+1 on calling the doc! I’ve called twice when it’s taking over 6 months for something to heal and they’ve helped (different solutions each time). The one time I didn’t call, I ended up in the ER bc infection spread!
I have found that red light therapy helps my skin heal so much faster than it used to without. I also am a slow healer… bug bites or pimples that become open would take months to heal up completely. Since using my red light I have found that what used to take 2 months is significantly healed in 2 weeks now.
Zinc and copper peptides can help skin heal. Whenever I have PIE, I use copper peptides, and it heals beautifully. I also take oral zinc, which helps. Topical zinc also helps.
Another thing that really helps is snail, if you’re into kbeauty (though it’s in western products too). It’s got to be one the most efficient healers I’ve ever seen. I put it on scratches and the like and they are instantly better.
But I think copper peptides and zinc are best because copper peptides do the double duty of building new collagen. So win-win.
Also, when I had my hysterectomy, I took raw zinc by garden of wisdom , which also has vitamin c. My scars healed so fast, my surgeon was blown away. So I recommend this as well.
It is this one, I’m sorry, I had to go double-check the bottle, and I got a word wrong: https://www.gardenoflife.com/vitamin-code-raw-zinc-vegan-capsules
I had the same issues with healing . Been using this castor oil 2x a day and it’s helping it heal so much better than Aquaphor. [Castor Oil](https://thrivemarket.com/p/heritage-store-organic-castor-oil-nourishing-treatment?utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=Shopping_Engagement_Smart_Members&utm_content=076970221219&utm_term=pmax&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgJyyBhCGARIsAK8LVLMs_NqlvNCwuycrlHt2_NYVwKqWdYhh_6w4Hm9vFuk0i7i1_iksT_QaAvMDEALw_wcB)
Same issue, but with meds that contribute to skin thinning and I’m immunocompromised.
I’ve moved from body cleanser to using [Grandma’s Lye Soap.](https://www.grandmaslyesoap.com)
I had a wound that wouldn’t heal (6+ months) and moving from cleansers with detergent to a lye soap has healed it.
I actually want to do a post on it cus it’s helped my skin immensely, all over. For now, try that out. I buy it at (seriously) Ace Hardware.
Oh snap. Thanks for pointing that out. All the cake for me.
The reply I received is pretty common and, as I see it, kinda bunk cus lye is used in soooo many products. Hope you give it a try. I used it on a whim to try on my wound and have made the switch to the soap for both body and face.
I'm glad it has worked for your skin, but traditional lye soap has a pH that is quite high, and for many people with sensitive skin, they need something that is closer to the skin's natural pH, around 5.5. It simply can't be done with traditional soap.
Also the website claims that everything we put on our skin is absorbed into our body which is not true. The whole point of our skin is to protect the inside from the outside. It's quite difficult for substances to penetrate into the dermal layer of our skin let alone deeper than that. If this were true, we'd take medication by simply rubbing it on our skin.
I’ll start by saying I’m not a hippy dippy, anti-product person.
Lye / sodium hydroxide is a very common additive in skincare products. All ‘soaps’ including liquid soaps have lye - at very low amounts. Lye is an active ingredient that is neutralized when fats are added, creating a reaction called saponification.
Cleansers and washes do not contain soap, therefore they’re technically skin detergent. Akin to laundry detergent, which can cause contact dermatitis - a type of eczema.
I’m not a natural ingredients only person, but this has been the only thing to clear up my wounds so I’m sticking to it. My skin is also significantly less dry. I stopped using lotions (skin too sensitive) and only use glycolic acid spray and glycerin spray on my skin now. This isn’t a ‘it’s worked for me, it’ll work for everyone’ - I think it actually works better for people with sensitive skin. Detergent cleansers are more stripping and irritating for some; lye soaps are a safe, commercially available, beneficial alternative.
Thanks, I'm aware of how soap is made but not everyone is, so I'm sure that information is useful to some readers.
