Saltwater Soak for Dishydrotic Eczema and a Rant

Ok, rant first. I was able to sleep for all of 2 hours before my hands started in. This dishydrosis has gone beyond the point of irritating and now has gotten to the point of being flat-out infuriating! Stress supposedly aggravates dishydrotic eczema, yes? And sleep deprivation causes stress, yes? So how on God’s green earth am I supposed to get better from this stuff if it won’t let me sleep?!?!? ARGH!!!!

In addition to the insanity of my hands, I’ve been indescribably thirsty. Since I cannot have my beloved Coke—which I miss sorely, by the way—I’ve been chugging the heck out of some water. This is why I don’t like drinking water…because the more I drink, the thirstier I am. Coke, tea, and coffee don’t do me that way.

Of course, the hydration marathon means that I’m trotting to the bathroom every 20 minutes because my bladder can only hold so much. So…even if my hands were perfect, I still wouldn’t be able to sleep too long on account of bathroom runs. Soooooo frustrating!

Saltwater for Dishydrosis

Now that’s out of my system, let me tell you what I did. I’ve been using the vinegar soaks, as you know, with varied levels of success. However, it wasn’t doing what I’d hoped it would do as quickly as I’d hoped. My dishydrosis continues to spread and worsen even with the vinegar drying out the open blisters.

I had read on several forums for dishydrotic eczema about different remedies, and saltwater was one of them. I got to thinking about it and figured why not. When I go to the beach, any problems with my skin are so much better after a dip in the ocean, so it made sense. And, since I have good sea salt for drinking now, I needed some use for the icky stuff with the anti-caking agent added.

That stuff is awesome! This is, of course, a preliminary opinion, but I think this may be my soak of choice from here on out. The drying power of the saltwater far exceeds that of the vinegar, and it is a much more pleasant experience all the way around. There was some stinging involved, but nothing like the vinegar. I let my hands continue to dry out until they started to feel itchy again, and then I slathered on the most intensive moisturizer I have.

I think I may have to put some more on soon, but for now it’s working beautifully. Still have some tightness and burning, but it’s going to take a while for this crap to heal. I just wish I could figure out how to keep new blisters from forming. Hoping the cleanse will help to that end. Right now it feels like that’s the only hope I have.