I went to a dermatologist yesterday because I wanted to ask him about a strange itching that developed on my lower legs on a couple of occasions recently.
It first happened when I went on my roadtrip ot Arizona and New Mexico. After a few days, my ankles and calves started itching like fire, and when I scratched them it raised a red rash that drove me nuts. The problem went away entirely after a day or so back in San Diego.
Funny thing was, same exact thing happened when I went to Mexico last week, and I wanted to find out what the cause of the phenomena was and how to prevent it.
I hadn’t experienced this phenomena before, but it turns out, according to the dermatologist, that it’s a pretty normal thing.
According to him, men in particular often have problems with their lower legs itching when they are in very arid, low-humidity environments (like Arizona, New Mexico, and Mexico, f’rinstance).
The way to prevent it from happening, according to him, is simply to put lotion on your lower legs when in such areas so that the skin doesn’t dry out and start itching.
Being a guy, that’s something I’m not used to doing. Lotion and I aren’t really on speaking terms. (I wonder if that’s part of why this happens more to men than women?) But if it’ll avoid the horrible itching, I’ll give it a try.
So . . . tip to the men in the readership: Put lotion on your lower legs when going into climates more arid than you’re used to. It’s not an overly macho thing to do, but it beats acute low-humidity lower leg itching by a longshot!
This took care of the concern that brought me to his office, but since I don’t get a chance to talk to a dermatologist every day, I couldn’t resist asking him some additional skin-related questions out of curiosity.
F’rinstance: Sometimes you hear (e.g., in movies) that if you paint over your body completely and don’t leave any skin exposed that you’ll die. Is that true?
Yes!–according to my dermatologist. If you were to paint over all your skin then your body couldn’t dissipate core body temperature. You’d get a runaway fever and die.
My dermatologist mentioned something like this happening in the movie Goldfinger, though I haven’t seen that one. I have seen other movies where something like it happens (and with gold paint, too).
He also mentioned that there is a condition in which people are born with no pores or very few pores and can’t sweat. They can survive if they don’t get too hot, but if they exercise then they build up internal body heat that they can’t release and they die.
Ouch!
Unfortunately, this is a genetic condition and until we have a form of in-utero gene therapy that could detect and treat this, I don’t know if there’ll be much to do for it.
With my harry legs I would need one bottle of lotion per leg for a proper coating, I may find it less frustrating just to put up with the itching…
I always hear about the gold body painting in Goldgfiner. Supposedly, if you don’t paint over the bottom part of your back (base of spine), you are okay. I think in documentaries of this movie medical personell where mentioned to be nearby. But that paint must have been a pretty thick paint for the gold sheen.
I guess I should have gone to Snopes.com first.
More info on body painting and movie Goldfinger here.
Now as far as lotion not being manly, I’ve never heard that. I guess I grew up with lotion and sunscreen, so I’ve never thought of lotion only being femine. I use lotion when my skin is dry. Only lately have I been applying lotion to exposed skin most days for dryness and some minor sun protection. Colorado weather can be pretty rough on skin.
They actually tried the paint-your-body thing on Mythbusters.
Verdict – Myth Busted.
It’s an urban legend. The Goldfinger girl did not die from the gold paint job.
However, she might have died trying to supress a sneeze.
Very dangerous, as the resulting back-pressure could drive tiny air bubbles into you blood, which could cause a brain aneurism.
Nah… just kidding. But you see how easy it is to make this stuff up?
I seem to remember tarring and feathering causing quite a few health problems for the offenders.
I got into the habit of using a moisturizer many years ago when I was a working actor & had to use makeup every night & twice when there was a matinee. Otherwise, my face would get really dry, which is very uncomfortable. I’ve never gotten out of the habit of using the lotion; it’s just part of my morning routine now. When other folks are complaining about how the wind dries out their skin (face & hands, mostly), I’m nicely moisturized! Sure beats a rash.
And now that I work in the medical industry as a billing/coder, I know how important it is to keep the integumentary system hydrated! One’s skin is the biggest organ of the body &, usually, the most neglected.
Neutrogena lotions are nice and thick and take just a small amount to work well. And they come in a nice gender-neutral tube. I haven’t found anything better, although better ones certainly might exist, and maybe a cheaper “generic” version exists. It feels more like a ‘balm’ and has better lasting power.
I just stuck with it after trying lots of lotions which, after 1/2 hour, they’re gone/dried up/just quit working, so much that I couldn’t even tell I’d used any lotion.
With winter coming, I’d like to know if anyone has tried anything better, unless this kind of thing breaks the rules here. (Hope I didn’t break them)
Oh and the best time to moisturize is just after you come out of the shower. That way the lotion seals in moisture.
How in the world have you NOT seen Goldfinger? It’s the greatest James Bond movie.
And I thought you were a well rounded individual!