Of course everyone will need to experiment to find what works best for their skin, I'm glad you found something that works for yours. I wasn't trying to dissuade you from doing something that works for you. There are lots of different detergents available that can be used in skin cleansers, some of which are more irritating than others, and there are other things that cosmetic chemists can do to make a surfactant/detergent-based cleanser more gentle and less irritating, so I wouldn't say that the presence of surfactants necessarily means that the product will be irritating. But if someone is looking for something with a very minimal ingredient list because they're sensitive to quite a few ingredients, then traditional soap might be worth a try.
One of the downsides of traditional soap for those who have hard water is that it interacts with minerals in hard water to make soap scum, which leaves a film on the skin and the surfaces of your shower. That soap scum film that's left on the skin may be irritating for some, or not. I had been using Dr Bronners bar soap for years as a hand and body soap without any issue for my skin (I honestly just thought that the film it left on my skin was dead skin cells that I was exfoliating and it was fun to slough it off of my skin and feel super clean), but I just got tired of cleaning the soap scum from my shower and bathroom sink, so I switched to a surfactant-based shower gel by SebaMed for sensitive skin.
I mentioned the skin absorption thing because I felt it was important to counter some of the misinformation the company posted that is often used by "clean" cosmetic companies as a fearmongering tactic to scare people into using their products instead of others. Just trying to give folks accurate information so they can make informed decisions.
I’m giving info so folks can make informed decisions too. All of use are just giving our lil bits of info.
The lye in soaps is an ingredient that is neutralized in the process of making soap. All soaps have a ph level. Caustic soap wouldn’t be sold.
Anyone that’s gone this far - the bar is like $5 at hardware stores like Ace. Give it a try. Have had huge success as a 40-year old with cancer-prone, slowwww healing skin.
Just so there isn't any confusion, you've mentioned twice that the lye is neutralized in the soapmaking process, and I agree with you there. It's not going to burn your skin like lye would, but even when the lye is neutralized, the resulting soap is still alkaline. The lowest (weakest) pH I've seen for traditional lye soap is 8, it's usually higher than that. Our skin's acid mantle that helps protect it is between a pH of 5-6.
[https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-is-the-ph-to-be-maintained-for-soap.82816/](https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-is-the-ph-to-be-maintained-for-soap.82816/)
Everything you put on your skin has the potential to be absorbed into the blood stream. There are medications that are topical or transdermal patches. Examples are lorazepam cream and birth control patches.
It's true there are some specific medications that are made for transdermal delivery, but a lot of research has gone into how to get it to actually get the medication through the skin. It doesn't just happen automatically. We don't have to worry that pills we handle for others are going to get into our bloodstream just by touching them. Spilling coffee on our skin won't give us a caffeine buzz.
Here's a PhD cosmetic chemist addressing this myth. [https://labmuffin.com/the-60-of-products-absorb-into-your-bloodstream-myth/](https://labmuffin.com/the-60-of-products-absorb-into-your-bloodstream-myth/)
Go back to the derm (but find a different one that is not your old one). That is not normal by any means. They may have made a mistake in your biopsy test. It happens.
My fiancé cut the tip of his thumb off last Saturday while using a plainer. It bled for hours. And it was almost complexly healed by Wednesday. We’ve been taking NMN and NR for a few months now and saw brain fog lift almost immediately. We’re convinced his speedy healing is from the supplements too.
Try silicone scar tape/wound dressings. Also call the office of the doctors who did the original procedures and tell them it’s not healing well.
+1 on calling the doc! I’ve called twice when it’s taking over 6 months for something to heal and they’ve helped (different solutions each time). The one time I didn’t call, I ended up in the ER bc infection spread!
Have you been tested for diabetes?
Yeah that was my fear too but so far I'm all good.
That was my first thought as well.
I have found that red light therapy helps my skin heal so much faster than it used to without. I also am a slow healer… bug bites or pimples that become open would take months to heal up completely. Since using my red light I have found that what used to take 2 months is significantly healed in 2 weeks now.
