Dry And Itchy Skin

[givenall]

We just moved from a house to a new condo on the 29^th floor in center of Bkk. All 3 of us that were in the same house before who are residing in this new condo are complaining about skin dryness and itchiness.

My question is if anyone has experienced this condition especially on a high rise. Is it because of water or the car pollution that does travel to the upper level?

And if anyone has experienced this what did you do to cure this condition

[Jingthing]

Interesting. I live in a highrise and have dry itchy skin. I never made the connection but you may be on to something, my condition developed after moving there. I went to a dermatologist here and she was useless. So I just started a regimen --

don't shower with hot water, use warm, cool or cold

limit use of soaps, they are drying

use non-soap cleaners instead

I used to use Eucerin shower oil (very expensive) but switched to this new age Turmeric kind of soap you can buy at Boots, its in a bar and it costs 55 baht per bar, I forget the brand name, they have other flavors as well but I am getting good results from Turmeric

moisturize at least once a day with high quality moisturizer, I use Boots organic body butter, right after showering while still rather wet

This has helped a lot.

Edited February 2, 2010 by Jingthing

[Sabum]

Hmmm I developed new allergies since moving to Bangkok 6 years ago. Occasionally breaking out in red itchy hives all over my body. Aside from that I regularly get really itchy spots on my face, if I resist the temptation to touch them they do nothing, if I itch or rub them they immediately swell up and to big ugly red spots that itch like mad, seems to come and go every couple of weeks or so. I have also had major dry itchy scalp, if I dont wash my hair every day it actually stinks.... I never had any of these problems before Thailand. Whats the deal? Pollution?

[Meridian007]

I would say either dryness from too much aircon, or heat rash from too little. It's hard to get the right balance. I just put up with having red skin after a shower because I like warm water and Ivory soap.

I rarely use my aircon because I get good airflow, but when I do, the rash gets worse.

[hawthorne]

You may need to check the humidity level in your apartment. I would suggest using a humidifier in the apartment for awhile and see if this works.

I guess you have central ac and the system may not be regulated with a Humidistat.

[dvdlock]

Hi guys,

This may be a long shot as we are still in the UK. My wife suffered from exactly this when we moved back to the UK from Malaysia. Obviously the UK is a cooler climate, some of you have linked the condition to the use of an AC.

I installed a water softener in the house and her skin irritation went away. It may be unlikely that your are suffering from hard Water problems but one of the functions the water softener was to remove chlorine.

Is is likely that a condo in a high rise has a water treatment system, pert of which doses chlorine into the water. It's possible that this is the cause of your skin irritations.

I'm sure you'd be able to find a carbon filter to remove the chlorine from your supply.

Hope this helps

Dave.

[manarak]

Hmm.

Last October I was in the LOS, and when I came back the skin under my feet became very dry and peeled off completely within 2 weeks.

4 or 5 times there were floodings and I walked with only my sandals on.

[jackr]

Yep, could be the chlorine in the condo's water, or possibly the lower humidity from being higher up.

[tonywebster]

I think in an out of aircon does not help, sweating and then cooling very quickly when you walk in a shop.

I live in a house and get heat rash and some dryness so i don't think it is the condo. I wonder if it the ph balance in the water.

[tonititan]

You may need to check the humidity level in your apartment. I would suggest using a humidifier in the apartment for awhile and see if this works.

I guess you have central ac and the system may not be regulated with a Humidistat.

I too noticed that my skin was constantly itchy when I moved to Thailand...some of my friends, too. Strange.

Anyway, I wanted to give one easy tip for someone who doesn't want to buy a humidifier or can't afford one. I sleep with the air con on at night, and it does get dry. Once when I was sick, my doctor said that I needed to place a few large bowls of water around the room (changing the water every couple days). It's probably not as efficient as a humidifier, but if definitely seems to help me with itchy skin!

[Latindancer]

Hmm.

Last October I was in the LOS, and when I came back the skin under my feet became very dry and peeled off completely within 2 weeks.

4 or 5 times there were floodings and I walked with only my sandals on.

Manarak, It sounds like you picked up a foot fungal condition when you walked around in floodwater. Exactly the same happened to me in Australia. Was the skin on your feet burning a little ?

[Latindancer]

Hmmm I developed new allergies since moving to Bangkok 6 years ago. Occasionally breaking out in red itchy hives all over my body. Aside from that I regularly get really itchy spots on my face, if I resist the temptation to touch them they do nothing, if I itch or rub them they immediately swell up and to big ugly red spots that itch like mad, seems to come and go every couple of weeks or so. I have also had major dry itchy scalp, if I dont wash my hair every day it actually stinks.... I never had any of these problems before Thailand. Whats the deal? Pollution?

Sabum, If your hair smells bad AND you have dry scalp you almost definitely have a fungal scalp condition. And the hives may be a reaction from the ever-present chilli in the food here.

