MY RIGHT HAND has a skin condition that appeared with a vengeance when I started building things using cement--just my right hand. When I visited my brother in Pennsylvania a few months ago, he told me that his hands would develop irritating itchiness and the skin would start cracking open. He suggested I use skin creme spiked with ammonium lactate. In fact, he gave me four tubes of it (see right) and I started using it regularly, to good effect. But to cover my bases, I checked in with Doctor Google to see what I was treating. I learned "this medication may cause stinging or burning when applied to skin with fissures, erosions, or abrasions." True, from personal observation. When I ran 15 miles a day, I felt the effects of lactic acid inside my legs. Years ago, my cross-country coach told me lactic acid is an alpha-hydroxy acid. It is a normal constituent of tissues and blood. Doctor Google told me the alpha-hydroxy acids in the skin creme I'm using "act as humectants and they influence hydration of the stratum corneum. In addition, lactic acid, when applied to the skin, may act to decrease corneocyte cohesion." But I kept on reading about the malady and learned I was treating ichthyosis vulgaris.
As explained by Doctor Kevin Berman from the Atlanta Center for Dermatologic Disease, "Ichthyosis vulgaris is one of the most common of the inherited skin disorders. It may begin in early childhood, before age 4. The condition is inherited in an autosomal dominant pattern. That means you only need to get the abnormal gene from one parent in order for you to inherit the disease." And that also means my little toddler is definitely at risk of getting this same skin condition. Thank you, Doctor Google.
Drugs.com -- "Ammonium Lactate Cream"
Dr Kevin Berman -- "Ichthyosis Vulgaris"
