on sun 19 jul 98
Lots of potters struggle with hands & clay - for months I took steroid shots
to keep the skin on the corners & tips of my nails from coming off. A friend
of mine recommended BAG BALM - it is cheap, works on cow utters & works great
on my hands. It comes in a green tin - you can buy it at Walgreens or a feed
store & it cost less than $6. It sounds silly, but I promise - IT WORKS.
Good luck & let me know hwo things work out,
Vicki Katz
Sugar Land, TX
gatos on sun 19 jul 98
I would tell her to see a dermatologist. If she thinks that it is because of
the clay I would talk to my administrators and suggest that they might want to
pay for it.
On the other hand if I were having a problem I would try and isolate the cause
more specifically than "just clay". Is it the water, slop, ball clay,
feldspar? What is it that is causeing the allergy. Is it an allergy or just
some other irritation. Maybe it is a new food she is eating?
Louis
on sun 19 jul 98
In a message dated 07/19/98 2:52:49 PM, you wrote:
<<
I have a student in my throwing class whose skin on her hands is peeling from
the clay. Does anyone have any ideas, besides wearing gloves. that she can
do. Are their any ointments or creams for this? TIA
>>
There is one possibility that I am familiar with. You could try a "barrier
cream". Whitehall labs makes one called Kerodex. I am not sure of the
spelling as the tube I have is at another site right now. There are two
versions; one for dry work and one for wet work....I have used the wet version
to avoid severe drying of the skin under some working conditions. It is not
expensive.
Don Prey in Oregon
on sun 19 jul 98
Find yourself and N.A.E.T. Practitioner (www.naet.com) in your area and talk
to him/her about treatment. The treatment is painless and drugless. I went
through it for my clay and all my glazing materials. Once the whether cools
off this fall, I'll be treated for mold. Plastic is another allergen to be
considered.
Jim Cullen
Naperville, IL
Keep an open mind...and keep centered.
on sun 19 jul 98
I have a student in my throwing class whose skin on her hands is peeling from
the clay. Does anyone have any ideas, besides wearing gloves. that she can
do. Are their any ointments or creams for this? TIA
Geoff Walker on mon 20 jul 98
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
Have you ever thought the allergy might be to silica. I know of several
people who are totally allergic to the powdered form. One was a clay
supplyer and would break out in huge welts which turned very nasty. He
could not even handle and weigh out the stuff with gloves on. Ghastly!
Best,
Geoff.
Robert Edney on mon 20 jul 98
Hi,
Barrier creams are an oft' discussed item on this list. Go to your local
pharmacy and ask what they have in stock. You're student needs a barrier cream
designed for wet work. Hands should be washed and dried, and a new application
of barrier cream put on periodically. Following throwing, wash and dry with mild
soap and use a good hypo-allergenic skin cream immediately. The less grog in the
clay the better (wears away the barrier cream faster). Throw with slip, not
water (same reason.) If that fails, examination gloves can be used, but I'd hate
to have to learn to throw in them. Exam gloves come in latex or vinyl (some
people are allergic to latex, so use caution). By the way, a box full of
examination gloves is an invaluable addition to the studio. It's great to pull
on a pair for any kind of really dirty work, handling toxics, or when you're just
doing general clean-up. It's good to save your hands for throwing! You can buy
a box of 100 pair in your size for $10 or so. They are very thin, sensitive and
close fitting, so you can do most things wearing them. They do have a very
different coefficient of friction than your fingertips, though, so throwing with
them means learning some new skills.
ClayArt Moderator wrote:
> I have a student in my throwing class whose skin on her hands is peeling from
> the clay. Does anyone have any ideas, besides wearing gloves. that she can
> do. Are their any ointments or creams for this? TIA
--
Robert Edney
robedney@pacbell.net
Art Wolfe on mon 20 jul 98
I never thought of all those things. Thanks for all those possibilites. I'll
pass it along to the student. Maybe we'll be able to isolate the cause
better. artbwolfe@aol.com
Steven Benezue on mon 20 jul 98
A classmate of mine at TWU is allergic, not to the clay itself, but to the mold
that grows in the clay. This could be a problem for your student as well.