I’m afraid that I don’t have a whole lot of confidence in dermatologists. Granted I only went to one, and I should have shopped around. The one rash I had, he said was “contact dermatitis”, which I took to be a fancy medical term for ‘I don’t know’.
Regarding the genetic lack of pores for sseating off excess body heat: I would think it would be possible to make a mechanical blood cooler – basically a device through which your blood runs, that monitors the temperature and starts up a cooler if it gets too high. Sort of a “blood conditioner.” There are potential infection and clotting problems with implanted devices like that, but I would think they could be overcome. Better than cooking to death every time you get a little excited.
Pigs can’t sweat either. That’s why they wallow in mud to cool off.
My grandfather used Cornhuskers Lotion for years.
As for the pores and sweating – my sister’s mother in law was badly burned when she was a young woman and had extensive skin grafts. Grafted skin doesn’t sweat and she has to keep cool when the temperature gets high.
BTW, Jimmy – shea butter is a great moisturizer.
Contact dermatitis is an actual diagnosis, Barbara. It’s caused, as the name implies, due to contact with an irritant of some sort as opposed to being an allergic reaction or a reaction to medication (topical or ingested), etc. It’s quite possible the physician you saw had no clue what caused the dermatitis you suffered from. I had a contact dermatitis on my lower legs a few years ago & my doctor said that things like that often are due to too much soap in the clothes washer, etc. Since I already use a dye- & fragrance-free detergent, I cut way back on the amount I was using, which was the amount suggested on the back of the detergent (I’m not a very dirty or smelly boy, so I didn’t think I needed all that soap anyway). Viola! No more itch! Problem solved.
Now, if’n you wanna talk plantar warts, I just had a couple o’ narsty ones removed . . . 😉
watch out for the dryer sheets too! If you use them on your bedding you can really irritate your skin. Our plumber said to use about 1/2 the detergent recommended by the detergent mfgrs. He was considering our plumbing, not our skin, but it’s been working just fine.
My dermetologist sent me to the tanning booth 4-5 days/week after I came down with psoriasis induced by strep throat. I was dubious, but it worked!
The origin of the Sebacians from Farscape?
Contact dermatitis is an actual diagnosis, Barbara. It’s caused, as the name implies, due to contact with an irritant of some sort as opposed to being an allergic reaction or a reaction to medication (topical or ingested), etc.
I was going to mention that it’s a real condition too, but it’s my understanding that it’s inflammation due to contact with an irritant or an antigen, which could include poison ivy, poison sumac, etc.
Now as far as lotion not being manly, I’ve never heard that.
I think it’s a ridiculous idea, too.
I never used lotion before getting engaged (I was too manly!). However, since then my wife has shown me that it’s okay, and that it’s a good thing. We get non-smelly lotion (usually Suave at Costco – big bottle), and I use it for my hands. Works great!
I HAVE THIS RASH-TYPE FUNGUS THING ON MY BODY, MOSTLY ON MY NECK, BACK AND CHEST. IT LOOKS LIKE RINGWORM, BUT IT’S NOT. I’VE SCRATCHED IT AND ALL I ENDED UP DOING WAS SCRATCHING PAST IT TO MY “SECOND SKIN”, I GUESS. I’VE USED TINACTIN AND DANDRUFF SHAMPOO (MEDICATED) TO KEEP IT IN CHECK. USUALLY, IT DOES THE JOB, BUT AS OF LATE, IT’S GETTING REALLY DIFFICULT TO CONTROL. AT TIMES IT’S BROWNISH, AFTER I SHOWER, IT GETS RATHER DRY LOOKING AND IT MAKES MY SKIN FEEL REALLY ITCHY AND DRY. WHAT IS IT CALLED, AND HOW DO I PERMANENTLY GET RID OF IT?
I use the aloe “and naturals” stuff from CVS. It’s not that I’m really into all the herbal stuff. It’s mostly that it isn’t one of those thin little lotions that goes on and then vanishes without really helping your dry skin. Very good for my nasty elbows. Also, no weird smells.
However, I know many male campers have a great deal of fondness for that Avon Skin-so-soft stuff, because it also acts as a natural bug repellant.
But if you’re really having serious dry skin troubles, Bag Balm is manly and farm-related.
Re: contact dermatitis
I had that once. I didn’t get all the dishwashing soap off my hands when I thought I had. Never again!
Contact dermatitis is an actual diagnosis, Barbara. It’s caused, as the name implies, due to contact with an irritant of some sort as opposed to being an allergic reaction or a reaction to medication (topical or ingested), etc.
According to my dermatologist. this is basically true however, his position is that whatever the cause of your itching, it’s still an allergic reaction. After all posion ivy is an allergic reaction to the oil from the plant’s leaves and stems that one gets when they come in contact with the plant.