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-   -   Health question re: Skin and nails (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=837978)

  • Mar 27, 2018, 02:29 PM
    foreverromantic
    Health question re: Skin and nails
    I eat healthy, No Junk food or processed foods. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables and no meat only chicken and fish.
    My nails are breaking off and I can't keep any type nail polish on, no matter which I buy.
    My skin is very dry. I do use a good lotion for this but it does not help.
    Any advice. I am a senior.
    Thanks
  • Mar 31, 2018, 12:40 AM
    Alty
    How much calcium are you getting daily? How about your daily water intake?

    Have you talked to a doctor about this?
  • Mar 31, 2018, 05:32 AM
    joypulv
    I'm 71 and had several mystery symptoms before getting eczema all over. Aside from drier and drier skin, I also had super sensitive skin come and go for months. Even when I turned my clothes inside out to avoid the seams, every little brush of the cloth hurt. Broken nails can mean psoriasis is next, unfortunately. That is similar to eczema but has thicker, more silvery crusts. Both itch intolerably, and many doctors claim they are incurable (not true).

    Broken nails alone can just be a fungal infection, but beware of that too, because fungus can be spreading without knowing it yet, and can be internal too.

    The medical community is all over the map on skin conditions! It seems to be easy to confuse all the skin diagnoses, as well as to have all sorts of treatments that aren't very good.

    As we age, our skin gets thinner and drier. The skin really is the first line of defense! The modern world uses too much soap, too many antibiotics and antibacterial soaps, and generally ruins the good bacteria that are on our skin and in our gut to keep the bad bacteria (such as staph, the one that goes wild on the skin) down.

    Fungus and bacteria are very very different and need totally different ointments. You can have small skin scrapings taken to be sent to a lab for identification, but usually doctors do that after treatment fails.

    Do hydrate more than you used to. With eczema, I drink 100+ ounces a day. It helps keep the itching down. I know you aren't itching, but this is prevention because you have some possible warning signs. You could also put petroleum jelly all over you at night, instead of lotion. Wear the same pj's or nightgown several days so that they aren't soaking up all the vaseline.

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