testing on products at other facilities they have in the world.
I solve that by not buying such things at all
Yep , buy what you need and buy what lasts has always been my mantra.
The really gutting thing about having the POTS/ EDS for me now is that I have no choice but to buy compression bands and braces containing all that plastic , it's that or keep popping a joint out!
Maintaining old principles with alot of things , not just taking medication, is one of those adaptions you have to accept with a Chronic Condition as well.
β’ in reply toBlearyeyed
It is about choice. You would go a different way if it was possible. When I was vegan in the 80s it was a nightmare re shoes etc
Blearyeyedβ’ in reply to
Totally agree , I was only a vegetarian but was an active opponent of bad farming practices and cruelty based beauty products and didn't wear clothes made from by products if the meat industry , so no leather etc.
There was nothing like the choice for vegans and vegetarians that there is today. Eating nice foods , beauty and dressing was a real chore and very expensive. I like to think it was our efforts ( with many others of course!) over that time that made it so much easier to live comfortably by your principles today.
At least they aren't stuck with punishing themselves eating TVP!!!
β’ in reply toBlearyeyed
TVP....I used to do a recipe with prunes and tvp. I made it again a few years ago....I was like Sheldon chewing the Greek lamb in the bbtheory. Chew chew chew.
Blearyeyedβ’ in reply to
ππππ
I know you used to use three times the ingredients in trying to make it taste more edible !!!
I was so overjoyed when I finally got my " Vegetarian Kitchen" cookbook and could finally learn how to make tasty dishes with beans that actually tasted like real food.
When you become a vegetarian from political principles rather than personal tastes it really is torture to eat food everyday.
I eat meat again now , because at least there are the options to do it with conscience and care , it was a long battle to get those Farming Rules changed though , and it felt like it when you had a daily urge to eat a bacon sandwich!
β’ in reply toBlearyeyed
I went the other way. Could not eat animals to being more political. There were not many working class vegans where I came from. I did live in what was a vegan commune then so that was easier but my mum was really confused by it.
Blearyeyedβ’ in reply to
Becoming a vegetarian was what made me into a good cook .
My Mum refused to give house room to the idea of it , despite the fact that she was quite happy to indulge my two vegetarian cousins , and would sneek a ham sandwich into my lunchbox on a daily basis. Luckily , one of my friends only ever got cheese so we could do swaps.
I'd get home and she'd look at my empty lunchbox in triumph and say " see I knew you'd eat it if you got hungry " , everyday !! despite me telling her I switched with a friend. She made more meals with meat in it each day than she did before I stopped eating it , then told me if I must be so soft I would have to cook for myself. I don't think she thought I'd last a week in the kitchen , but I found a love of cooking and that was a gift for life. And yes , my Mum is a bit of a barmpot!!
I was upset when I realized that one couldn't find plain cotton jeans any more. But I confess I still buy and wear them. I had to buy more trousers the last couple of years because I'm so thin my others were impossible to keep up, even with belts. I was disappointed because I had some really nice ones, but I've let them go, hopefully to be bought and worn by someone else, not to be baled and shopped off to Africa and burnt.
I think you can still get them here - workers jeans and cheap. But they don't fit me!
Do you have charity shops in Canada? All my jeans come from these and, after a bit of ferreting about our many charity shops I can usually find some which fit my short legs and are made of cotton.
We do. I prefer to buy new, and then I keep things forever. It's just that my size changed, and although I hung onto things for a few years I never put the weight back on, so off they went. I can find things which fit, usually, although now I have no flesh to hold things up it's a bit more difficult! Otherwise I'm a rather boring standard size. The ones which fit my waist are designed for the modern young woman who is six feet tall!
β’ in reply tomaria40
I am afraid for me a childhood of hand me downs and no new clothes except for Whitsuntide has left me with a phobia about second hand used clothes. π₯΄π€£π€£π€£
Easter and xmas in our house - and socks for Whitsun ...
β’ in reply toPMRpro
Little white ankle socks for Whitsun. On a good year sandals too. I think I had school uniform and one "off duty" outfit until I had a Saturday job at 13/14 in a shoe shop.then I could buy clothes. The fruit stall previously didn't pay enough!
