Those Itchy Trigger Fingers or Why Do We Itch?

If I had a dime for every time someone without eczema has told me not to scratch I would be balling with P. Diddy and Oprah. Okay, not really. I'll just say I've been told to stop scratching many times in my life. It can be frustrating to hear when your body is telling you to stop everything you're doing and just scratch.

So, why do our bodies do this? What is that itchy feeling anyway?

The itchy (pruritus) feeling is our body way of telling us that there's something irritating the skin. Scratching is a response to activation of our sensory neurons in the epidermis (the outermost layer of skin). Nerve receptors from the skin send signal to our spinal cord to the cerebral cortex in our brain.  The same way we react to pain - (with withdrawal) is somewhat similar to how the body reacts to an itch. Both are an unpleasant feeling and our bodies want to do away with these sensations. So, scratching is actually a very natural defense mechanism.

Receptors in the dermis of your skin send signals up your spinal code via your nerves and then to your brain.

Scratching may give some relief either by telling the body that the irritant has been removed. The other trick is scratching may cause pain to the skin, diverting attention away from the itchy sensation. The problem is that this relief is usually only temporary and itch/scratch cycle repeats itself.
Furthermore once we keep scratching, histamines are released from the body and this is where redness, pain and swelling come in to play. Our bodies release the chemicals (histamine) from the cells cause by reaction of our immune system. Again, the body's normal reaction is to protect itself from allergens no matter how harmless they may really be.

click to enlarge image

Now we know why medications like Claritin, Zyrtec and steroid creams such as hydrocortisone are used. These are all known as anti-histamine medications. These sort of  medications block the histamines from attaching to the receptors/mass cells that cause the allergic reactions. 



Since this blog is called "Natural and Factual" I should be including some known 'natural' anti-histamines that may help:

Vitamin C
Grape Seed Extract
Green Tea
Dong Quai
Milk Thistle 
Pycnogenol
Flax Seed Oil

Don't take my word for it though. Do your research and ask your doctor and/or nutritionists about what alternatives may be best for you. (Pycnogenol, grape seed extract and flax seed oil were all suggested to me by my primary care physician.) I will also make sure to give a break down on each of these natural alternatives  in future blog posts.

Knowing the science behind why we itch and scratch can be a great start to understanding your bodies better, helping to decrease the pain and irritation we can cause ourselves. I want us to take control of what we can. For instance if you feel an itch coming on, reach for your cream and emollients instead of scratching.  Scratching causes tears and bleeding in the skin, which then requires an antibiotic to prevent infection.  Dr. Neal Schultz even suggested placing a cold compress or menthol emollient onto the skin, which alleviates itching and distracts those ready receptors from taking more action.

I hope this piece helps as much as I intend it to.
Here's to becoming the master of your domain!

The pH Balance of your skin

' The Power of Hydrogen' or 'Potential Hydrogen'

When we talk about the pH of a thing, we're referring to the measure of acidity and alkali in it. The skin's acid mantle has a layer of lactic acid, amino acids and free fatty acids that protect our skin and body from absorbing bacteria it doesn't need.
The level is scored on a scale from 1-14. Anything under 7 is considered acidic, above 7 is alkaline while a score of  7 is considered neutral. When your skin's pH balance is off this leads to dryness, oiliness and other irritations.

It may seem like its best that the skin remain a good neutral 7 but that's not the case. The best pH balance for your skin falls at about 5.5 on the scale.

Once I learned about pH balance, I began to understand the marketing of skin care products with alpha-hydroxy acids in them as well as the reasoning behind milk (lactic acid) facial treatments. Skin needs a bit more acid than it does alkaline.

What does this mean when purchasing skin care products? 
Firstly, I always suggest  staying away from 'soaps' the average pH of soap is 9 to 10.5. As I mentioned in a previous post; soaps containing dyes, fragrance and sodium laureth sulfate are not beneficial to the skin. These ingredients can contain too much alkaline. Chose a creamy, mild cleanser.

Using a toner can also help swing back the scale to a more acidic level if needed. I prefer using plain old witch hazel. I've also heard of people using a mixture of apple cider vinegar and distilled water to restore the pH balance after cleansing.


Moisturizing for me means applying a mixture of jojoba oil, olive oil and coconut oil to my face at night. These oils are similar to the natural sebum in our skin and can help soothe and protect it from dryness and irritation. This is just what I personally use because I know its safe for my skin. I encourage you all to give it a try.

Lastly, I should mention that diet plays a huge role in the pH balance of skin as well.  Two things I really enjoy are desserts and coffee. Both sugar and caffeine help contribute to boosting the body's acidity level and can be too much.

Deirdre Earls, RD, LD writes:

When you are trying to recover naturally from disease, it is good to have a diet that is ~80% alkaline-forming and ~20% acid-forming. This is challenging but to the extent that the vast majority of your diet is built around whole grains, vegetables and fruits, you will alkalize your system. This will enhance the ability of your immune system to rid your body of toxins and create natural healing. After symptoms are resolved, you still want a majority of your intake to be alkaline-forming. A general guideline for maintaining optimum health is ~60% alkaline forming and ~40% acid forming.

