I thought I'd throw this into the mix for consideration and comment:
theguardian.com/lifeandstyl...
A few of us avoided serious skin problems with pred - and credit the lack of soap in out lives.
To wash with soap? Or not ...: I thought I'd throw... - PMRGCAuk
To wash with soap? Or not ...
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DorsetLadyPMRGCAuk volunteer
Never use soap on face.
Do use shampoo and shower gel though...and gel/lotion on hands!
The microbiome on my hands must be shot!
Tried many shower gels etc over the years....all gave me rashes or made me itch!....even "natural" ones, never use anti-persistent either, but do use sparingly sensitive soap, only one that suits. Also in my 30's went in hospital for bladder problems, consultant said never use other than water on the sensitive parts!.....
Using lots of the soap on hands now....
oh dear, they are the places I do use soap , but no more than 3 times a week. I also confess to using shampoo and condition about once a week, though if I can get a swim (VERY occasionallY) in normal clear creek/lake water I don't shower at all..and it feels a LOAD cleaner and less itchy. My shower and bath both have chlorine ilters and that helped the skin being so itchy (still a tad itchy though).
I too have never used soap on my face, never had an acne problem and have neither oily or dry skin in all my 70+ years. Haven't had to use deodorant in years and have no body odor. My hubby would definitely let me know if I did. I shower every three or four days, shampoo every second shower and only use soap in crevices. 😉 Because I live in the tropics I use an aloe and eucalyptus gel to keep my skin moisturized after being in the pool and daily sun exposure. My skin is fine.
I've used soap (only certain kinds) all my life and apart from dry skin in the wintertime I've had no problems. Have always received compliments on my skin, although less since I turned 70 
. Whenever I've tried using less soap, or no soap, I've developed rashes and get stinky.
Never used soap for over 40 years, when a young GP told me that I was showering to much and using soap etc and was stripping the natural oils etc off my skin.
So just kept soap (Dove) in Bathroom and Toilet for visitors
When Covid-10 appeared I bought some Wrights Coal Tar for hands (I had previously just used water before eating and for washing my hands and parcels when necessary.
I do keep on wondering about Hand Sanitizer, I used it when I had to go to Warfarin clinic which had moved from GPs to hospital. The smell was not pleasant and my hands went a bit red. I put them under the tap when I came home and the red disappeared after a couple of hours.
PS: I only use a baby shampoo once a month, rest of the time, water.
Did you never have to use soap for any reason on your hands? Paint? Grease? Garden soil? Handling babies (and their diapers)? What about washing dishes?
~I use disposable gloves (latex free) which are washed each time with soap to save my drying thin skin - in the garden I have cotton gloves over top of the disposable gloves. Anything that will help ~
Like Megans, gloves and also just above elbow length to save my skin when gardening. Over the last two years (old age creeping on) I have a gardener, I just potter now. I am a disaster with a paint brush so painters have always been essential
I use a sturdy nail brush to remove stubborn stuff when necessary, most comes off pretty easily with warm water.
I have had a dishwasher for over 25 years, best thing I ever bought and it was replaced 5 years ago, so 20 years was good going and it moved house twice.
Never had a baby and avoided anything to do with changing of friends babies.
Oh I had an op at 32 and my sweat glands, except for head, don't work so I don't smelll at all, but neither do other mates who don't use soap do either. As long as clothes a kept clean and , as I understand, the skin is balanced you rarely smell unless something is wrong.
I only started not using soap at all about 30 years ago when I met the young GP because I had a skin problem.
Aahhh, that could explain a lot. Started using deodorant under the arms a few weeks ago for the first time in ages, if not years, as I seemed to need it. Soon stopped as it made my armpits itch like mad. Never associated it with Pred, but that makes perfect sense now.
My perceived need for more deo wasn't pred - it was the PMR. Couldn't have been pred, wasn't on it. But the only thing that worked in the end was to stop deo altogether which did improve it after a few weeks and then to get rid of any unpleasant smell I gave up soap altogether except hands as required. It took a few months for the skin bacteria to get into a happy balance - but I haven't used deo for 15 years. And like nuigini I don't smell!!
