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Any help for skin that gets sticky when it gets wet?

By July 11, 2009 - 10:13pm
 
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sticky skin

Three nights ago I noticed that after washing my hands they felt really sticky, almost like when you use the last paper towel on the roll and you get that glue residue on your hands. However, it wasn't the last paper towel so I figured maybe the liquid soap was really old and doing funky things so I rewashed with dish soap and again grabbed a paper towel. Once again, my hands got sticky as I dried them off. Thinking now that there was something wrong with these paper towels, I washed again and this time dried with a hand towel only to yet again find my hands sticky as they dried off. The stickiness only lasts 30-60 seconds, until the skin completely dries, but during that in-between time of soaking wet and totally dry they feel very tacky to the touch and my fingers will actually stick to each other.

The next day when I took a shower I noticed that the water was beading up on the skin on my arms. Sure enough, when I dried off afterwards I found that all of my skin is tacky to the thouch until it is completely air dried.

Today I shaved my legs and my skin felt almost like it had a layer of wax on it that kept catching the razor. The skin on my hands seems to be getting more sticky when they get wet. Water continues to bead on my skin when it gets wet. I asked my children if they can feel that my skin is sticky to the touch and they said yes.

This is affecting all of my skin now, including my face. I always put a moisturizer on my face after washing and it does not feel like my skin is absorbing it now, it just feels heavy and greasy since the lotion just sits there on top. I also tried putting lotion on my hands and it was not absorbed at all, just left my hands feeling very slimy and greasy so I wiped it off.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this or have any suggestions for what might be causing it? Thanks for any held you can give.

Add a Comment472 Comments

i have a simular kind of problem, since i moved into a new property, whenever i take a bath or shower, even rinse my hands in the water my skin is sore, very dry, and i get a rash on my body, it also affects my hair, when i wash it i cant do anything with it, it has some kind of coating on it,that blocks the use of any hair products, it affects my make up,my mascara wont apply properly, because my eyelashes also have the same coating, my eyebrows stand out more not flat, and are also difficult to shape, no matter how much i try to flatten them, my foundation dosnt apply properly it looks awfull, neither my mousturiser, on the tips of my fingers they are very course, and around my nails, a build up of hard skin, its given me a constant rash on my eye lids, which is embarrasing, i get bumps on my face, painfull lumps, like acne,its thinning my hair, and my skin has become very saggy, i know this sounds nuts, but my skins elasticity has gone, my arms, legs belly and butt are saggy, my joints ach all the time, the clothes shed fibres, and fall apart, the bath and hand towels thin rapidly, and look like they are 10 yrs old after a couple washes, its decintegrated the mop, had to replace it 5 times, i wiped my wooden table its stripped all the shine off it, everything it comes into contact with it eats into it, corodes it, i cant drink it, it tastes terrible,and gives mr painfull tummy, the water comes from a comunial tank, and all the other residents have the same problem, but wont help, the water supplier says its not hard water, and that the council are responsable, because it comes from there comunial tanks, iam living in misery, i rarely go out due to the embarrasement of the state of my skin and hair, can anyone help me with this, bizzare situation

May 22, 2012 - 6:36pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to niki123)

hi Nikki , did youfind a solution with your problem...i have the same problem as you with my clothes and my skin but ive moved to a new appartment and it didn't disapear. now i think it's more related to my body ...i f i don't wash my clothes they also look like ten years old....
its horrible ...i have this problem for three years now...

July 20, 2012 - 3:16pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I posted a while back and my stickiness has lessened quite a bit. I still have to be careful about not using paper towels to dry my hands. There is something in most of them that makes my hands feel sticky until they are completely dry.

I also believe that it has something to do with mold. The first time I ever experienced sticky hands was after having cleaned the black dirt (yup, probably mold) from the metal frame/tracks of an old window.

~C

May 10, 2012 - 8:35pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

I find taking cold showers helps, hot showers make me sweat which just makes it worse. For my face I just rub it off with a slightly damp cloth after getting out of the shower, then my face skin looks normal again. Seems like I'm constantly washing towels and face cloth just to have fresh non sticky ones lol.

Maybe a gritty soap would help, like pumice or something. Any one know of a good brand to try?

May 15, 2012 - 7:54pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

Hi, All. Lora, here.
Seems like we go a few months without any discourse, and then someone new joins. After reading the last post it makes me wonder if surely, someone who has written here must work in a health related field or know a nurse or doctor?

