It has been an eventful few weeks. I found out this week that a problem I have been having with my hip since I tripped and landed squarely on the pointy hip bit that sticks out beside the tummy are due to a partially torn tendon on the iliac crest. Fun fun! Fortunately it will heal with some help. I started seeing the chiropractor this week and it has helped. Last week the pain and stiffness was getting pretty bad, but I couldn't get in to see the chiropractor til this week, so I started taking New Chapter Turmeric Force twice a day. It really has helped manage the pain a lot. Even the chiropractor told me that staying on the turmeric would be huge in helping me heal up.
My biggest mystery of the past few weeks was the recurrence of some pretty bad patches of eczema on my scalp. Up til now it had been pretty well under control, save for a few flaky spots here and there, but definitely showing continuous improvement over the last few months. All of the sudden it flared up big time and was actually scabbing up again. This was definitely not good. I finally figured out that I had started using some remaining leave-in conditioner for my hair, that I had from a while back. My hair had been dried out from two beach trips over the past couple of months (who knew salt air could wreak havoc on hair?), so I had started using it a few weeks ago. Finally my brain made the connection and guess what I found on the ingredients list? Yep, hydrolized wheat gluten.
Geez. I sent Ojon (the product maker) a rather irate letter explaining that they needed to do a better job formulating their products, especially with the growing numbers of people with gluten sensitivity. I also checked out most of their products at Sephora and most contain wheat. Their response ... we have experts formulating our products ... will pass this along ... reading between the lines the response appeared to be basically "we don't give a crap." Nothing like "gee, we're sorry our product made your scalp self-destruct."
So I went to EarthFare and got some gluten free hair care stuff by Hugo Naturals. Hopefully that will calm my scalp back down in a bit. I also got this yummy gluten free brown sugar and kumquat sugar scrub from them too. With winter coming up, a good sugar scrub is a must!
I never imagined when all this started that I'd have to completely go through all my personal care products and start trashing anything with wheat or wheat derivatives in it. Fortunately I found a list online of stuff to look for in the ingredients lists. I remember about a month ago helping pack up cookies at a wake after a memorial service and noticed my hands got itchy, but thought it was just my imagination. Maybe not. I did have the good sense not to eat them, but I didn't think touching it would be a problem. Now I think I really do have a full blown allergy to wheat.
Oddly enough I was talking to my chiropractor about the whole gluten thing while he was adjusting me, and he said that he thinks that 90% or more of all humans are gluten intolerant to some degree, but just don't know it. Interestingly even my dog's allergies have improved since he has switched to a wheat free formula. So what the heck has happened to our wheat to make it so toxic?
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