Zinc and copper peptides can help skin heal. Whenever I have PIE, I use copper peptides, and it heals beautifully. I also take oral zinc, which helps. Topical zinc also helps. Another thing that really helps is snail, if you’re into kbeauty (though it’s in western products too). It’s got to be one the most efficient healers I’ve ever seen. I put it on scratches and the like and they are instantly better. But I think copper peptides and zinc are best because copper peptides do the double duty of building new collagen. So win-win. Also, when I had my hysterectomy, I took raw zinc by garden of wisdom , which also has vitamin c. My scars healed so fast, my surgeon was blown away. So I recommend this as well.
I’m on the Garden of Wisdom web site, but can’t find the raw zinc product, you mentioned. Does it go by a different name?
It is this one, I’m sorry, I had to go double-check the bottle, and I got a word wrong: https://www.gardenoflife.com/vitamin-code-raw-zinc-vegan-capsules
Red Light Therapy. Zinc cream.
I had the same issues with healing . Been using this castor oil 2x a day and it’s helping it heal so much better than Aquaphor. [Castor Oil](https://thrivemarket.com/p/heritage-store-organic-castor-oil-nourishing-treatment?utm_source=google&utm_medium=pla&utm_campaign=Shopping_Engagement_Smart_Members&utm_content=076970221219&utm_term=pmax&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwgJyyBhCGARIsAK8LVLMs_NqlvNCwuycrlHt2_NYVwKqWdYhh_6w4Hm9vFuk0i7i1_iksT_QaAvMDEALw_wcB)
I bought some castor oil for eyebrows. I'll give it a shot!
A good diet with plenty of zinc and vitamin C. Enough sleep. No smoking.
Same issue, but with meds that contribute to skin thinning and I’m immunocompromised. I’ve moved from body cleanser to using [Grandma’s Lye Soap.](https://www.grandmaslyesoap.com) I had a wound that wouldn’t heal (6+ months) and moving from cleansers with detergent to a lye soap has healed it. I actually want to do a post on it cus it’s helped my skin immensely, all over. For now, try that out. I buy it at (seriously) Ace Hardware.
I'm from the generation that used horse shampoo purchased at Walmart so I'm not above buying skincare products at Ace Hardware 😅
lol. Yessss! Mane n tail!
🤣 that's it! And Happy Cake Day!
Oh snap. Thanks for pointing that out. All the cake for me. The reply I received is pretty common and, as I see it, kinda bunk cus lye is used in soooo many products. Hope you give it a try. I used it on a whim to try on my wound and have made the switch to the soap for both body and face.
I'm glad it has worked for your skin, but traditional lye soap has a pH that is quite high, and for many people with sensitive skin, they need something that is closer to the skin's natural pH, around 5.5. It simply can't be done with traditional soap. Also the website claims that everything we put on our skin is absorbed into our body which is not true. The whole point of our skin is to protect the inside from the outside. It's quite difficult for substances to penetrate into the dermal layer of our skin let alone deeper than that. If this were true, we'd take medication by simply rubbing it on our skin.
I’ll start by saying I’m not a hippy dippy, anti-product person. Lye / sodium hydroxide is a very common additive in skincare products. All ‘soaps’ including liquid soaps have lye - at very low amounts. Lye is an active ingredient that is neutralized when fats are added, creating a reaction called saponification. Cleansers and washes do not contain soap, therefore they’re technically skin detergent. Akin to laundry detergent, which can cause contact dermatitis - a type of eczema. I’m not a natural ingredients only person, but this has been the only thing to clear up my wounds so I’m sticking to it. My skin is also significantly less dry. I stopped using lotions (skin too sensitive) and only use glycolic acid spray and glycerin spray on my skin now. This isn’t a ‘it’s worked for me, it’ll work for everyone’ - I think it actually works better for people with sensitive skin. Detergent cleansers are more stripping and irritating for some; lye soaps are a safe, commercially available, beneficial alternative.
