Psoriasis Control

My husband has psoriasis on his hands, legs, elbows and buttocks. From what I understand he has had it for much of his adult life. The creams he has been prescribed were of minimum effectiveness resulting in - at best - a slight recovering of the scaling skin but did not remove the redness.

I did some research on natural remedies and skin moisturizing and found glycerine to be a major factor for both. It is an organic compound used for:

Topical pure or nearly pure glycerol is an effective treatment for psoriasis, burns, bites, cuts, rashes, bedsores, and calluses. It can be used orally to eliminate halitosis, as it is a contact bacterial desiccant. The same property makes it very helpful with periodontal disease; it penetrates biofilm quickly and eliminates bacterial colonies. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycerol)

 Doing further research, I discovered common kitchen vegetable oil to be a component for homemade creams and lip balms.

With this knowledge in hand, I prepared a (coffee) scrub and lotion for John to use. The scrub is a simple combination of 3/4 vegetable oil, coffee grounds and 1/4 glycerine. The lotion is made up of 3/4 vegetable oil and 1/4 glycerine.

It's too bad I don't have before and after pictures. It is incredible what the combination of liquids have done for John's psoriasis. After approximately three months, the patches of psoriasis are no longer scaly, and the red patches on his hands have faded to nearly normal skin color. Further, he no longer uses the prescribed cream on his hands. He uses only the homemade lotion.

While the glycerine is rather expensive if purchased from the hobby store, it does last quite a long time. I highly recommend adding glycerine to the lotions you have on hand or making homemade lotion with vegetable oil and glycerine if you have psoriasis or cracked, dry skin. You will see a remarkable difference in a few weeks.

Means to the End

With all the stitching by hand I did, I found a reason to get my great grandmother's Damascus treadle sewing machine working.

The best I can guess the old Montgomery Wards machine is 70 or 80 years old and had been sitting in my mother's damp basement for nearly 40 years. I wasn't sure I could make it work again but I dove into the project with both feet.

As you can see, there was rust and grime covering it. I gave the wheel a spin and determined I needed only a belt and needle clamp. I found a man here in town who restores old machines. I bought a belt, a needle clamp and special oil from him. I removed the machine from its cabinet and cleaned and oiled the rods housed beneath the machine. Then I removed the end plate and cleaned and oiled everything I could find in there.

It took an entire day but the ancient sewing machine works like a champ now.

To my great surprise the original manual was in one of the cabinet drawers. I found the illustration to thread it and have been sewing with the newly restored Damascus ever since.

Another example of dreaming and doing.

Personalized Touches

I've been busy. I see that my blog says it has been three weeks since I last posted. As I said, I've been busy.

My daughter is getting married in May, 2010. Funds are slight. I needn't ramble on about how the economy stinks and jobs are scarce. Still, I want to give my daughter and her fiancee something for their house despite them already everything they could possibly need.

I can not say what it is I have done because I haven't sent them to my daughter yet. If she were to check what I have written of late, the surprise would be ruined. But everything I have made is useful. Everything I have made... well, I have made and not some person in a factory somewhere getting 50 cents a day for their labor.

What I have made is 100%, U.S.A. handmade. On top of it all, I don't have a sewing machine so everything is hand stitched. Uh, except for those few things I glued as I was becoming impatient and wanting to complete the project(s).

So, stay tuned. Once I get the gifts mailed to her and she receives them I will provide pictures and descriptions of the items. All were easy, oh so inexpensive, and very useful.

Keep dreaming...