And I did want to suggest to the person who pets their dog - might want to be careful not to pass it on to Fido. My cat has been having repiratory problems since I began with this stuff, so, I don't know if it's related to what I have, but I don't pet him when my hands are sticky. Has anyone else noticed problems with pets?
From a humorous and imaginative perspective (to keep from going crazy) I fantasize that come the end of this year, when the talk is that the universal sh** is gonna hit the fan, at least we'll be protected from absorbing anything into our bodies through the skin! ;-)

April 17, 2012 - 7:10pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

Lol, good point but I pet my dog after i thoroughly dry my hands. he is a husky with no appearant skin issues, at all. My skin issues are only when i'm wet. i tested yesterday and it is sticky on every part of my wet body, but when i'm dry there is no noticing it. I changed soaps a few years ago. I have an allergy to deoderants so i used ivory for years. i switched to Dial antioxidant daily skin defense & Extra glycerin. Maybe this soap doesn't leave a residue and skin is supposed to be tacky when wet by mother nature. Maybe we don't usually notice it because of oils and soap films left when we use other soaps. I've read in these posts of many perceived possibililties, some may be related issues and others may not. Maybe we are just cleaner these days. has anyone ever pet a dolphin, they dont feel like you would expect. I pet my dog after drying my hands because it makes my skin feel silkier. many dogs I pet lead me to washing my hands for stinkyness, mine is a husky without stinkyness. I bought him for that purpose, not noisy and not stinky (though shedding may make up for it). His har feels silky as a bunny and petting him takes the last residue of stick away. I am absolutely not afraid of passing fido anything.

I've visited people before and took showers at their home and it seemed that the saop could never be washed off (soft water?). maybe what we experience is a combination of type of water in our home and the type of soap we use to wash. just a thought, take care everyone, i'll keep my head in this door to see what others have to say.

DC

April 19, 2012 - 9:43am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

One thing that seems to be common between people who have this is that it's first noticed on the hands, where there is a high concentration of capillaries and sweat glands, but no sebaceous glands(the ones that release oils), and spreads to other areas later on.

Logically one could assume that it's caused by a sweat glands that aren't filtering normally or high concentration of something in the blood or fat being released through sweat glands. I suppose the only way to know for sure would be through a chemical analysis of whatever is coming out of the skin.

April 19, 2012 - 3:14pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

ICKY
After seeing AN ENDOCRINOLOGIST my hormone levels are normal, as I said before I was treating myself for testosterone, still sticky. She told me to much sugar in the diet will make your sweat thicker and therefore stickier, reduce sugar in your diet and increase your water intake and get as much exercise as possible,this is my next attempt. I also discovered (quite by accident) that using glycerine soap on hands and face helps as does bathing regularly with antibacterial soap "NOT" moisturizing soap.
Although my sugar levels are normal I guess it can still cause thicker sweat. I have tried reducing sugar before thinking this was a yeast problem and yes it did help. (I have a wicked sweet tooth lol)
ICKY

May 11, 2012 - 3:32am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

Yes, my clothes get a sticky residue in them sometimes if that is what you mean by aging faster, if I wear a glove when a little sweaty during a sticky skin episode the glove gets all "shaped" after my hand when it dries afterwords, as if it is full of starch.
And yes I have flushing of face ears and ecspecially nose and cold hands/feet and get sweaty when im cold. Reacts to cold by sweating too, kind of irritating.
I have been sticky in my eyes and my dentist noticed the sticky skin syndrome in my mouth several years ago. last time they said that my saliva seemed strange, and my teeth are now getting bad really fast due to something. I do however have ME too, that might affect all these things but I got my ME as a result from the first toxic chemichal exposure/ sticky skin episode years ago....
/ Kacha

April 15, 2012 - 8:49pm
(reply to Anonymous)

Kacha, I'm convinced that my problem with severely sticky skin is a combination of issues with both my endocrine & immune systems. My problem first arose & continued to worsen during a prolonged period of adrenal insufficiency. And, in thinking back, it did not begin improving until 5 months later when the brand, amount, frequency, & delivery method of my immunoglobulin medication was changed. My skin & hair no longer seem to absorb any kind of lotions or moisturizers, but it's a tremendous improvement over what it was. Also, it never seemed that my skin was "covered" with something as much as it seemed to be the actual composite of my skin, hair, eyes, mouth, etc.

April 19, 2012 - 11:53am
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