[grantbkk]

Hmmm I developed new allergies since moving to Bangkok 6 years ago. Occasionally breaking out in red itchy hives all over my body. Aside from that I regularly get really itchy spots on my face, if I resist the temptation to touch them they do nothing, if I itch or rub them they immediately swell up and to big ugly red spots that itch like mad, seems to come and go every couple of weeks or so. I have also had major dry itchy scalp, if I dont wash my hair every day it actually stinks.... I never had any of these problems before Thailand. Whats the deal? Pollution?

I have exactly the same symptoms (except I have no hair to wash) after 7 years here. I live in a high-rise in Bangkok near the Saphan Taksin BTS station. I don't use the A/C that much and am leaning towards the heat rash theory. It drives me crazy!

[powderpuff]

I live in a highrise & I suffer dry skin.

I am currently seeing a dermatologist a Thai Nakarin Hosp. I pretty much agree with Jing. (grrrrr).

Thailand is a high humidity country & it makes no difference how high up you are.

I think my doc said I have eczema. He has given me some non detergent cleanser.

[quiksilva]

Interesting. I live in a highrise and have dry itchy skin. I never made the connection but you may be on to something, my condition developed after moving there. I went to a dermatologist here and she was useless. So I just started a regimen --

don't shower with hot water, use warm, cool or cold

limit use of soaps, they are drying

use non-soap cleaners instead

I used to use Eucerin shower oil (very expensive) but switched to this new age Turmeric kind of soap you can buy at Boots, its in a bar and it costs 55 baht per bar, I forget the brand name, they have other flavors as well but I am getting good results from Turmeric

moisturize at least once a day with high quality moisturizer, I use Boots organic body butter, right after showering while still rather wet

This has helped a lot.

Second the suggestion for switching to cool water showers, as it helps to preserve the skins natural oils. It worked for me and my family.

[Latindancer]

Does your towel smell ? If your towel smells after only 2 days' use, it's because either fungus or bacteria has been growing on the skin flakes in it. You then transfer it to your head, whether you have hair or not. The bacteria will survive a towel washing and travel into the skin down a hair shaft ( yes, you still have very fine ones) or through a pore.

Use Phisohex skin wash and boil your towels for 10 minutes in a big pot.

[hawthorne]

If it is itchy skin and it seems to occur in hot humid places then I suffer from the same when ever I am in Thiland and other similar countries. My dermetolgist put me on Telfast 120mg. Fairly cheap in Thailand. I do not need a perscription in Thailand but in the US I do. I use it only when the itching and do not continue to take it. I have other friends that use it daily. It has made life more bearable. He also perscribed a cream that helps triamcinolone acetonide cream USP, 0.1%

I was also told that my body would aclimate itself and this condition would only last for about one year. Well Iam going on this aclimation now for 4 years. Atleast the medicince helps.

[Jingthing]

Everyone's skin is different, everyone's environment is different. So not everyone has the same condition and different people exposed to your environment won't have any problem.

Personally, I rarely run the aircon and the problem is worse when it is humid. Cool weather doesn't stop it. I suggested cool water because that is less irritating than hot water for people who have sensitive skin, not because of any short term redness you may get from a hot shower.

My useless dermatologist suggested I take Zyrtec for life. That was horrible, it made me feel like a Zombie (thus the Z). Really, I do suggest people try the regimen I use, it's easy, not expensive especially if you use the turmeric soap, and it may really work (as it does for me). Give it at least a week, more like two, to determine whether it really works, it is not instant. BTW, I find moisturizing once a day is good enough, sources on the net suggest twice.

Edited February 3, 2010 by Jingthing

[filingaccount]

You eat a lot of processed cheese don't you? As in those indivudually packaged slices of cheese for about a 100 baht.

Hmmm I developed new allergies since moving to Bangkok 6 years ago. Occasionally breaking out in red itchy hives all over my body. Aside from that I regularly get really itchy spots on my face, if I resist the temptation to touch them they do nothing, if I itch or rub them they immediately swell up and to big ugly red spots that itch like mad, seems to come and go every couple of weeks or so. I have also had major dry itchy scalp, if I dont wash my hair every day it actually stinks.... I never had any of these problems before Thailand. Whats the deal? Pollution?

[CobraSnakeNecktie]

itching is a mild form of pain and signals inflammation factors in the body.

Could be a lot of different things like water quality (install a filter for shower etc)

Small insects like dust mites ( clean everything thoroughly perhaps with bleach)

Fungus or molds ( do any of the fabric or clothes taking on a different smell?)

Inspect the diet for pro inflammatory influences like sugar, fried fats, wheat/gluten intolerance which causes a lot of skin problems. Decrease pro inflammatory foods and increase anti inflammatory foods.

Humidity issues as others have stated

Chemical or pollution exposure which might require changing residence. I would wonder if many other people in the same building have a simliar complaint.

The issue is really more of an overall mix of factors which has seemed to put your group into the inflammation zone. Will take some detective work to figure out the solution.

