Dry Hand OCD?

[DylanGM]

I'm not entirely sure how to explain this. I've had it my entire life, or for as long as I can remember. (I'm 17.)
I have searched for what it is so I can put a name on it many times, with no success. Just recently I found a forum post which relates very closely to what I have been experiencing.

So when I touch water, mainly with my hands but it happens on my feet too, I'll get a dry, unbearable feeling that makes me clench my fists. I'll be unable to touch anything rough, and the thought of it gives me goosebumps. Touching very soft blankets, or my hair releaves the feeling. So does touching water again, for as long as I keep my hands in it, and then I'll get the feeling again. I wouldn't necessarily call the feeling pain, but it's extremely uncomfortable. Enough to instinctively clench my fists, which seems to help.

So far, the only way to help it is to use lotion, and as a guy it seems a bit weird, but I always have lotion on me. If I don't have lotion, I have to wait it out.

From the 2nd quote below, he says "Anything dry touching teeth... this one drives me crazy where I have to rub my teeth with my fingers to get rid of the feeling it gives me."
I'm exactly the same way, thinking about it has my teeth feeling dry.

I'll quote what others said on the forum I found.

"Hi. My name is Ashley. I am 29. I have the exact same "compulsion" I guess we are calling it regarding my hands feeling dry. I never in a million years thought this would be something shared by another individual. I have the same obsession/dependence on lotions, and the same discomfort and even anxiety over hands (or even feet) that "feel" dry (whether they truly are or not). I have several surfaces I "can't" touch. The WORST of these is after I shower, and go to dry off. The feeling of a towel on my pruny hands makes me gag and get goosebumps all over. I either have to have my husband dry me off, or I wear latex gloves to dry off. I, too, get goosebumps even writing about this. Touching paper, clothing, PAPER TOWELS (shudder), really anything besides a smooth plastic or metal surface is bothersome to me. I know my hands cannot really be dry, as I moisturize constantly and do NOT overly wash my hands. I ball my fists up, and have also licked my palms to dissipate the "dry" feeling.
I have a history with extreme anxiety issues, since childhood. I don't know why I never attributed this odd behavior to something like anxiety (or OCD). I guess I just thought I was a weirdo with a weird phobia. Turns out I am not alone! Let us "dry handed" freaks unite! "

And

"I have this same problem but mine goes in different directions too. I'm curious if these things bother you...

Anything dry touching teeth... this one drives me crazy where I have to rub my teeth with my fingers to get rid of the feeling it gives me.

Thats really the worst one for me. I cannot touch anything dry with my feet or hands. As soon as I step out of the shower, I have to put lotion on my feet and hands because of the dryness. I'm actually having surgery tomorrow and they said that I have to shower the night before AND that morning and CANNOT put any type of moisturizer on. I'm thinking of skipping the shower just so that i dont have to go through the dry torture. "



If you could shed some light, tell me what this is, or anything, I would be much appreciated.

[Smarinap]

I too have this ‘condition’, and have my entire life. I am 23 years old, and since I can remember I’ve always had what I thought or subsequently classified as hypohydrosis. The only reason I came to that conclusion was because of the sense of relief I got after masking my hands and feet with lotion - profuse sweating. I’m assuming this is because the clogging of my pores. I can remember at age three consistently licking my hands (gross, I know!) just to mask this terribly irritating feeling. I do not have eczema. It’s like crawling beneath my skin, which although not always visible, can sometimes be seen as my hands ‘wrinkle’, I mean I am 23 years old, and even at a very young age in prior years I can see the wrinkling, as if I was 78. It got to the point that my mom was so tired of seeing me lick my hands that by the age of 7 she started buying me lotions - crappy ones at that - that actually made it worse. I’ve gone so far as washing dishes and splashing water on the floor just to soothe my feet, which to me felt like the dessert sand, but I’m sure we’re perfectly average. I have immense amounts of lotions in my home, and on my person at all times. I’ve had many bad experiences being at friends houses or new environments and not having my lotions. It has and continues to cause me severe mental agitation if I do not have it. I HAVE to sleep with socks on, and NEED to lotion my hands and feet multiple times before I go to bed so I am at ease. I’ve always felt very alone in this, but knew someone else out there has to have this. The reason I try to lear myself away from believing it’s OCD, is because well, my 3 year old daughter has the exact same issue, point by point. I have not at any point made it known to her that this is an issue I have, as I do not slather my extremities in lotion in her presence nor have I expressed distain in not having my lotion with me with her in my proximity. She just coincidentally has the exact same issue. I was certainly scrutinized as a child by my mom and siblings which I do not want her to experience; so I’ve taught her that instead of licking her hands and rubbing them on her feet, she can use some lotion - as licking your hands is for obvious reasons very unsanitary. It is just an indescribable sensation when my skin is ‘dry’, and my body has developed the “ability” to make my main extremities, being my hands and feet, sweat on command - which is unfortunately an ability I am known for in my social circle (lol). I, too, get great satisfaction when touching condensation on bottles etc, as well as picking up snow (Canadian, eh?). It is a necessity after washing dishes, showering or washing my hands that I lotion. I also have a sensitivity to certain materials I.e. faux fur blankets, fleece and often static prone materials/objects. It is quite easy to, at this point in my life, chalk this up to OCD, but I hate to think my child is somehow suffering from the same and being unable to offer a constructive alternative to religiously lotioning her hands and feet. It’s just a terrible skin crawling feeling that is only relieved by aggressively moisturizing.