Hi, well that also fits the conversation I had with my other half, last night, she reminded me that I had complained about about a possible increase in body odour before I started the Pred, so perhaps that was when when I actually started with PMR and it wasn't diagnosed until I had the flare. I certainly had the aches and pains then, but just put it down to my OA having a bad patch and me possibly doing too much.
makes sense to me. course I'm not running any more..but even then I never really stunk. Only when I was nervous!
But i love shampoo.. dont need much. and i like lotion after a shower.
Try Double Base gel, you will find you don't need lotion.
Very interesting - thanks
Pred got rid of my head to toe psoriasis but it came back 5 months later - two weeks before BC diagnosis. I’ve suffered with chronic dry skin all my life. Never had acne as a teenager. Haven’t thought about pred helping my skin since then. Perhaps it could have been worse.
When young I saw the Camay advert and soaped my face - I couldn’t move my face after I’d rinsed it off. Haven’t used soap since. Use Dermol 500 to shower in and Doublebase to moisturise daily. My facial skin is very good for my age - I’m told. Body not so.
Ditto (last two sentences)!
This makes a lot of sense to me. I don’t use soap except for my 20 minute hand and wrist wash. Gradually over the years of PMR I have eliminated almost all scented products. I do wash with a base cream, shower wash and I use a volumising shampoo and conditioner that is all natural and smells nice - my head sometimes feels irritated though. Sometimes I can smell chemicals coming from my skin. I think Metformin and Tocilizumab are the culprits. The family say they can’t smell anything but I do. I keep my skin well moisturised with base cream too. If I didn’t do this I would get more Psoriasis, it is currently easily controlled on my feet., with emollient cream and low dose cortisone cream when it flares in hot weather. I hardly ever take antibiotics. I used to walk around in a cloud of Jo Malone scented cream but my body is too sensitive now. Less is definitely more. I sometimes put a squirt of something nice over my outfit. My skin is clearer than it has ever been, I even got rid of wrinkly dry skin in the creases of my old lady arms with E45 cream. I thought it was here to stay.
You must sing happy birthday VERY slowly 
😂😂 It just feels that way - corrected now.
Oh!!! Replied without going through the other posts first.🤣
Jane, I don’t think it’s the tocilizumab. I have been on it for 14 weeks now and nothing smelly so far ... or flaky (except my brain). Hope you are feeling the benefits xx
I think it is Metformin. In fact I think all my adverse effects are coming from this strange drug.
I think Tocilizumab is going to be fine. 3rd dose tomorrow!
I hope so. I feel so strong at the moment, and managing a reasonable taper. Down to 6.5mgs and flirting with 6. Sending love to you xx
Washing hands for TWENTY minutes??? Have you any skin left on them?
I use soap when showering/ bathing about three times a week. More often only filtered (chlorine ) water. The chlorine makes me itchy and this reduced the itch. Haven't used deodorant for 20 years though when in the tropics I do use it..or very hot muggy weather. My Dad's skin was in a bad state and he had spent 20 years using everything dermatologists could throw at it.. his skin would have yellow dots and red areas and bleed and scale off.. now fairly intact since showering now only once a week (and that's as much as I'm prepared to fight him). We use emu oil after the shower on his lower legs and feet as still extremely dry and the shower dried it out. He uses soap in the shower that's once a week and it does dry his skin out, but I still like to wash those parts? I don't think water will prevent all of those nasty bacteria?).
Since as far back as I can recall both he and me could only tolerate sunlight soap on our skin..the rest of the soaps we would be very itchy and break out in rashes. Now I note all soaps except the old sunlight have palm oil . The old sunlight was tallow oil... so I have about 4 bars of the old soap left now. I have purchased some soap made cottage-industry style with other oils. He told me everyone in his family used to make and use their own goose fat on the skin..cured everything (old German traditional farming community). If I could get goose fat, I am sure it would work too! Emu oil is the closest I can find and it is working better than anything. I am wondering if palm oil is a problem(other than ruining the environment.)
