Thread: Extreme sensitivity to what I thought was static electricity

Hello,
Help!!
I have been experiencing the effect of what I had originally thought was static electricity for the past 8 days in a row. My hair clings to my face and neck, every piece of clothing (no matter what fabric) sticks to my skin, as well as my 100% cotton bed sheets. The strange thing is I’ve been unable to ‘zap’ and discharge the electricity. Does this mean what I am filled with is not static electricity? And how do I get rid of it?

I’ve done plenty of research and have attempted all of the commonly found advice/remedies (humidifiers, moisturiser, changing washing powder/liquid, touching a grounded object, footwear, tumble dry sheets in my pockets, anti-static spray and so on).

I have been taking quite a few different types of vitamin tablets (Vitamin C, BioZinc, Women’s Multi, Garlic-Horse-Radish+Echinacea, Krill Oil and Glucosamine). Is it possible that this has created a chemical imbalance in my system? I also suffer from dermatitis and have been informed that dry skin may also be playing a role with these ‘electric’ problems. *I hope this additional info assists.

Any advice or assistance would be very much appreciated because I’m at the end of my tether and am starting to go crazy! Is there any where in South Australia (Adelaide) where I can check my electricity levels? As mentioned, any advice would be appreciated!

Kind regards,

Jennah

I recommend seeing a doctor.

Originally Posted by RedPanda

I recommend seeing a doctor.

Yes ThankYou, I have but they said they don't know and Can't help me - I'm just trying to find someone who can help!

I have no capacity to offer medical advice.
Is this a current condition?
You could be resistant to treatment.
If you put a lightbulb into your ear would it help to illuminate your situation?
Maybe you are getting overcharged for all those vitamins.
Meditation might help, try chanting Ohm for a few amp-hours a day.

Originally Posted by jennah25

I have been taking quite a few different types of vitamin tablets (Vitamin C, BioZinc, Women’s Multi, Garlic-Horse-Radish+Echinacea, Krill Oil and Glucosamine).

Why?

I live in Adelaide too. The biggest problem here, especially in summer and autumn, is the low humidity.

Your hair? I remember working with a woman with the most beautiful hair, dark brown, dropped straight down her back nearly to her waist. She hated living in Adelaide - she was from Sydney - because of the effects on her hair and her skin. She said she'd never used any hair conditioner (nor any skin moisturisers) when she lived in Sydney, but in Adelaide she was using a whole bottle every month or less - and her hair was still harder to manage.

My recommendations? I'd look for different personal care products. Shampoos and shower gels should not get your skin or your hair squeaky clean. Try a baby shampoo and use it for both hair and as body wash. This should help with managing your dermatitis as well. And use a proper, non-perfumed moisturiser as well as hair conditioner. Don't under any circumstances use sorbolene as a "natural" moisturiser. The air here is so dry that sorbolene "works" by sucking moisture out of your skin rather than by absorbing (non-existent) moisture from the air as it does in more humid environments. If you have a giant bottle of sorbolene - most of us do - use it as a body wash or as a make up remover.

Come to think of it, unless you're seriously into running or sports or dancing that gets your scalp all sweaty, you might be better off not washing your hair with shampoo every day but just rinsing out the dust and grime and using a hair conditioner. Some people find this works quite well.

I've lost a link to a dermatologist recommendation (it vanished with my now-deceased computer and I've not been able to find it since). His view was that 50% of all skin/scalp conditions that are referred to dermatologists are caused by personal care products and/or laundry or cleaning products. He wasn't keen on sorbolene as a moisturiser, he recommends that people should try using sorbolene, unscented, no additives of any kind - and nothing else - as cleanser, bodywash and hair wash for 4 to 6 weeks to see how much difference it made. His estimate was that it took about 6 weeks, sometimes more, for the natural oil production in the skin and the scalp to re-establish/ rebalance itself after all the years of using commercial products. They should also use no perfumes or scented products of any kind on the body or in the wash or in the household. (He was also a bit of a crank about footwear - he insisted that no one should ever wear anything but leather shoes and cotton or wool socks and that men in particular should put holes into the leather of the upper because modern shoes weren't stitched together, but the sole and the upper were glued together, which meant that sweat couldn't evaporate naturally.)

His other recommendation which I've not followed, at all, is that people should not use electric blankets or duvets. His judgement is that air conditioning generally and overly warm bedrooms and bed coverings in particular are bad for our natural temperature regulation. And that has flow on effects to sweat and oil production in the skin. Seeing as I have thyroid disease, my temperature "regulation" is more or less non-existent. I'm not going to shiver in bed pointlessly for a couple of months before concluding that it won't work for me.

In our household we've been using a laundry powder that has - no enzymes, no colour, no bleach, no perfumes - for over 30 years. I've also taken to using half or less of the recommended amount and adding in bicarb to enhance the cleaning power. (Saves money apart from any other consideration.) It's done wonders for my husband's itchy, over-sensitive, eczema-prone skin as well as one daughter who has similarly super-sensitive skin. For fabric softener, we just use the cheapest white vinegar - when I'm in super wonderful house keeper mode, I add a few drops of a nice essential oil into the 2 litre container which does us quite well for quite a while. If any items are super dirty or stained in some way, I'll rinse, soak or use whatever is needed to remove it and then make sure that the item is washed twice, or gets an extra rinse, before using it.

If you wear pantyhose, one trick to avoid static from the friction with other clothing is to put a hefty amount of hand moisturiser on your hands, smear it a bit without rubbing it in, then wipe off the surplus on the thighs - after you're fully dressed.

I don't like those anti-static sprays nor tumble dry sheets. I've never yet found one that wasn't scented, and perfumes of all kinds are a huge part of the problem. I use unscented and hypo-allergenic products for everything - from deodorant to makeup to laundry powder. If I want to smell nice for particular occasions, I have a couple of bottles of very, very nice, very, very expensive, French perfumes. I don't buy them for myself - but if anyone wants to know what to buy me as a gift, I just remind them of the names of my favourites.

Originally Posted by jennah25

Originally Posted by RedPanda

I recommend seeing a doctor.

Yes ThankYou, I have but they said they don't know and Can't help me - I'm just trying to find someone who can help!

I recommend seeing a better doctor.

If all they can say is "I don't know." and "I can't help." then you need to go find a doctor that didn't buy their degree on-line.