The only advice I can offer is to stick to lotions with vitamin e, this has more of an effect for me than any other, and to avoid thin watery lotions that are heavily scented. You’ll smell great! But you’ll be lotioning yourself again in the next 5 minutes. I’ve accepted that this is just me, and it’s better than needing to flick your lights on and off 28.7 times to ensure they’re working. No offence intended there.. I still have OCD (I think?!).

All the very best to everyone in the same boat here, if you can offer me any advice - it’s always accepted.

Moisturizers Unite!
-SP

[hmmmingbird]

I just want to say it is interesting your daughter has the same. My older sister has the same - we did not grow up together. She is 20 years older than I am. She has been this way her entire life just like me. With some speculating what we are going through  is sensory processing disorder or OCD, it is nice to hear another unexplained account of multiple family members having this problem.

[tootdoctor]

I have this too! All of my life. I started using my mum's Sorbolene hand cream when I was 5 and have never been able to stop. My older sister who is 15 years older than me says she had it too, but it went away because she never had moisturiser around and relied on saliva to keep her hands hydrated. It's nice to know there are others out there. I'm now 24 and I have finished countless bottles of all types of moisturiser. Worst period of time was moving from Australia to the UK and not being able to find an adequate replacement. I could barely sleep at night. Interestingly, when I take Lysergic acid diethylamide, I unconsciously put cream on but realise I don't need it anymore, and that my dryness has gone. Sadly that is an affect that cannot last!

[Kaitlann_7]

I am the exact same way, but I will only use one certain brand of lotion, and if I don’t have it, I have an absolute conniption. I don’t know how to fix this compulsive behavior either, but it has been ongoing for as long as I can remember. I have to have my lotion right after a shower or right after I wash my hands. I used to never even touch towels and I would cringe when I had to pick up a piece of paper. For the longest time I thought it was just a weird thing that only I experienced, im glad I’m not the only one.

[Paxiled]

I guess I'd say, if this is your only obsession it's not a terrible one.  People have all kinds of habits.  The only downside would be if you're using a product that doesn't have healthful ingredients, as many are not very good for you.  I put on lip balm all the time.  I just don't worry about it.  It's just me.  The fact is, though, soap is drying, and lots of people apply lotion after a shower.  It's not actually a bad idea.

[specialmom]

Look up sensory integration disorder.  My son has this and wet hands causing extreme distress was an early sign. Everyone has sensory reactions that can be unpleasant but for him, he had fight or flight reactions.  Literally melted down.  Basically his nervous system sends faulty messages.  Water is a common one.  Let me know if you'd like more information,

[DylanGM]