Never got that option - nowhere to work! Just blackcurrants in summer
Oddly it's still the same in mine , new clothes for Xmas , Birthdays or if it's an essential that has finally died a death , but my Girls have become well trained mistresses of the vintage and charity shop.
We are also all well trained in making and mending.
I swell with pride when they look at a friend wearing some brand new , poorly made , cheap reproduction from a Fast Fashion Shop , and then say , " is that vintage?" with a disapproving air.
The Mother's of their friends however look at me like they want to beat me with sticks !!
I'm a big charity shop lover , I still keep to the rules I have about not using or buying things from companies that are big on using bad labour practises and the criminals of the " Fast Fashion Industry" .
But the amount of times I find a good quality piece of clothing that has only been worn once , or still has the labels on is amazing for me , but scary when you think about what that sort of attitude to buying clothes does to the Environment.
I will sound mad now but I often by unused still wrapped vintage socks or tights , because they are the things that don't seem to last the way they used to .
I think it's crazy that I still have some socks that I have worn since I was 16 with no holes in , and then new socks I have bought and become thin and frayed in under a year .
A kindred spirit! I also love jumble sales - I have a much admired Jaeger jacket which I got in an end of jumble sale bag with other stuff for Β£1. Unfortunately, our local jumble sale Hall has closed but still plenty of charity shops around. Shopping this way ticks several boxes: knowing no one is being exploited to make my clothes, often getting good quality stuff with plenty of wear in it, benefiting the environment and saving money. Only one daughter is a convert and there aren't many charity or similar shops in Oslo where she lives but she has managed to find them
It doesn't really matter where you dump them. They will end up in the environment one way or another, it may just take longer for them to be ingested by micro-organisms. Unfortunately all the plastic we are dumping these days is going to break down over the next few thousand years into microplastic anyway unless we figure out a way to clean it all up and sequester it in a different form. Which we probably can do, being pretty smart apes.
I've never knowingly done so - and I can find no evidence on the ingredients of my hand soap it has any.
Microparticles are too small to be sieved out I suspect - nano is the size ...
They are much smaller than that, nanoparticles are microscopic.
I donβt use soap on my skin except for hands. I do shampoo hair but with a brand with the fewest ingredients. For skin lotion I use organic coconut oil. I donβt own any deodorants and I never smell bad (so says I) no matter how much I sweat. I also only use sunscreen if Iβm at the beach for an extrended time. Iβm always on the hunt for ways to cut out chemicals.
I remember watching a documentary a few years ago when they tested a group of people after using their normal products for a week , and then after a month using natural ones and less products.
One of them had 128 chemicals from their skin and hair swabs ( this is how shocked I was I can remember the exact number !!) .
It was interesting because they got them to start washing with water and using more products with natural ingredients , within a week most were down in the 20's .
Although they had the usual few weeks of breakouts as their skin got used to a new regime and ridded itself of toxins , and there were some tears about having hair that didn't feel the same or wasn't being straightened to death, and the odd no make up breakdown, most of them were happy at the end of it and chose not to go back to using as many products on their skin and their clothes as before.
I rarely use soap, except on my hands and I only rarely wash my hair. My hair seems a lot healthier for it to. I have read that if people who are used to showering and soaping everyday then stop they are more likely to smell because they've destroyed the natural microbes on their skin. If the balance has never been destroyed it's not a problem.
No, I can go 2 to 3 weeks between washing my hair - I know I live in a place with very clean air but it is hot in summer and then it goes down to 2 weeks. But it doesn't always have to be with tons of products, water does a fairish job there too! And hairdressers here are horrified at washing har every day.
Some hairdressers here have said the same to me. Ive wondered where the idea came from and I think it started when shampoo companies started marketing products that were 'so gentle you could wash your hair everyday'. Advertising can be so subtle you don't realise how you're being manipulated.
If any one remembers the 'An only budgie is a lonely budgie' line from adverts by Trill I read something written by the person who came up with that campaign. He was given the job of increasing their sales and he decided that since, by that time, every one who was likely to have a budgie probably had one the only way to increase sales was to persuade existing owners to get another one! There was no research behind it at all. I think that sort of marketing is happening across the board.