Dana Henson on mon 20 jul 98
I too, am allergic to clay but it is an inhalant allergy. I am allergic to the
mildew in clay. This is very limiting in terms of the size of the pieces that
I make as I cannot keep the pieces wrapped up in plastic for more than a few
days before they mildew. However, I do not have the skin allergy. The people
that I have known with skin allergies to clay have always resorted to just
wearing latex gloves while working. I've always wondered if a barrier cream of
some sort would be just as effective. It's a drag either way.
Dana Henson
(Firing pots in direct sunlight in Pilot Point, Texas---it's amazing what a
temperature + heat index of 115 and up can do!)
Jennifer Boyer on tue 21 jul 98
Another culprit in allergy symptoms can be your throwing water and glazes:
they grow critters! Just think of a glaze bucket in warm weather: a nice
stagnant swamp.... I've had good luck with the practice of washing my hands
with antibacterial soap a lot during the work day. I even add a little to my
throwing water.
Keep Cool,
Jennifer
Marsha Segerberg wrote:
> I had a severe problem with the skin on my hands and arms. It persisted
> for years, and got so bad I wound up in the emergency room a couple times
> with hands that looked like red boxing gloves. I went through 5
> dermatologists, none of whom I would recommend to my worst enemy. I was on
> prednisone (a terrifically terrible drug, but necessary sometimes) for
> almost a year.
--
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Jennifer Boyer jboyer@plainfield.bypass.com
Thistle Hill Pottery
Vermont USA
http://www.vermontcrafts.com/members/JenniBoy892.html
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Marsha Segerberg on tue 21 jul 98
I had a severe problem with the skin on my hands and arms. It persisted
for years, and got so bad I wound up in the emergency room a couple times
with hands that looked like red boxing gloves. I went through 5
dermatologists, none of whom I would recommend to my worst enemy. I was on
prednisone (a terrifically terrible drug, but necessary sometimes) for
almost a year. I'm not sure what the cause ultimately turned out to be,
but I just recently finished a six week session of once-a-week acupuncture
treatments and I'm off prednisone and my hands are normal. I can hardly
believe it! I slather them up with vaseline each time I finish throwing a
pot after rinsing the clay off my hands. I also smear on vaseline when I
wash dishes, water the lawn, or anytime I get my hands wet, and I minimize
hand-washing with soap. I can't use any other cream, lotion, ointment or
salve, especially ones that contain lanolin, which can be very allergenic.
I never go anywhere without my trusty jar of vaseline, and I have them
stashed everywhere around my house and studio. My acupuncturist is
"on-call" for tuneups, should the problem begin to flare up again.
I am cured! I would enthusiastically encourage anyone with dermatology
problems to check out acupuncture with a properly trained
(non-traditional,-non-US-AMA-type, or at least one who is enlightened about
the attitude & training problems prevalent in our system) professional. I
always resisted any woo-woo heebie-jeebie type "natural healing" stuff in
the past but I was wrong. ACUPUNCTURE WORKS!
Marsha Segerberg
Caryl Dahn on wed 10 oct 01
I teach wheelthrowing in the public school for the past 17 years.
this year I have a student that had no problem with hand building but
working with clay and water on the wheel will have excessive
shriveled/dishpan fingers. Is anyone familiar with this? Is it an
allergy or some kind of a reaction? Would like to know it this is
serious.
--
Caryl Dahn
7-12th Visual Arts Instructor
Lake Mills Community Schools
102 South 4th Ave. East
Lake Mills, IA 50450
641-592-0893 ex. 2040
Nanci Bishof on thu 11 oct 01
If your student were allergic to an ingredient in the clay they would react
to exposure with both handbuilding and wheel work.
nanci
Bonnie Thompson on thu 11 oct 01
>Ask your student if she/he is using warm/hot water for throwing. I
>had a problem that only manifested itself when I used warm water
>(throwing in my basement studio on chilly winter days). Think the
>warm water opened the pores in my skin allowing irritants to enter.
>I'm allergic in general, so don't know what it was that caused this,
>but switching to cold water cured it.
Bonnie Thompson
on this beautiful New England day...
>If your student were allergic to an ingredient in the clay they would react
>to exposure with both handbuilding and wheel work.
>
>nanci
>
>______________________________________________________________________________
>Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
>You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
>settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
>Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
>melpots@pclink.com.
