Improved
6114 HealthChanged
3786 LivesSaved
3570 Lives0 lives impacted in the last 24 hrs Learn More
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.
All user-generated information on this site is the opinion of its author only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. Members and guests are responsible for their own posts and the potential consequences of those posts detailed in our Terms of Service.
Add a Comment472 Comments
Thanks for all of the info Edward, Kacha here. Hopefully this will help some of us! It is a very useful piece of info, that atleast one type of sticky skin can be caused by microbes. Im wondering if it is, as you think, the body trying to protect itself by producing stickyness, or if its the microbes that are sticky, I dont know if you ever heard about microbe film that can build upp in wasching machines, and can be really hard to get rid of, also makes the clothes smell rotten wfter using the machine... maybe microbes can make a film or coating on the skin too?
January 4, 2012 - 11:23amI dont think it is the water heater for me, since it never seems to have done the trick to change location, or atleast not until this year, had been living in a new place for about six months when I got better but still on the same location and worse again. (City building) but I will definetely think it over again, and make some investigations about the tank on my last location and here. and as I said I think your post is very helpful. Interesting that clorox wont to the trick but peroxide. Thinking maybe I should try it on my hands, if I have some sort of microbe there, from the water or from something else. of course it has to be diluted so I wonder if the 3% you can buy in pharmacys would be enough.
Still sticky from my last "episode" but my lips was a little bit better for a couple of days. Now they are worse again. Trying to sort out changes during that time.
Take care everyone! (Keeping my fingers crossed for you Lora, that the waterheater cleaning and temperature really will do the trick for you! ) And to the person posting about why anyone istn posting about supplements, please read again, there are tons of info and suggestions about that here.
/Kacha
This Comment
Hi Kacha,
Hadn't heard about the washing machine bug. Maybe a bottle of peroxide in a cycle might help that as well!
The peroxide I use is the drugstore variety and one medium size bottle does the trick in a water heater. So I would think it could even be diluted some if one wanted to try it as a 'rinse' on affected skin. It shouldn't hurt as it is used to clean out cuts etc all the time. I suppose it is possible it is the critter itself on the skin that is sticky rather than a skin defense. I can't test out any theories since I am free of sticky skin - at least for the present moment!
Take care,
Edward
January 5, 2012 - 6:29pmThis Comment
Hi Kacha and Lora (sorry I got your name wrong Lora. I have a niece Laura and it was automatic to spell that way!)
This 'after treatment' has got me thinking about other ways to treat the water for a trial to see if it is your water causing the problem. When treated in the tank the water can be used fairly soon after with positive results. If one was to treat a bath tub of water and then bathe in it you should have the same results.
I am not at home so cannot try any tests for about a month. And since I do not have sticky skin now I would not be able to prove anything either way. Other than the peroxide in the bath water not causing problems.
If I was on an untreated system I would try this:
1. Run a tub of water hot enough that you can not keep your hand in it for more than a couple of seconds without discomfort. You will only need 1/2 to 2/3 of the tub full since your body will fill the rest.
2. Pour in 1/2 cup of the drug store peroxide and stir it around. This should neutralize the water the same as if the tank had been treated.
3. Keep checking the temperature of the tub until you can comfortably put your forearm in to the water.
4. Do not add or use any soap during the next phase.
5. Immerse your entire body in the tub. See if you have the common 'waterproof' effect where the water beads up and runs off your skin leaving it dry when you lift a part out of the water. Soak for as long as 20 minutes. You should feel quite hot by this point.
6. Use a clean wash cloth to scrub your body down. The temperature, time and scrub is a common way to exfoliate your skin removing the dead skin cells. Do not scrub an area that is already sore or raw. See if you are still waterproof and or sticky.
7. I think my waterproof/sticky was reduced on the first bath after treating the tank. It completely disappeared in one or two more baths. Therefore you may have to do this more than once to get a complete effect but should notice a change even during the first attempt if theory is correct.
Since I cannot try this sequence first it is 'TRY AT YOUR OWN RISK'. The only thing I have not tried is the adding of peroxide at this point. So that is your major consideration to make your decision.
The least you should get is probably the softest skin you have had in a long while, since your natural oils have not been depleted and your hard dead skin has been removed! Also you will be clean. With the long soak and scrub, along with the dead skin goes the dirt and sweat etc leaving you clean without soap.
If anyone is brave enough to try this let us know how it works in your case. Everyone is different, and the reason for sticky skin may also be different, so the results may be good for some and have no effect for others.
Edward
January 6, 2012 - 9:06pmThis Comment
Hi All, Edward here.
