Dematologists’s Appointment

I had my appointment with a dermatologist on Wednesday. I was hoping for a miracle cream or something that would magically relieve my scaly hands within a couple of weeks, but apparently there still is no such thing. I was afraid that she would say “wear gloves, use lotion, and here’s another prescription for cortisone.” Well, here’s what happened.\par
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She looked at my hands briefly and then gave me instructions:\par
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1. Wear gloves, even when just rinsing dishes, and try never to wash my hands with anything other than Cetaphil cleanser. (I already have the gloves and the cleanser – but this was a good motivator to use gloves even more frequently, like when I’m cooking as well as cleaning)\par
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2. After getting my hands wet, always use…. lotion? No!! Vaseline! Not Vaseline Intensive Care lotion. Not Aveeno. Just plain old, cheap, 100% pure petroleum jelly. This was a new thought. She showed me that if you use just a small amount of it, it isn’t really greasy, and it works much more effectively as a moisture block than any kind of lotion.\par
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3. She gave me a prescription for triminocycline (or something like that – it’s a big word and I don’t have a tube of it here with me), and one for tri-whatever mixed with coal tar. Just use twice daily, and it’s not supposed to thin the skin like cortisone theoretically does. I haven’t picked up the coal-tar one yet, although I’m anxious to try it, in spite of the noxious odor.\par
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Well, it’s too early to say for sure, but the quarter-inch splits on my hands have healed and haven’t been replaced by others, and my skin is definitely looking better! Maybe I do have a chance to have normal healthy skin after all?