Daily Skin Care

[Forest Walker]

Thanks for the replies.  I'm trying to figure this out and, like Jim, have learned more from this forum than from my brief visit with the dermatologist.  In years past, a doctor would point out, "Your skin is dry."  Never a mention of what to do about it.  Just a statement.  I'm not the brightest bulb in the string of lights.  I didn't pick up on the need to care for my skin, to pay attention to dryness.  

When I don't use any moisturizer, the itching seems worse.  On some days, I use the unrefined coconut oil (that has truly helped my scalp but is cumbersome to wash out) and other days a Cetaphil cream, which is heavy and also seems to help a bit.  Now, I'm using either coconut oil or Cetaphil cream everywhere with the exception of face and genital.  I use a lotion on my face and over-the-counter cortisone, rarely, on genitals.  (Why must this appear there!?!)

I have wondered about the absorption of these, especially whatever chemicals are in the Cetaphil and how that may detrimentally affect health, but the patches and itching seem to be a higher level of discomfort than the worry over absorbing questionable chemicals.

I'm using the steroid ointments as sparingly as possible and only once a day, now.  Yet, I suspect they contribute, somehow, to the spreading of patches.