Love it , what a great story , I'm going to remember that oneπ
It's true , if you think about how it was years ago , women would go to have the wash and blow dry once a week , and with certain styles and dyes wouldn't actually wash their hair until they had it done by the hairdresser the following week. It was only in the Summer that I would see my Grandma and her friends break this habit and wash it once a week at home .
They did however probably help make a sizeable contribution to the destruction of the ozone layer with the amount of hairspray they used each day!
Forget about the old saying about making faces in the wind. Pretty sure that if I'd walked through the haze of hairspray in our bathroom first thing in the morning with a funny look on my face I'd have stuck like that !
My hairdressers always want to use crap on my hair when they cut it - it is part of the training process to stop it! The current one is impressive with her lack of pressure! And when I said sorry, you can't do what you did last time, the parting just falls to the crown, you can't blow dry it and expect it to stay, she listened. That's a first here!
I have used Lush products for years and they continued to be gentle when I started taking Pred. Now I can get most of my favorites in solid form so no plastic containers in the bathroom. I did get the itchy back problem for a while but double base gel solved that. I think I am lucky with my skin but I couldn't live without washing my hair every day. I have to stand under the shower to wake up and get stiff muscles moving.
Lush products are great and as you can test them in store you can see if they are going to be right for your skin before you invest in them.
They are also willing to give you little samples to try at home if you tell them about your health issues and that doing more than a shop test might be required.
You do need to be careful with the odd naturally made products just in case the essential oils can affect you with certain medications , but you can get a full list of ingredients from Lush to double check them.
I do love the fact that you can refill your bottles , and like that solid block that you can even use for clothes as well as your hair and body , and on the few occasions I feel up to wearing make up it is one of the few products that I can use near my eyes without it irritating the Dry Eye , although you have to be prepared that without the added chemicals and preservatives it will not last for more than a few hours without some added application.
But that's worth it not to have the horrid side effects on your skin and eyes.
I found it ironic that there was a Dove body wash ad in the midst of the article π
I've just read an article in the Guardian about the damage soap does to the microbiome. Of course now there's a range of new companies starting to sell products aimed at improving it!
That is the article I linked to in the post ...
My bad. π© I should have read your link before commenting π
I use Hydromol Bath Solution. Bathing often sometimes seemed like my only relief when I was deep in my PMR. Getting out was a whole other story! (Think cow stuck in mud!) Sniggix
β’ in reply toSniggi
My body must have know as it made my mind have a shower put in..much better!
Yes, when we did this flat I wanted a big superdooper shower in the slightly larger bathroom but was dissuaded on the grounds most people skiing wanted a bath to soak away the aches! I'm cogitating on insisting on its replacement - can't remember when it was last used as a bath and it is just one more thing to dust off! If it were a nice shower I would use it
β’ in reply toPMRpro
I really would either be stuck in a bath or really filthy as I was scared I wouldn't get out!
Our new place had two nearly identical bathrooms. As part of the reno we gutted them both and one is now a bathroom with a tub and hand held shower, in the other we replaced the tub with a shower stall. Something to age into. I still like my bath, always feel like I'm drowning when I shower, and a bath is more relaxing.
Ours was planned to have one enormous bathroom. So I added a foot and split it into a small ensuite with shower and a small bathroom. Can never understand why anyone wants a bathroom that is big enough to have a party in!
Our old house had a tiny bathroom, but now that I've moved I'm aware of how very functional it was. Much more sensible than what we have here, although it is probably about half the floor space of either of our current bathrooms. We did need to install an emergency loo in the basement and it could potentially have a shower added. Quite handy when we had teenagers who liked to zone out under the shower!
My upstairs bathroom for years even before GCA/ PMR was nicknamed the " bark room" as when "real" friends stayed over on impromptu evenings I wouldn't have done the big tidy for "guests".
They would see that my bath rather than being used by people was full of bark and branches having a good soak before being used in artwork.
When we did choose to have a bath we'd usually have to evict the forest wallowing in it first.