--
Manager, UNH Computer Store
54 College Road - CIS Center
Durham NH 03824
Phone: 603 862-3675
Fax: 603 862-3567
Patti Kratzke on thu 11 oct 01
I didn't figure this was any significant problem, but I looked in my
available medical literature, and on the internet, just to be sure, and
found nothing that indicated a problem with severe shriveling. If,
however, the student is experiencing any rash or cracking and bleeding,
he/she may want to consult a dermatologist. They might want to bring a
camera to class, and have someone take a picture of their hands when they
get dishpanney (is that word?), so the doctor can actually see it. I
doubt it's the clay, as this would happen with any contact, even hand
building. I have actually found clay to have therapeutic properties. My
fingers crack a lot when I'm not working with clay. Maybe I can deduct
my studio as a medical expense - for both my hand and my head!
On Wed, 10 Oct 2001 15:48:36 -0500 Caryl Dahn
writes:
> I teach wheelthrowing in the public school for the past 17 years.
> this year I have a student that had no problem with hand building
> but
> working with clay and water on the wheel will have excessive
> shriveled/dishpan fingers. Is anyone familiar with this? Is it an
> allergy or some kind of a reaction? Would like to know it this is
> serious.
> --
> Caryl Dahn
> 7-12th Visual Arts Instructor
> Lake Mills Community Schools
> 102 South 4th Ave. East
> Lake Mills, IA 50450
> 641-592-0893 ex. 2040
>
>
_________________________________________________________________________
_____
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your
> subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
> melpots@pclink.com.
>
Patti Kratzke
Kingston, WA
pkpotts@juno.com
william schran on fri 12 oct 01
Sounds like "dishpan hands". Try using bag balm or other heavy duty
skin protection (petrolleum jelly) before hands go in the water.
Bill
Lajos Kamocsay on sat 13 oct 01
Hello,
My ceramics teacher suggested we use BAG BALM after throwing =
(www.bagbalm.com). Apparently this is some antibacterial, antiseptic =
herbal medication used for animal's skin problems.
He was right. This thing works, while expensive hand lotions do not.
I've bought some at Walgreen's. A box costs ~$10.00. Seems to last =
forever.
Give it a try...
Lajos
Rebecca Gregory on sun 14 oct 01
Hey guys! I use bagbalm too. I have found it at Walmart for about $5/can,
and it does last forever. I had some left over altoid cans, and I cleaned
them out, filled them with bagbalm so I have one can next to my wheel and
another can in my clay tool bag for when I go to other potter's studios to
throw. That hasn't happened in a long time. Anyway, I use it on my rough
feet at night too or if my husband complains about the smell too much, I put
it on my feet before I put my socks on for the day. Anyway, it is a great
product!
Becky Gregory
Nashville TN where it is raining, raining, and more rain!
----Original Message Follows----
From: Lajos Kamocsay
Subject: Re: clay allergy
Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 22:30:19 -0700
Hello,
My ceramics teacher suggested we use BAG BALM after throwing
(www.bagbalm.com). Apparently this is some antibacterial, antiseptic herbal
medication used for animal's skin problems.
He was right. This thing works, while expensive hand lotions do not.
I've bought some at Walgreen's. A box costs ~$10.00. Seems to last forever.
Give it a try...
Lajos
_________________________________________________________________
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Celia Littlecreek on mon 15 oct 01
Besides "doing" clay, I also am a dental assistant. Between washing my =
hands 700 times a day between 8 and 5 and "doing" clay from 6 till 2 my =
hands look shriveled too. However, I learned to always rinse in COLD =
water and don't use those scratchy paper towels. Hands look and feel =
much better.
Jenny Lewis on tue 16 oct 01
Hi Vince and all
Speaking as an allergy sufferer - I have eczema on my hands and feet and if I shove my hands in a bucket of glaze - ouch. Burning and itching. So I figured there is something in the ingredients that make the eczema worse, which is not quite the same as actually causing it. I still don't know what the heck I'm allergic to, but now use rubber gloves for working with glazes.
No problem with the clay thank goodness, and I have only once heard of someone who developed a reaction. But I wondered if that was a case rather like me with the glazes, an allergy already there that was exacerbated by the moisture, or texture, or who knows what.
So far I've managed to avoid mixing glazes with my feet, but I guess the same sort of thing would happen and rubber socks would be needed.
Jenny
in London, UK
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