A few of the alkalizing foods you may want to eat more of include:

• Broccoli
• Lentils
• Dark leafy vegetables such as collard and mustard greens
• Molasses

Some highly acidic foods to avoid:

• Beer
• Beef
• Sugar
• Coffee

As always, it is important to drink lots of water throughout the day, not only to flush toxins but to raise alkalinity as well.

http://www.dermaharmony.com/skinnutrition/ph.aspx

If you ever want to get your 'Mad Scientist' on and test the pH balance of your products, testing strips can be purchased at most health and drug stores or even here online. Also, shout out to fellow natural hair enthusiast and vlogger KimmayTube for making pH test strips available at her online store LUVNaturals.

Bring Life to Your Skin with Dead Sea Salt?

The Dead Sea is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel to the west.  The Hebrew people called it 'Yam ha Maved', meaning "Killer Sea" because no fish or aquatic plants can survive in the dense, salty waters.

But apparently this is what makes the water so great. The salt found in the Dead Sea are highly concentrated mineral salts collected from other rivers and streams leading to it. When it gets hot, the water evaporates and leaves behind the dissolved minerals.

Although I have never used any dead sea bath products yet I became very interested in researching the salt baths after watching a news story on CNN. The story specifically mentioned that it helped those with psoriasis a great deal but also can be beneficial with treating other dry skin conditions like eczema.  

Treatment includes ultraviolet B phototherapy  (which I have done under the care of my dermatologist) and bathing in dead sea salt. Dr. Jeffrey Altman at Mavena Derma Center here in Chicago touts a 75% success rate which I think is pretty good for a condition that has no known cure.




Have you tried any Dead Sea Salt products? How did they work for you?

Bathing for Beautiful Skin

Product Review: Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid Sunblock

I admit that I am one of those women who didn't put much thought into the use of sunscreen before 3 years ago. Now I find myself telling everyone from my mother to random acquaintances to slather on the sunscreen. Once I learned sunblock helps prevented wrinkles as well as protected those darkened itchy eczema patches from becoming darker- I was all about the sunscreen.

I tried Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Liquid in SPF 70 reluctantly. After shaking the bottle, I tested a small patch on my hand and lightly massaged it in. Although it had "sheer" on the packaging I assumed that it would leave my brown skin looking ashy like most sunscreens. Upon first applying, I noticed a very light 'glowy' shimmer on my skin that dried completely within seconds. No chalky, ashy look at all. I plan to try this on my face for the next couple of days to see how my skin handles the ingredients as well as how it looks underneath makeup.

Stay tuned for Round 2 Review.

Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin

So, I was one of those melanin blessed folks that just assumed that they didn't have to use any sort of sunblock to help ward off the damaging effects of the sun. It just seemed that I never got burned. In fact I think I was in my early 30s the first time I got sunburned and I had no idea why my skin was behaving like the skin on a peeled orange left out for too long. Peeling, flaky and dry.

Yes, I would get a few shades darker but I thought that was cute, fine AND dandy. Yes folks, those ultraviolet rays aren't doing you any good. Little did I know that I was making my eczema patches darker and aging my skin much faster than I would have wanted to. Darkening of the skin really means damaging of the skin.

The problem was that my skin is so sensitive that I rarely wanted to put anything besides the prescribed creams on it for fear of irritation. Looking on the back of a bottle of suntan lotion you will see a bunch of chemicals listed and not know what will irritate you.

Here's something you may need to know before buying your next bottle of sunscreen:

Sunscreens that block UVB rays are composed of some or all of the following chemicals: padimate O, homosalate, octyl methoxycinnamate, benzophenone, octyl salicylate, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid, and octocrylene. Broad-spectrum sunscreens add oxybenzone or avobenzone (Parsol 1789) to block UVA rays. Mexoryl is a chemical that blocks UVA; its broad-spectrum characteristics allow sunscreens to be made with very high SPF factors. Physical sunscreens/blocks or chemical-free sunscreens contain titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide, which reflect UVA and UVB and are especially useful for people allergic to chemical sunscreens.

http://www.aad.org/public/publications/pamphlets/sun_sunscreens.html


So, when shopping you may want to avoid formulas that include butylene glycol, ctyl alcohol, dyes, avobenzone and oxybenzone. These are known irritants and can be discouraging when using during a flare up.

Also, one tip about shea butter and it's much bragged about sun protecting qualities. As much as I love shea butter please be aware that it only has a SPF of only 6 which is not enough for prolonged periods out in the sun. I use it often in my natural hair and on my skin as a night cream but always grab the SPF 30 or higher when going outdoors.


My favorite happens to be Alba Botanica's SUN in SPF 30. It does not irritate my skin at all.

Do you have a favorite sun protecting lotion? Let me know about it.