"I don't think water will prevent all of those nasty bacteria?"
The point is that the soap products upset the balance of the bacteria and the nasty bacteria get the upper hand. They are what cause unpleasant smells - let the microbiome get itself back into balance and like a garden the good guys keep the bad guys down or out. Deodorant and soap are like weedkiller - mess up everything they touch!
well I guess I am still wondering about bidets too...never having tried one as yet. Yes I got the point, but when people have accidents I just wonder if water is enough. Probably if you wash it all away? I know it works when just swimming
~Where would we be without good ole sunlight soap? Only gentle soap I will use on my hands when I need to ~
I found a local soap maker who uses olive oil and makes it by hand. There is very little lather and perhaps that is the clue to its gentleness, no SLS etc. I'm only using it to wash hands with the 20 second drill but about 1000 times a day. For my face I use Seba-med wash emulsion (Ph balanced) which is very gentle. In the shower: mostly water and a touch of Seba-med where essential.
I think some of use are naturally smellier than others, this is obvious even with children. We perhaps need to get used to smelling like humans and not chemical factories.
As someone who is allergic to surfactants which appear in shower gel, body wash, shampoo and any household item designed to foam I have always used soap (or expensive non-surfectant products). Surfactants like Sodium Lauryl Sulfate were originally used in heavy industry as an engine degreaser. As it's petroleum derived it was cheap to make and so manufacturers use it to make cheap body washes etc.
I never use soap on my face. I only use soap in the shower 3 times a week but get through loads with all the handwashing. I use sapon de Marseille which I buy in bulk when we visit friends in France or TK Maxx often have it. I also like Dr Bronners Bastille soap which has a multitude of uses
I have just ordered a bar of shampoo which is surfactant free. My first foray into bar shampoo.
You may wonder how I found out I was allergic to surfectants. I used to get rashes when I was a kid from washing powder. My mum could only use Lux flakes for me. When I was older I used to swim twice a day and take showers with shower gel after. Over a few weeks my hands became red raw, my dermatologist diagnosed it as a lchemical burn. He did tests and it turned out to be surfectants. I used to use aqueous cream and then suddenly the burns started up again. The aqueous cream I had been prescribed had changed its formula and contained SLS! So had to have steroid cream and diprobase to clear it.
Nowadays I read labels very carefully and only use soap as opposed to shower gels except for the ones which don't have it in which are really expensive. I use a an oat based moisturiser, zeroveen from the pharmacy which can be used to shower with too.
I now know to closely read labels, carry my own soap and use extra rinses on my laundry. Even things like Dove bars which are supposed to be gentle and moisturising has it in. Who remembers Camay soap, used that for years!
I swear if I ever went on Mastermind my specialist subject would be surfectants! 😂
I found the article really interesting because a dermatologist once told my husband years ago to stop using soap. I was a bit aghast but then I became really sensitive to chemicals, plants and all kinds of cleaning things, etc. Dermatitis became my second name!! I used ointments and creams (steroid) for years, and then I got PMR and the bonus side-effect (apart from all the other things we complain about) was no more skin problems. Regardless, I haven’t used soap EVER on my face, just cold cream, flannel and moisturiser every night. Body lotion every day, Clarins shey butter moisturiser, and shampoo/conditioner without all the chemicals. It has become a way of life for us and really interesting to read this young doctor discussing the benefits. I do use deodorant but only in a push down squirter thing, not an aerosol, not that I am opposed, just cannot stand the spray from those. We all try our best to stay fresh and moisturised, one of the small pleasures in life, don’t you think? Thank you for posting the article.
Neutrogena Rain Bath. Been using it for decades. Smells great. Cleans without drying or giving that greasy feel. They also make shampoo and conditioner that I used for years, but now I use John Freida for Blonds so I never have to color my hair. Who says you can't wear silver and gold together?
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