Hypersensitivity and hygiene

Post Reply New Topic

Hi everybody. Long time no see. I always end up coming back here eventually.

Anyways, my family has been concerned about my hygiene lately, particularly my dislike of showering. They took me to see an occupational therapist today and we determined that most of the issues are due to hypersensitive skin. The therapist gave me a brush that I'm supposed to brush over the skin on my arms and legs, several times a day if I understood correctly, but I really don't like the feeling of the brush. It makes me feel really tingly in a bad way. I was just wondering if anyone else has had issues with hygiene, potentially due to hypersensitivity? Did they get solved? If they did, how were they solved and how long did it take?

I have issues with hygiene due to hypersensitivity and a ritual problem.

I hate the feeling of washing my hands, and water dripping and sliding down my hands and arms. Same goes with my face. I also hate the fluctuating water temperature of a shower, and the fact that I can feel water drops on my body when drying off and can never get dry enough.

Shaving is prickly, and pulls on my skin. Blow drying my hair is so loud. In general, hygiene is a strain for me sensory-wise.

It's also time consuming. I follow a ritual, I have to. And that takes up so much time - most of the time I just ditch the ritual to do something else more productive with my time. To actually do the ritual every day would take so long.

I don't have any solutions as of yet.

What's occupational therapy like? I start it soon.

Well, today was my first time, so the therapist mostly asked me about what I found uncomfortable and why, and then she showed me how to use the brush. I'm not looking forward to going back, the whole thing was very uncomfortable for me.

<----- Thinks RockDrummer616 needs to change his suicide avatar because it's too disturbing.

Well, you could move to hippie commune. Few people here shower more than once a week. Problem solved. Except for me, of course, I don't like the smell of hippie but, no problem, I don't really count anyway.

being around other stinky people makes me feel like i'd gone back in time to medieval times.

Unlike the comments about smell, I will rather try to give you some solidarity. I take forever in the shower, mostly due to my rituals;

2-4 minutes to get wet(can't stand the initial feeling of water on my skin, so I need to acclimate)
1-2 minutes to shampoo my hair
2-3 minutes of rinsing my hair (I need to rinse it until I can feel the friction, or else I get a feeling there is soap left)
1-2 minutes of washing my face and ears
2-3 minutes of rinsing (same here, and everywhere on my body, if the friction is too low, then I need to rinse more)
1-2 minutes of washing my upper body
2-3 minutes of rinsing
1-2 minutes of washing my delicates with a mild soap
2-3 minutes of rinsing
2-3 minutes of washing my lower body
2-3 minutes of rinsing
---------------------------------------------------------------
a shower takes me 18-30 minutes, and thats not included when I shave my privates or face, and ~once a week I clip my fingernails, all in the shower.

I understand its ok for people who use 4 minutes in a shower, to shower each day, but spending ~25 minutes every day, often as much as 45 minutes, is a waste of time. Oh, and I get so high pulse after a shower that I need to lay in bed 5 minutes after a shower to cool down and relax. So, 30-50 minutes a shower.

I try never to go more than 2 days without showering, so that means showering every 3rd day is my max limit, or so I try to atleast. On special occations I do shower of course. Before I go to the store / parties / social call / before I get visitors / etc.

Rituals and hypersensitivity make showers a timeconsuming ordeal. I read a book about how a wife tried to get her husband(an aspie) to shower quicker, he spent 60 minutes in the shower, she tried to learn him to do it in 4 minutes. "Thats how crazy people shower" or something like that, was his thoughts after the shower. Poor guy.

Edit: Another options would be to wash up instead of showering, I do this some of those days I don't shower. I wet a small towel and wash underneath my arms(thats where the smell usually comes from), then I dry and put on new deodorant. It takes me 3-4 minutes instead of 30-50 minutes.

Edit2: Lately I've started to finish off my shower with a 5 minute cold shower to acclimate back to air temperature. When I do this, I don't need the 5 minutes of relaxing on the bed after, but it takes the same amount of time.

Last edited by Blownmind on 05 Jun 2012, 5:02 am, edited 2 times in total.

^^^
same here, 'cept for i wash my upper and lower body in one fell swoop. i can't figure out those folks who can shower from head to toe in just a few minutes, i am wondering if either they aren't too stinky in the first place or if they are taking shortcuts like washing only the stinkiest spots? i noticed also that the shower speed demons all had butch-short haircuts, so no having to lather/wash/rinse those long tresses. i hate short hair so no such luck for me.

If hypersensitivity of your skin is the problem, i assume the brush won't be very helpful. You could try to fix a washcloth with a gum ring over the opening of your shower. The result is a very soft water jet, not drumming on your skin. If the sound is annoying, you could use earplugs.

Don't have this problem myself, i enjoy taking a shower at least twice a day, but all in all i need about 45 minutes.

Brushes are very bad.

I do this:
Always put some effort in doing it, then put on some loud music you like in the bathroom to keep pace. I shower so hot, that it hurts more than it causes sensory issues. I use pure curd soap (no perfume, additional fat, etc.) for washing, because that causes the least skin itches to me afterwards, and rub my whole body with the soap (not directly with my hands). Don't use the hot water on the face because it will damage your eyes on the long run (also use colder water on the anus because of swelling hemorrhoids).
After showering, I always exchange all clothes and I shower every two days except on the weekend every three. I never put off the clothes otherwise. For shaving I use disinfectant with 70% isopropanol and 3% H2O2 afterwards which causes better skin insensibility after some time.

Last edited by C0MPAQ on 05 Jun 2012, 5:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

Maybe the brush is meant to desensitise you, although I can't see how that would work.

If you can't manage a shower, could you sponge wash yourself? You wouldn't have the constant water spray on your skin, and a sponge is quite soft. Otherwise what about using baby wipes? You might be too sensitive for all these suggestions. Washing yourself is just about removing dirt - and there are lots of ways of doing that, it doesn't have to be a shower.

I had trouble brushing my teeth until my 20's. I just hated it, It hurt so much! And I hated the taste of toothpaste. Part of it was because I really did have sensitive teeth and switching to Sensodyne really helped! I later found out that my teeth could stand Colgate or a gel toothpaste from other brands. Part of it was probably a sensory issue that I mostly grew out of.

I don't know about showers. If you are still young (under 40 or even older) you could still "grow out" of that sensitivity. I think the washcloth and earplugs that PTSmorrow suggested is a really good idea if a bath
or even a swimming pool (being summer and all) isn't an option.

The brushing technique is called the Whalbargan Brushing Protocol (not sure if thats spelled correctly)
and yes it is designed to desensitise you.
There are strict times when you are supposed to do the brushing.
At first it will feel uncomfortable - after a relatively short period (a few days - 1 week) it will get much better.
You will not have to use the brush forever - just in the initial stages to get over the massive hypersensitivity.
There is alot of scientific research to back it up.
I have seen clients have great results from it, and have heard many good testamonials from parents.
I would look into it more if your not convinced.
Its a good idea to give it a try - its the best thing for tactile sensitivity and cheap too.
of couse you need to follow the directions of your OT when using the brush - how hard, how often, how long etc.

good luck

I guess I will try again with the brush, if it will become less uncomfortable and will help with the sensitivity issues.

Oh, and is anyone else offended by my avatar? I will change it if people are disturbed by it, but I like it.

Welcome back to WP!