So I'm back after years of posting this. I frequently checked up on this post but never really logged in to respond. It brings me great happiness to find out that multiple people are like me YET no one can explain/identify what it is. Really goes to show how much we've yet learned about ourselves/this world. It's been 4 years and not a single thing has changed with this skin issue. Seems this post gets a new person to reply every few months yet we've yet to have someone go: "Oh yeah, it's pretty well know just look up ……. and theres a cure." - I wish right? Anyways I just wanted to reply and tell everyone that has this problem, you're not insane, and I don't think it's just a mental thing. I remember, like posts above, that when I was a little kid and had no idea why I was going through this painfully annoying feeling despite none of the other kids having it, that I would like my hands. It made me laugh because like above replies said, their parents quickly got onto them about it. But we never really knew how to explain what was going on. I suppose my parents quickly caught on that there was something wrong and got me lotion. Is it possible that all of us at around the age 3 formed a OCD in our head that if we didn't lotion/saliva our hands it would be painful? I say painful because the exact feeling has been impossible for me to explain since the day I felt it. People ask me, what does it feel like? And I don't really know... It's a feeling that sends me running for lotion or putting my hands on my hair to get moisture after showers. Washing my hands MUST be accompanies by lotion or it's outright miserable. I dread the thought of pools/baths/overnights at friends houses without lotion. I remember as a kid my mother would ask my friends parents if they could keep lotion on deck for me during sleep overs. It's not something I want to do either. I wish there was a cure to it so I could actually enjoy water. But I fear there won't be anything like a cure for this unknown disorder in my life time. Anyways, just wanted to add, after 4 years of this post being alive almost every reply is SPOT ON with what I feel. It's crazy that so many other people can describe their problems like it's my own. And yet some people would think I'm crazy. A comment above said it was a obsession, but I really don't think it is. Like really? I'm a male that's obsessed over a lotion? Give me a break... If my hands wouldn't bother the F* out of me after touching water I'd throw stupid lotion out the window. It's more like my medicine that temporarily fixes the problem. And some brands do a absolute horrible job at that haha. From posts above it seems like thick lotions with Vitamin E work the best. I personally hate scented lotions, and "for dry skin" brands don't always work well. You really have to test out lotions to find which will be the most effective. I say this as in, when I get out of the shower some lotions relieve the pain for 10 seconds and come right back. While others only need 1-2 applications and I'm not bothered at all. I guess this does sound obsessive, but It's a feeling of annoyance I've dealt with for the past 20 years, so I can my brain has gone a little obsessive. Anyways, keep this alive. If anyone else has this same issue, and any tips PLEASE let us know! One day I'll hopefully get rich and start a research team on this. :)


Moisturizers Unite
-DB

[DahliaRose]

I can't believe I found others like me. As described, it's definitely like nails on a chalkboard for me, if I can't immediately slather lotion on my hands after washing...and terry cloth towels, ugh! I have had OCD as long as I can remember, but my compulsions have transformed or morphed from one to another. I have suffered from contamination OCD, which lead to excessive hand washing. When I was younger, I obviously didn't have the 'dry hands' version, since lotioning up was counterproductive to my obsessive handwashing rituals which dominated (despite dry, cracking, bleeding hands). I also suffered from emetophobia for MANY years, hence obsessive hand washing. At least over time the latter two abated, however,  morphed into this other equally intense compulsion. The age of three was mentioned above. I lost my mom to breast cancer when I was three, so safe to say that triggered a lot of my OCD and changed the circuits in my brain. However, over time, I noticed signs of OCD in close family members, so def a genetic factor. None of theirs seems to be like mine, more like hoarding etc. I commiserate with you all, nice to know I'm not alone, but I do wish us all relief.

Oh my, how is this for comic relief: as I was typing this before bed, I got my moisterized hands to a content level, but randomly a stink bug, snuck up (inside house) and doused me with its stink (I've had plenty of these bugs break into my home, but none were so bold to release their weapon). Very long story short, I just had to thoroughly scrub down my hands (cringe) and get the lotion balance right again

[hmmmingbird]

Hi guys! I am glad you are all here. I have been searching for answers for this my whole life and my partner just stumbled on this forum. Literally everything posted here is spot on. I have had this since I was little. Clenched fists after shower, spat on my feet before I could put socks on (before I discovered lotion) avoided washing my hands because I didn’t have lotion... the dry things touching teeth... gah! i’ve got goosebumps just thinking about it and rub my teeth to make the feeling go away.... I know I’m not alone because my sister has the same problem with lotion on hands / feet especially after getting them wet. I worked as a dishwasher and cashier at the same time and unfortunately spat on my hands so much which I know is so gross but I can’t help it. This is real. My sister and I didn’t grow up together but we both still have the same lotion thing. I just want to say to anyone reading this you are not alone. I’ve had this for as long as I can remember. I’m wondering if certain sounds bother anyone too. For me, when a napkin touches a plate it bothers me so much and makes my skin crawl. It’s the same feeling I get when I touch certain things like paper without lotion or even if someone tries to hold my hand when I haven’t had lotion... This is so validating to know others struggle too.