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Three nights ago I noticed that after washing my hands they felt really sticky, almost like when you use the last paper towel on the roll and you get that glue residue on your hands. However, it wasn't the last paper towel so I figured maybe the liquid soap was really old and doing funky things so I rewashed with dish soap and again grabbed a paper towel. Once again, my hands got sticky as I dried them off. Thinking now that there was something wrong with these paper towels, I washed again and this time dried with a hand towel only to yet again find my hands sticky as they dried off. The stickiness only lasts 30-60 seconds, until the skin completely dries, but during that in-between time of soaking wet and totally dry they feel very tacky to the touch and my fingers will actually stick to each other.
The next day when I took a shower I noticed that the water was beading up on the skin on my arms. Sure enough, when I dried off afterwards I found that all of my skin is tacky to the thouch until it is completely air dried.
Today I shaved my legs and my skin felt almost like it had a layer of wax on it that kept catching the razor. The skin on my hands seems to be getting more sticky when they get wet. Water continues to bead on my skin when it gets wet. I asked my children if they can feel that my skin is sticky to the touch and they said yes.
This is affecting all of my skin now, including my face. I always put a moisturizer on my face after washing and it does not feel like my skin is absorbing it now, it just feels heavy and greasy since the lotion just sits there on top. I also tried putting lotion on my hands and it was not absorbed at all, just left my hands feeling very slimy and greasy so I wiped it off.
Has anyone ever experienced anything like this or have any suggestions for what might be causing it? Thanks for any held you can give.
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Hi, Jenn.
I was wondering if you could tell me the applecider vinegar and tea recipe?
Thanks!
April 14, 2012 - 3:15pmLora
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Hi Jenn,
The allergy theory is most likely right for all of us. One of my 'allergies' is to the product of the microbes in the hot water tank - or the microbes themselves. My wife is not affected by them so is not allergic to that specific trigger. She was not effected at home or while we were away in Florida. I am lucky that I know what my trigger is and how to correct it.
The hard part is figuring out what is the allergen that uniquely affects each of us. In your case it may be one of the molds that is the trigger. I am leaning to the the belief that it is an external substance that causes our problems and the skin reacts to protect itself. Whether it is carried in water, as is my case, or the air, such as the many molds, or even carried in our clothes, as suggested in the washing machine scenario, it all comes down to the skin not liking being subjected to an allergen.
Some are lucky in that if they go to another location for a holiday they improve and then revert when back at home. I say lucky because it does narrow down the search some. In my case if I had not found a cure before leaving home I would have thought my problem was systemic since I would have continued being sticky while away. We must be aware that we can take the problem with us due to contaminated items we take along. It could be our clothes, automobile, suitcases, food items ... Molds are bad because the spores get into everything we have and are undetectable - except to some peoples systems.
Extreme scenario:
To 'go away' from ones problem one would have to start fresh, not taking anything from home - that means nothing at all! This would mean new suitcases and clothes bought and packed away from the house and not carried in your car, which may be contaminated also. If we do make the assumption it is an external trigger all contaminated articles and toiletries we usually use would have to be replaced for the trip - one or two weeks should show improvement if we have left the trigger at home. Non-allergenic toiletries and soaps would have to be bought - different from the ones normally used. Even a shower somewhere other than home and change to new clothes would be necessary before setting off. This may be the only way to have a chance of proving the problem is not systemic and it is in your home environment. Unfortunately it is still possible that the place you go may have the same trigger that you are leaving at home. As noted that is what would have happened to me if I had not found my trigger before I went away.
I don't know if I would go to that extent. I was not affected long enough to be driven to that kind of extreme. It is tough to know what to do since we have hundreds of possibilities that could cause our problems. Since the medical community does not have any answers one must keep eliminating possibilities. For many there is a 'cure' if that trigger can be found.
Take care,
Edward.
February 23, 2012 - 9:47pmThis Comment
I've had this same skin problem off and on for at least 5 years (I'm 37yr old male btw). It flared up a couple weeks ago but seems to be going away on it's own again.
I have also had this problem after coming into contact with resin hardener used in fiberglass and automotive body fillers. Same thing happens I get that sticky waxyness on my face shoulders and hands, which seems to be impervious to everything but oxy pads.
April 14, 2012 - 11:20pmThis Comment
Hey All,
I can tell you that today, while in the office of my daughter's school, I noticed a very musty smell (as though the carpet was damp). I have a pre-existing allergy to mold. Within about an hour I was clenching my stomach and developed a reeling headache. My skin is now waxy and oily.
Through diet, I have been able to keep the skin thing in check for the most part. When I feel it starting I drink an apple cider vinegar-type of tea mixture and it seems to balance out my system. Also, I know that dairy and a food additive called xantham gum makes my skin worse.
And the sun does make it better... A doc in Florida actually told me that. Vitamin D as well (in oil form).
It's sad and scary to me how much my health has changed in the last 3 years.
Jenn
February 22, 2012 - 4:19pmThis Comment
Edward here. Yup another male.
First - I no longer have sticky skin after returning home and using our water from the treated hot water tank. I have not had to re-treat it since I first reported doing it and all is well. First soak removed 80% of the stickies and the second, another day, removed the rest of my Florida stickies. I still have my tan though!
