Stop Scratching!

For the last month or so Mom has been having a problem with her skin being very itchy. Originally, back in August, it was only her lower legs. So Sarah left her Pregnant Belly Oil for Mom. And it was working well for her legs. During the first trip to Las Vegas she began itching a little more, Lori's Benadryl cream seemed to ease the itch, though not totally get rid of it. Then when we went to Las Vegas on the 2nd trip for her birthday she began to itch all over. And scratch. To the point that she was breaking blood vessels and creating large bruises and bloody sores. I thought it was hives - a possible reaction to the transfusion - but Dr. Pham said it wasn't hives. Dr. Pham said that the problem was that Mom's skin was too dry, she needed to use moisturizing lotion twice a day, all over her body. We started with the ones she already had (St. Ives Skin Renewing Body Lotion, Cetaphil Moisturizing Lotion, & Vaseline Intensive Care Water Resistant Moisturizing Lotion) & although it relieved a lot of itching, they only seemed to work for a couple of hours & she would have to apply more. So I went on-line and found a review of moisturizing lotions. We picked up these 3 today to see how well they work for Mom: Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Daily Skin Therapy, Gold Bond Ultimate Hydrating Lotion, and Curel Itch Defense.

Lotions ranked #3, #4, & #5.

So far this evening Mom is saying that she is itching less, but its only been about 3 hours since she applied the Curel. I will post our results on the use of the lotions as they become more apparent. One of the things I learned quickly was that each of these 3 say they provide relief for 24 hours; none of the others that Mom had did. They also have specific formulations that help heal skin conditions such as eczema & dry skin resulting from diabetes.

Mom also had an appointment today at the NTC to check up on her thumb. Last week they used Medihoney to aid with debriding the wound. We had to leave it undisturbed for a week. When Nurse Mitzie took the bandage off it looked better than it did last week, though her thumb was a little pruney. After she debrided the wound, it was looking even better; it was also a little drier.

Wound before debriding.

Wound after cleaning & debriding.

Besides applying new Medihoney, Nurse Mitzie also applied a zinc ointment (similar to diaper rash ointment) to the area around the wound to protect Mom's skin from moisture. Mom has not been very good about keeping her bandage clean and dry. Because of the dementia, I have to be there to remind her to put a glove on when she uses the bathroom or washes her hands or takes a shower, but she's been able to get by me at least once a day. We go back again next Monday for her next check up.

Happy Birthday to Laurel!