When someone used the " bark room" and saw no foliage bathing in it they'd always come downstairs and ask , " Is your Mum coming? " ππππ
As I have psoriasis, I was prescribed Dermol which I use for washing myself in places that might become smelly. I only bath/shower once a week and as far as I know I'm not smelly (at least no-one tries to avoid me or hold their nose when they are near me). I only use soap for washing my hands for hygiene purposes.
I do not use soap products on my face, never have, but find the area around the outside of my mouth in an oval shape is very red....................is this a reaction to the prednisone???
Does anyone else have this or just me????
Is it just red , or is it also dry or sore?
It is red no soreness yes a bit dry
I get something like that and below my bottom lip can be really sore and red/peels - it almost looks like another lip. I think it may be a form of cold sore since if it feel it starting and use acyclovir cream on it it it stops it. My GP here says she has never seen anything like it. I don;t think it is pred - it happened before I started taking it too. But I don't THINK it happened pre-PMR.
There can be illness or medication reasons for it , the temperature , weather and even being a bit run down generally can make it worse.
If you have sensitive teeth it can also be because of making more saliva in the night which makes the skin around the lips more chapped.
You can try a zinc based cream or something like Epaderm , put it on in the morning, before cleaning your teeth, after dabbing the area clean and patting dry .
Allow this to dry in for a while . Then, before you clean your teeth , or eat , or go outside , or do things like swimming or sport put on a thin film of vaseline or vaseline plain lip balm , on the skin and the lips . It waterproofs them and protects the dry skin from getting more chapped so it can heal.
Clean the skin and put on more zinc cream or equivalent at night like in the morning before cleaning your teeth , the vaseline to protect the skin is important at night.
If you don't take a supplement of all vitamins and minerals separate from your Vitamin D and Calcium you should it helps maintain your skin and also drink more fluids as internal dehydration is one of the main reasons that skin becomes drier.
Don't use any foundation , concealer , beauty products or lipsticks on the dry areas until the skin feels healthy again.
One last thing on this subject. A few weeks ago I went to the doc's with a small lump in my groin which was bleeding and a bit sore. It was a tiny cyst and the skin had grown over it apart from a little pin hole fortunately. It had become infected and could still drain. The Doc had a little rant about us girls never soaking in the bath anymore and things like this being the result. So I was sent home to bathe. As I need my morning shower for speed I had an evening bath for a few weeks and it did clear up. So I am making an effort to bath one a week now.
Ah well - is s/he offering to come and help us out of the bath!!!! Not an option I fear!!
Lucky you! I would love to have a bath.π
I did wonder what she would have said if I said I couldn't bathe, fortunately I can. You make a good point, she never asked me.
Yes , they really don't think about these things but are more than willing to condemn us for our actions ( or lack of them ) without establishing why we do , or don't do , the things they think we should do.
0 out of 10 for a sensitive bedside manner there I think!
Luckily , if you don't feel up to having a bath , although soaking is good for certain types of feminine washing , you can equally get these areas with cysts or spots well cleaned by taking down the shower head and using it in circulating motions in a downward way close to and around those body parts for a few minutes and have the same effect.
Soaking isn't always the most efficient way to clear and keep many of these things properly clean anyway.
Keeping it dry and cushioned with regularly changed gauze and cotton pads to prevent rubbing is just as important when dressed , and allowing some time to the air helps the healing.
Hi, I think you can do as well with a shower as well, but in this case I have to admit the bath worked really quickly. However, my excuse for not using the bath is I get bored lying in the bath unless there is something really good on the radio. I am hopeless at reading in the bath, I have never worked out out how to keep my hands dry and either drop my book over the side and out of reach or in the water. I did buy some really cheap Β£1 lavender scented Epsom salts though and I think they helped achy muscles especially legs and feet, but might be a bit drying on the skin. I am going to keep on with them weekly.
I struggle to get in and out at the moment , but I've never really enjoyed a bath unless in the mood and prefer to shower . I think it's because I have long legs so no matter how I try , even when I was fighting fit I was never really comfortable , there was always a body part or two sticking out and getting cold.
I wouldn't mind if my bath at home was like the Hydro pool , I'd happily live in that , like a poached mermaid!πππ
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