Jul
30
2009
Itch. Ouch.
In the spirit of ‘picture worth a thousand words’, let me show you why I haven’t been typing anything longer than 140 characters this month.
It’s a form of excema called pompholyx or dishydrosis; it’s heat-triggered and has no cure. I’ve never had it this bad before. Please can I have autumn now?



Owow! makes me wonder if this guy is on to something: http://www.aloha.com/~craven/hams4.html . Summary: he thinks soaking the hands and feet in (very) cold water once a day is a good idea. Quotable quote: ‘an isothermal fish, is a dead fish’.
Interesting, but that guy seems a bit … off. Not exactly confidence-inspiring.
Perhaps ironically, I also have crap circulation in my extremities (possibly mild Raynaud’s) that makes for icy and painful fingers, toes, and sometimes ears. Like, walking down the frozen food aisle at the grocery makes my toes hurt. So I spend about ten months out of the year taking multiple hot baths per day and running hot water over my hands every hour or two. I can’t win!
Temperatures have been mostly below 70 here the past week, plus I’ve been militant about what I touch, especially soap — I’m having Jak shampoo my hair, and abstaining from hand-washing dishes. So our kitchen is a mess, but my hand is healing!
*nudge* How is it these days? Can you type more? It’s *nudge* September *nudge* you know… *looks at the date on this entry*
Again with the irony: my fingers are worse this week than they’ve been since July. I can still type though, albeit painfully. Am feeling like writing here today, perhaps.