[Sabum]

Id like to further clarify my symptoms as some of you have told me that you have the same symptoms as me and I want to be sure

HIVES: My hives seem to come in situations where my skin got dirty and then I workout and whatever was on my skin enters my pores. For example I changed the vacuum bag and dust got on my face, 5 hours later I started some heavy cardio training and got the hives, another time I showered and used moisturiser on my face and then went to the gym all in thr span of 30 minutes, once I started training it happened again. If I go to smoky bars and start to dance and sweat... I get it and have to leave and get an anti inflamation pill in me and rest at home.

RED ITCHY BUMPS ON FACE:

The bumps I get on my face are more like extremely itchy DEEP pimples that never get a head, or rarely do. I will get a bump on my forehead or cheeks beside my nose, the only places the bumps appear. Usually 2 or 3 bumps at the same time, they will itch like mad and if I touch them they swell up drastically and turn red. I know what a pimple is, these are not like regular zits, if I leave it alone it goes fairly quickly, but its hel_l trying to resist the ithcing. This only happens once every 2 or 3 weeks as far as I can tell.

STINKY ITCHY SCALP:

I only get this during hot season, right now its actually not bothering me, but my head will stink after one day ntil I wash my hair again when its hot. I figured it was some fungas, what kind of medicated shampoo should I use to clear it up?

Do people have symptoms like these? A lot of people talk about dry skin and red "patches" but these are not my symptoms, I dont actually notice dry skin unless I just shaved and showered my face but then I use moisturiser. And I dont get a red rash, only the "bumps".

[Sabum]

You eat a lot of processed cheese don't you? As in those indivudually packaged slices of cheese for about a 100 baht

No never, always hated processed cheese.

[GarryP]

I have suffered from eczema since I was about 3 and had problems with dry skin. Since I came to Thailand, after the first 3 months of a horrendous flare up, I have not suffered another recurrence in more than 25 years here. My GP in the UK assured me that my skin would clear up when I arrived in Thailand due to the moisture in the air (humidity), and despite the said flare up, he was right. However, in the cool season I do suffer from dry itchy skin for the very reason that it is a period of low humidity. The way round the problem is to avoid hot showers if at all possible and moisturize once a day. Luckily the cool season in Thailand does not last long. By analogy, if the difference between where the OP is currently living and his former home is the level of humidty thru air con use, height, etc. the thing to do would be to rehumidify the home, or moisturize.

[Jingthing]

Both eczema and allergies probably have relation to a lot of these cases. It can't hurt to moisturize!

Edited February 3, 2010 by Jingthing

[MrRichard2009]

No .... their is less pollution at higher levels because it's heavier than air, it takes whats called brownian motion for it to move upwards. It's just less humid in a high rise.

[Jingthing]

No .... their is less pollution at higher levels because it's heavier than air, it takes whats called brownian motion for it to move upwards. It's just less humid in a high rise.

I suppose that's probably true but when it gets humid in your high floor highrise it must be very humid outside.

[Latindancer]

Id like to further clarify my symptoms as some of you have told me that you have the same symptoms as me and I want to be sure

HIVES: My hives seem to come in situations where my skin got dirty and then I workout and whatever was on my skin enters my pores. For example I changed the vacuum bag and dust got on my face, 5 hours later I started some heavy cardio training and got the hives, another time I showered and used moisturiser on my face and then went to the gym all in thr span of 30 minutes, once I started training it happened again. If I go to smoky bars and start to dance and sweat... I get it and have to leave and get an anti inflamation pill in me and rest at home.

RED ITCHY BUMPS ON FACE:

The bumps I get on my face are more like extremely itchy DEEP pimples that never get a head, or rarely do. I will get a bump on my forehead or cheeks beside my nose, the only places the bumps appear. Usually 2 or 3 bumps at the same time, they will itch like mad and if I touch them they swell up drastically and turn red. I know what a pimple is, these are not like regular zits, if I leave it alone it goes fairly quickly, but its hel_l trying to resist the ithcing. This only happens once every 2 or 3 weeks as far as I can tell.

STINKY ITCHY SCALP:

I only get this during hot season, right now its actually not bothering me, but my head will stink after one day ntil I wash my hair again when its hot. I figured it was some fungas, what kind of medicated shampoo should I use to clear it up?

Do people have symptoms like these? A lot of people talk about dry skin and red "patches" but these are not my symptoms, I dont actually notice dry skin unless I just shaved and showered my face but then I use moisturiser. And I dont get a red rash, only the "bumps".

I get those kind of pimples too....always figured it was because of various spices in food here. Though I sometimes get em in Australia. A naturopath there told me it was a sluggish bowel, and toxins being eliminated through the skin.

Use a hair shampoo for dandruff such as Selsun Blue (leave it on for a while), or just Google "skin fungus" or "scalp fungus".

[Sabum]

Toxins being released through the skin? Hmmm.

[aka_jack]

I have sometimes and i live in a single story house, sure its something to do with the water, but i use johnsons baby soap and seems to work for me !

[Loz]

You need Dr House to run the differential. He'll have you sorted in 44 minutes or there will be no Season 7.