MICROSCOPIC COLITIS SUPPORT

OK, I'm having a terrible bout of dry skin - happens when it gets cold here in Colorado and it's so dry anyway.......the lotion I'm using is just not cutting it..........I did a search on here for lotions and saw where many of you used coconut oil. I did a google search for the best kind and now am thoroughly confused. So, if you use coconut oil as lotion, would you please tell me what kind you use? I know there's unrefined and refined, and all different kinds............

Thanks!

Jari,

Refined coconut oil does not smell like coconut, and it has a higher smoke point when used for frying. So it's usually the best choice for virtually all purposes, unless price is the main consideration.

If you want a heavy duty skin moisturizer/softener (mostly for hands), Gojo makes a product for mechanics called Hand Medic. It's now available in small pump bottles for consumer sales. It's the best best product you can get for dry hands. Even Walmart sells it, in the automotive department, usually.

Bag Balm (available at feed stores and farm and ranch supply stores) is the ultimate for healing abused hands, and it will even heal and prevent those painful cracks beside the fingernails on the fingertips.

Tex

I love bag balm! Have been using it for many years - on lips in the morning and before bed, on hands and/or feet before bed when they are dry, and even on crows feet and eyebrows at bedtime. It's my little secret, ladies...really more effective than expensive creams. I get my bag balm at CVS stores. It comes in a green square tin 8 oz. for under $20 - that lasts the entire year plus.

I also have a jar of coconut oil on the bathroom counter, and rub it on arms and legs after my morning shower. It soaks in and skin feels great all day. (Do I sound like a commercial yet? lol)

I haven't tried Gojo...sounds interesting, may look for that next time I'm in automotive section. Thanks, Tex!

Cinemom,

What kind of coconut oil do you use?

I can't use much bag balm.......it's way too greasy for me.

Jari,
My DH buys Kirkland Organic coconut oil at Costco. I scoop some of it out of the big canister and put it into my little jar in the bathroom. A little goes a long way. The rest is for cooking.

I hear ya on the greasy bag balm, but that is probably why it works its magic. It is petrolatum and lanolin based. I have been known to slather it on hands and feet and then put socks on (hands as well as feet) and get into bed. The next morning I shower and they're soft as a baby's hands and feet once more. But, since I use it on an almost daily basis now, I don't need to do that treatment anymore.

That's about the only thing I use it for..........every once in awhile I slather it on and put socks on and go to bed.............otherwise, it is just too greasy.

I was just at Costco's. I'll pick some up next time I'm there. Does this one have the coconutty flavor?

Kari,
My skin gets very dry when the weather turns cool here. I use coconut oil, but for really dry areas like my feet and hands I rely on lanolin. It's fantastic! I got it on Amazon and it only takes a small amount to do the trick.

Jari,
Yes, it has a very nice coconutty aroma, but mild flavor in cooking.