Thursday 18 February 2010

Some minor hiccups - 1

The few days starting from 31 Jan 2010 to 6 Feb, I was having a lot of problems with my hands.

The skin on most of the fingers and the fingertips were chapped and hurt like crazy when there was contact. Fortunately the forefingers and thumbs on both hands were fairly okay and I managed to do some two-finger typing.

I had to use plasters to prevent them from cracking further and to aid in healing. It was a bummer as I had spring cleaning to do for the coming Chinese Lunar New Year.

On 30 Jan, when we used acrylic paints for art therapy, some of the paints got on my fingers. Despite washing them off, my hands were itching later. I have been suffering from sensitive skin problems and the chemo had made it worse. They are now super sensitive and peeled and chapped easily.

A tcm practitioner commented that I have 富贵手 (literally means rich person's hands) and advised me not to do housework. Yeah, right! That will probably be the day when I am waited on hand and foot, and I don't envisage that happening to me in this lifetime.

I have tried various hand creams and most of them are not suitable. In fact some aggravated the condition. I have found that the hand and body lotion from enfuselle to be very suitable for me, and it's not cheap, costing me more than S$20 for a tube of 8 fl oz or 236 ml.

2 comments:

Daria said...

A suggestion for the cracks in your hands and feet ... for my feet, I put a dollop of cream on some cotton or gauze and wrap it for the night with medical tape. That way the cream has a chance to do it's magic.

I took about 2 weeks of daily wrapping to get rid of cracks on my feet.

All the best to you ...

ml said...

Thanks, Daria.

For my hands, the underlying problem seemed more complicated and serious. The cracks do not go away permanently. I get a few days break before my hands start itching again and chapping.

For some years now, I have slept with socks on, so I do not seem to have problems with my feet. I wear cotton gloves to sleep, but contact with water, etc, and the problem starts again.