Serendipity! Arrived in Florida and decided to have a hot soak after a long drive. Within about 5 minutes, in the water, I was waterproof once again. Two days later tried another soak and was waterproof and sticky.
Since I cannot do much with the water system - it is Orlando city water - I decided to try the peroxide in a bath of water. I am limited in time to experiment so ran a bath of nothing but hot water and added 1 cup of peroxide. Still was sticky and waterproof - maybe a little less sticky but too little diference to be definitive. Added another cup of peroxide and continued the soak. I guess I will see if being a blonde is more fun! Just kidding, there were no side-effects during or after with the peroxide.
The result was disappointing. No real difference after scrubbing. Still sticky and waterproof. My first tries at home with different soaps made no difference to waterproof or sticky however I soaped down with some shampoo supplied by the resort. Both sticky and waterproof disappeared!
Now I have two variables - the peroxide and the shampoo. Is it possible that particular shampoo was better than all the different ones I tried at home or did the peroxide fix the water and allow the shampoo to remove the 'wax like' covering on the skin?
I only have on shot left before we leave this resort and are out of the Orlando area. So I will try a soak to see if the waterproof returns and then use the same shampoo to see if it will fix the problem. If it doesn't then add peroxide and then see if the shampoo can correct the waterproof problem. Wish me luck.
Remember that it is not the Orlando water that is the culprit. More likely the hot water tank in the condo - each one has its own. When I ran just hot water in the bath I could put my hand in for a couple of seconds before having to withdraw it. So the heater may be at the 125 degree critical temperature. causes sticky but not smell. Often one gets the rotten egg smell in Florida water systems for what ever reason.
Stay tuned, I will report the results on the weekend.
Edward.
January 12, 2012 - 4:13pmThis Comment
Edward again. Sorry - another long post.
January 13, 2012 - 8:08pmGave it my last shot at this resort. Soaked and scrubbed - was waterproof and sticky. Used the shampoo provided by the resort and lost both waterproof and sticky! But wait - I continued soaking and in 15 minutes I started to go waterproof again. Seems like I scrubbed the substance from my skin, with the soap, but the skin kept producing it since the water was still contaminated.
This is the longest soak ever! I added more hot water and 16 ounces of peroxide. Continued soaking and a scrub did not clear up the waterproof. Scrubbed all over with the shampoo again, waterproof and sticky disappeared, and then kept soaking. After another 30 minutes of soaking and checking for waterproof I was still 'normal'.
Looks like there may be some merit in this approach. One would not need to do the full body soak to test it out or soak as long as I have done. Simply add a little peroxide to a bowl of hot water and in a few minutes wash an effected part of ones body. See if the stickiness is gone or reduced. It would show that your water is a problem and needs correcting.
I will see what happens at the next resort however I doubt that I will be as 'lucky' again and be able to test out the theory further.
This condition can be beat!
Edward
This Comment
eat nuts promote natural oil only pray hard
January 1, 2012 - 10:55pmfor medicine buddha beside that i can't
think of other's method.
This Comment
Hello, Edward.
January 1, 2012 - 3:26pmThanks for your prompt reply. I'll contact my plumber to check the elements. Regret that I didn't have your well detailed directions before I had him use the clorox -$140 bill. Thanks!
Lora
This Comment
Hi Laura,
A little more info on the water heater. The elements are controlled by 2 thermostats which need to be individually set to get the water temperature. Also it is possible for the contacts on one of these to go bad so it would need replacing or you may get low temperature at one of the levels. Your plumber should test them as well. I have not had one of those give me a problem however since Lowes and Home Depot etc carry replacements for all of those parts I guess a lot of them must burn out!
Edward.
January 2, 2012 - 5:33amThis Comment
Hi, Edward. Lora here. Thank you for the info. Three weeks ago I had a plumber clean out my tank. He used 3 gallons of clorax. I still have sticky skin. After reading your post, I tested water temp as you suggested, and it was 150 (In the past I too had turned the temp to 125 to save money). How does one check to know if an element is burnt out or not?
December 31, 2011 - 6:46pmThis Comment
Hi Lora,
January 1, 2012 - 1:14pmClorox will not do the trick. It must be peroxide. We have a chlorine pump on our system and it is chlorinated continuously. Try the peroxide to see if that solves your problem. I tried to get rid of our little zinc eating friends with clorox in our first house about 40 years ago - didn't work then and won't work now.
To test the elements it is safest to have someone who understands the testing do it so one does not get electrocuted! THE POWER MUST BE OFF TO YOUR WATER TANK BEFORE PROCEEDING! It is a resistance check across the terminals of each element. A burned out element will read infinite resistance whereas a good one will be in the neighborhood of 10 to 20 ohms.
Edward.
This Comment