As we can see from the Mr B's post there are different reasons for variations on sticky. In my case I get sticky skin as soon as I hit the contaminated water, without any contact with towels or washcloths. It is not a problem with being itchy - my skin just feels like fly paper (some of you may not know what that is!) My skin also will get itchy if there is soap residue left in the laundry. Some soaps are worse than others and I have to be careful which ones we use. However I won't expand as this is a topic for a different thread in my case since it gets away from the sticky skin problem. If anyone wants I can expand on this later. I had to solve this skin problem also and did not have to add anything to cure it.
The comment of salt softened water being slimy may be true in some cases however we have used this method for the last forty years and have never had that feeling from it. It must depend on the source water. Soft or hard water does seem to have a very definite effect on the ease of fighting the sticky skin. One thing I found in Florida was that the bath water was clear, though hard, and nothing formed on the bathtub ring area until I got in and soaked some. Then a waxy residue would build up in place of scum ring expected in the hard water. Seems the scum would not bond to the waxy residue. Scraping off the wax just showed more would rapidly take its place. I believe the skin produces the wax like substance to protect itself from something it does not like in the water. If you scrub it off it just forms more if the irritant is still there. There are some drugs and diseases that trigger the same skin reaction leaving the skin sticky also. I am sticky after, even if I do not towel off and just air dry. Return to sticky if re-wetted from sweat or water.
For those with sticky skin and sticky washing machine here is a thought. When we dry off on a towel or get damp from sweat etc in our clothes the waxy skin residue migrates to the fabric. Washing the clothes releases the residue, and just as it does in the bath tub it plates out on the inside surfaces of the washing machine tub. As noted in the post titled 'This is my theory' : Using Calgon softens the water and naphtha based product will cut wax. The anti fungicide may even help protect later on since some will be left in towels and clothes fighting whatever is attacking our skin and making it sticky. I cannot prove it since I was able to get rid of sticky skin fairly quickly and it did not progress to effect the washing machine.
Remember that anything you add to the washing machine needs to be skin safe. Due to the law of diminishing returns, some of what you put in will always remain in the clothes and then be in contact with your skin, no mater how many times you rinse them.
Edward.
February 5, 2012 - 6:36pmThis Comment
Just returned from a Baymont Inn and the towels there were sticky. Did not even realize it until I dried off after a shower and my skin began to itch as if I had been bitten by mosquitoes. I checked the bath towel and it was rough and felt sticky when damp. Then I checked a hand towel figuring that they probably aren’t washed as much or used as often, and the hand towel was soft and fluffy. From that I think it would be reasonable to say that he bath towel was causing the ithy skin and that he built up soap or detergent residue is causing the problem.
February 5, 2012 - 2:31pmFor the same issue at home I have Calgon Powder Water Softener and white distilled vinegar in the wash to remove the soap residue, and it works. The vinegar is supposed to remove excess soap residue in the fabric, so I experimented and tried it on a wash cloth in the shower with excellent results to stop the itch skin.
I noticed the water is slimy feeling which is typical of hard water that is treated with the salt water softeners. So the Baymont Inn is probably using water softener thinking that he water needs to be treated to wash the towels and linens. But the real cause of the problem is the buildup of the soap residue in the towels’ from the soap residue. Tomorrow I will call the manager at the Inn to get discuss this. I have my own engineering firm and I can be persistent and meticulous with a problem.
I posted my first post about this on January 29th, anonymous. Not sure if a male has any business at a female web site, but I ended up here after a Google search.
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Hi, Edward.
February 4, 2012 - 4:03pmWhich posts are missing? I took a quick look, and I think I see them all.Which ones do you think are missing?
Lora
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Hi Lora,
February 4, 2012 - 4:23pmI posted a couple after Kacha's last comment about the hard water. I was referencing my findings to the ones presented by the lass with the washing machine theory. There were a couple on page 28 at that point. May have to rewrite them - just have a problem with doing things twice. However computers and the internet can make that necessary quite frequently.
Edward.
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Is anyone else having problems loosing posts on this site? A couple of mine should follow here and are missing. They were there for a while after I posted them.
February 4, 2012 - 6:31amEdward.
This Comment
Hi all. Edward again.
Here are some interesting findings from our resort stays:
1) A week at each of three resorts - all gave me sticky skin with the water. Two were in Orlando and may have had the same supply but were widely spread so could be different sources. Middle week was in Sebring.
2) The first water could be partly corrected with the after treatment with peroxide being added in the hot bath water. It seemed to be the softest water of the three.
3) I found Sebring's had the lower element in the hot water heater burnt out and that water made me the most sticky. Also it was the hardest and peroxide did not help. They fixed the water heater but could not treat it with peroxide so could not draw any conclusions.
4) The second week in Orlando seemed to have harder water than the first and after treatment of the bath water had marginal results.
5) The hardness of the water seems to make a difference in being able to wash the sticky off ones skin. The soap fights the hardness rather than the 'wax' on the skin I guess.
6) The peroxide has no direct effect on the sticky skin. It just kills off what is making the sticky substance on the skin. This allows the soap to remove the substance and prevent it being reformed (by the skin?).
7) Had a day visit to another resort during each of the first and third Orlando weeks. It was at a resort south of Orlando. In each case I took a shower there before using their pool. In their water I was able to get rid of the sticky feeling. The stickies returned when I used the water back in the Orlando resorts.
8) Back home now so should be able to get my skin back to normal since our water has been treated.
Will let you know if the sticky skin does not go away at home.
Edward.
January 30, 2012 - 6:11pmThis Comment