I've tried all the pills, steriods, and commercial washes, but none have worked well for me. I have researched the heck out of PI since I get it so bad. Here are some tips that work for me:
Think of the PI oil as a sticky varnish/tar/paint residue that is stuck to your skin.
I use Goop or DL hand cleaner, and a bar of lava soap. The secret is to give it enough time to do it's job of disolving the oil. First rub in a heavy coat of the hand cleaner to areas of possible contamination, or areas already inflamed. Rub on a liberal amount for at least 2 full minutes until it has time to disolve COMPLETELY. Then add some more and scrub it a couple more minutes. Sometimes I use a small brush. Think of how you would clean dried on paint/tar when doing this. It takes the hand cleaner several minutes and then all of a sudden it disolves paint/tar all at once. Now rinse with cool water, COMPLETELY. Then take the bar of lava soap and scrub affected areas with the bar, for several minutes. Rinse again with cool water. If I have a small area, I just use the bar of lava and scrub the heck out of it, then rinse. ItThe PI is usually dried up the next day. Heavy contaminated areas that are swollen and blistered and oozing bad require the full treatment once a day for a few days.
Once you get the oil off your skin, use hot water. As hot as you can stand it. There will be no surface oils to spread since you washed them off, and the hot water deadens the itching. For me the hot water treatment works for 8 hours, then I use hot water again if needed. The hot water will allow you to make it through the work day or get a nights sleep.
These really work, and cost next to nothing. I used the Lava on my arm last night for a 2" row of red blisters I got from my dog the day before. They were just starting to swell and itch a LOT. I scrubbed with the bar for several minutes with very little water. rinsed with cool water. This morning all that is left is a red line of dried up bumps. No itching.
Think of the PI oil as a sticky varnish/tar/paint residue that is stuck to your skin.
I use Goop or DL hand cleaner, and a bar of lava soap. The secret is to give it enough time to do it's job of disolving the oil. First rub in a heavy coat of the hand cleaner to areas of possible contamination, or areas already inflamed. Rub on a liberal amount for at least 2 full minutes until it has time to disolve COMPLETELY. Then add some more and scrub it a couple more minutes. Sometimes I use a small brush. Think of how you would clean dried on paint/tar when doing this. It takes the hand cleaner several minutes and then all of a sudden it disolves paint/tar all at once. Now rinse with cool water, COMPLETELY. Then take the bar of lava soap and scrub affected areas with the bar, for several minutes. Rinse again with cool water. If I have a small area, I just use the bar of lava and scrub the heck out of it, then rinse. ItThe PI is usually dried up the next day. Heavy contaminated areas that are swollen and blistered and oozing bad require the full treatment once a day for a few days.
Once you get the oil off your skin, use hot water. As hot as you can stand it. There will be no surface oils to spread since you washed them off, and the hot water deadens the itching. For me the hot water treatment works for 8 hours, then I use hot water again if needed. The hot water will allow you to make it through the work day or get a nights sleep.
These really work, and cost next to nothing. I used the Lava on my arm last night for a 2" row of red blisters I got from my dog the day before. They were just starting to swell and itch a LOT. I scrubbed with the bar for several minutes with very little water. rinsed with cool water. This morning all that is left is a red line of dried up bumps. No itching.
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