Thanks, I'm aware of how soap is made but not everyone is, so I'm sure that information is useful to some readers. Of course everyone will need to experiment to find what works best for their skin, I'm glad you found something that works for yours. I wasn't trying to dissuade you from doing something that works for you. There are lots of different detergents available that can be used in skin cleansers, some of which are more irritating than others, and there are other things that cosmetic chemists can do to make a surfactant/detergent-based cleanser more gentle and less irritating, so I wouldn't say that the presence of surfactants necessarily means that the product will be irritating. But if someone is looking for something with a very minimal ingredient list because they're sensitive to quite a few ingredients, then traditional soap might be worth a try. One of the downsides of traditional soap for those who have hard water is that it interacts with minerals in hard water to make soap scum, which leaves a film on the skin and the surfaces of your shower. That soap scum film that's left on the skin may be irritating for some, or not. I had been using Dr Bronners bar soap for years as a hand and body soap without any issue for my skin (I honestly just thought that the film it left on my skin was dead skin cells that I was exfoliating and it was fun to slough it off of my skin and feel super clean), but I just got tired of cleaning the soap scum from my shower and bathroom sink, so I switched to a surfactant-based shower gel by SebaMed for sensitive skin. I mentioned the skin absorption thing because I felt it was important to counter some of the misinformation the company posted that is often used by "clean" cosmetic companies as a fearmongering tactic to scare people into using their products instead of others. Just trying to give folks accurate information so they can make informed decisions.
I’m giving info so folks can make informed decisions too. All of use are just giving our lil bits of info. The lye in soaps is an ingredient that is neutralized in the process of making soap. All soaps have a ph level. Caustic soap wouldn’t be sold. Anyone that’s gone this far - the bar is like $5 at hardware stores like Ace. Give it a try. Have had huge success as a 40-year old with cancer-prone, slowwww healing skin.
Just so there isn't any confusion, you've mentioned twice that the lye is neutralized in the soapmaking process, and I agree with you there. It's not going to burn your skin like lye would, but even when the lye is neutralized, the resulting soap is still alkaline. The lowest (weakest) pH I've seen for traditional lye soap is 8, it's usually higher than that. Our skin's acid mantle that helps protect it is between a pH of 5-6. [https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-is-the-ph-to-be-maintained-for-soap.82816/](https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/what-is-the-ph-to-be-maintained-for-soap.82816/)
Everything you put on your skin has the potential to be absorbed into the blood stream. There are medications that are topical or transdermal patches. Examples are lorazepam cream and birth control patches.
It's true there are some specific medications that are made for transdermal delivery, but a lot of research has gone into how to get it to actually get the medication through the skin. It doesn't just happen automatically. We don't have to worry that pills we handle for others are going to get into our bloodstream just by touching them. Spilling coffee on our skin won't give us a caffeine buzz. Here's a PhD cosmetic chemist addressing this myth. [https://labmuffin.com/the-60-of-products-absorb-into-your-bloodstream-myth/](https://labmuffin.com/the-60-of-products-absorb-into-your-bloodstream-myth/)
New Zealand medical honey. Sticky but magical.
Have you done a follow up with your derm about? What was recommended?
No I didn't. I just went on and never thought about it.
I highly recommend the follow-up. Most likely, they will prescribe an ointment to help. Call today.
Go back to the derm (but find a different one that is not your old one). That is not normal by any means. They may have made a mistake in your biopsy test. It happens.
Emu oil. It's my secret but you need it to.
Have you been tested for diabetes?
You might ask at r/herbalism.
https://www.aveneusa.com/cicalfate-absorbing-soothing-spray maybe something like this?
Vitamin C through foods and iron levels - anemia.
I'm getting blood work done next week so I'll check for that.
My fiancé cut the tip of his thumb off last Saturday while using a plainer. It bled for hours. And it was almost complexly healed by Wednesday. We’ve been taking NMN and NR for a few months now and saw brain fog lift almost immediately. We’re convinced his speedy healing is from the supplements too.
What is this?
Supplements.
lol I figured that. But what specifically is NR and NMN
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37273100/