Reaction To Vaseline Petroleum Jelly

[TwoGirlsMom]

Hello. I suspect my daughter is gluten intolerant, although her bloodwork came back negative. She has had really dry, cracked hands since earlier this year. Our family doctor suggested she put straight Vaseline on her hands before bed and then wear gloves all night. She has done this before without a problem. However, Saturday night, she put Vaseline on and immediately started screaming that it was burning her hands. Don't know if it's related to gluten or just a weird reaction. Was wondering if anyone else experienced this and did you find a cause for the reaction?

Thanks!

[Lisa]

Hello. I suspect my daughter is gluten intolerant, although her bloodwork came back negative. She has had really dry, cracked hands since earlier this year. Our family doctor suggested she put straight Vaseline on her hands before bed and then wear gloves all night. She has done this before without a problem. However, Saturday night, she put Vaseline on and immediately started screaming that it was burning her hands. Don't know if it's related to gluten or just a weird reaction. Was wondering if anyone else experienced this and did you find a cause for the reaction?

Thanks!

Certainly Vaseline does not contain gluten, but perhaps the application process gave her some discomfort, on that particular evening.

[Mizzo]

my girl has had a similar reaction and we did not find the reasoning behind it. Sorry no help, but you have company in the situation.

[Lisa]

Maybe it's a psychological response to her hands hurting in general. ...just guessing.

[kareng]

My hub had this. He went to a dermatologist. She gave him some special creams. One was to make sure there wasn't any fungal infections causing the continued dryness. At night he would wet his hands, lightly dry, then goop up with Cerave cream (gluten-free) then put the cotton gloves on.

You can also use olive oil then the Cerave then gloves. Chapstick makes a good barrier to keep moisture in after washing hands.

[TwoGirlsMom]

Thanks for the replies. I'm new to gluten-free living, in fact today is day 1 of putting her on a gluten-free diet. I think I'm just really on edge and want more than anything for my "baby" to stop hurting! It's good to know your support is only a few clicks away. Thanks!

[kareng]

Don't know how old she is, so this may not apply. I forgot to say that hub takes the Cerave with him to re-apply to the dry spots during the day. I got little round plastic containers that are for taking pills with you. They have a tight screw on top & are about as big around as a quarter & maybe less than 1/2 inch tall.

[TwoGirlsMom]

Don't know how old she is, so this may not apply. I forgot to say that hub takes the Cerave with him to re-apply to the dry spots during the day. I got little round plastic containers that are for taking pills with you. They have a tight screw on top & are about as big around as a quarter & maybe less than 1/2 inch tall.

She's 9. Her teacher does not mind if she applies lotion during the school day. Thanks for the tip about the small containers. Definitely an easy thing for her to carry with her!

[weluvgators]

I have two girls that have had chronic hand issues, most likely due to gluten exposure. The best remedy that we found to consistently work for relief was cold, wet cloths applied to the hands (my DDs had really bad dermatitis/eczema issues particularly on the backs of their hands). I highly recommend working with a dermatologist, although we found that to be a pricey option. Our dermatologist was able to get us some creams that did work, although we tried a lot that didn't work - mostly they resulted in the hands hurting worse with application. But when we found a topical immunosuppresant that DID work, it was tremendous relief.

Fortunately, we have managed to have minimal need for the pharmaceuticals, as keeping a very clean gluten free environment and diet has eliminated our chronic skin problems (we are also soy and dairy free, but the gluten seems to be our skin trigger). We were able to identify specific events that would trigger our hand reactions, so you may want to work with your DD to see if she is able to identify anything that causes the pain, redness and inflammation to flare. We even had their teachers watching for triggers, as school was a definite problem . . . and of course the cold winter weather only made it worse, but that was also the time of year when their environmental gluten exposure would increase because of the enclosed eating and play spaces at school. We have also found that zyrtec helps us take the edge off of the discomfort, as our skin reaction does seem to have a systemic allergy component to it. We were told to use steroids cautiously on the hands, as that skin is already very thin.

We did consider using gloves, but my children were resistant. My oldest that suffered through it the most was also reluctant to use creams at school, as it made it even harder for her to write. You may also want to try switching her hand soap, and we prohibited the use of hand sanitizers. We even took a hard look at the paper towels being used and used cloth for a while when it was at its worst. Hopefully, your DD will experience some relief with the upcoming spring weather . . . assuming you are in the Northern Hemisphere. We found February to be the most horrid time, as it had been a chronic condition that just kept getting worse and worse and worse and worse. We did find that our DDs had no problem when not in school, and that did help us really narrow down that the issues were related to the differences at school. Are you seeing any patterns for your DD?

I think olive oil was one of the least aggravating moisturizers that we could use. So many other things just made it worse. I hope you can find her relief soon. My DD suffered with this condition for nearly an entire school year, and it was absolutely awful. One of our doctors did recommend that we try adding a touch of tea tree oil to the olive oil to see if it helped. We were really lucky in that better controlling the gluten completely relieved our condition. Unfortunately, it took us far too long and too many complications to realize how that "simiple" intervention is a basic necessity for us. Good luck figuring this out!

[Jestgar]

I like olive oil too. If you decide to try the tea tree oil, test a little bit first on a very small spot. If my skin is in a "reactive" state, TTO burns like %$$%&**^%!!

[Cara in Boston]

I bought coconut oil for my son's sensitive skin and now the entire family uses it. It is light, smells good, all natural, and has other benefits/properties that make it great for moisturizing skin without using harsh chemicals or additives. We use it for everything, body, hands, lips, etc.

Cara

[squirmingitch]

You may wish to give Emu oil a try. It's great for skin & healing. Touted to be wonderful for exzema, psoriasis, & other skin conditions. A real emollient moisturizer.

[IrishHeart]

I like olive oil too. If you decide to try the tea tree oil, test a little bit first on a very small spot. If my skin is in a "reactive" state, TTO burns like %$$%&**^%!!

me, too. TTO is like battery acid on me. Someone suggested it for my peeling scalp and sores (before DX) and O M G! I couldn't get it off fast enough. In fact, it was resistant to removal with shampoo, etc. and took me several washings. UGH!

and anything with MENTHOL--OUCH!!!

I have never had a problem with vaseline, however.

[Takala]

I bought a jar of generic vaseline this summer to use on one of the horses as a barrier to insects biting her on sensitive areas, and much to my surprise it was quite perfumey without this floral scent being mentioned on the label . I was a bit concerned, as she has allergies to some herbal oils and pasture weed plants, but fortunately she did not react.

You can also use coconut oil, as others mentioned already, it works well. So does almond oil, both require just a small amount to moisturize.