How to soften and remove hard, crusty skin

Hard skin prevents treatments from getting through

When skin is irritated it responds by making hard, thick layers called calluses.  People commonly find callused skin on their heels.

With scabies one often will find patches of hard skin. Topical treatments cannot penetrate through this thick, hard skin. The solution is simple: using a skin lotion which contains urea and lactic acid can soften the hard skin so you can gently then remove it with water and a wash cloth or the kind of scrubbing pad you use for washing plastic dishes or teflon coated cookware.

In the Healthy Skin Program they say to use the skin softener on separate day than when you are using the topical scabies treatments. The basic idea is to be as kind as you can be to your poor beaten up skin.

Also you should only apply this to the hard skin…not to normal soft skin. This is actually dissolving layers of skin so it can irritate normal skin.

It does not remove all the hard skin at once. It removes a few layers each time you use it.

Where to buy urea and lactic acid lotion

Here is a Gold Bond product called Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Foot Cream I have personally used to soften and remove patches of hard skin. You can find it all over either at Amazon or locally at Walmart of Target or other stores.

A single tube will go a long way, depending on how large an area of skin you need to treat.

If you can’t find Gold Bond Ultimate Healing Foot Cream simply look at other products and you should see urea and lactic acid in their list of ingredients. The problem is they don’t seem to tell you what percentage they contain. The Healthy Skin Program recommends a product called Calmurid, but I think that must be a product available in Australia.

How to use the urea and lactic acid lotion

You apply the lotion by rubbing it into the hard skin, avoiding soft, normal skin.

If you get it on normal skin it won’t kill you, but it can irritate the skin temporarily.

Leave the lotion on for an hour or longer, then wash it off with warm water, and a washcloth or a scrubbing sponge like this. Be gentle with your skin.  Just let the washcloth or scrubbing sponge lift off the loose top layers of skin.

Then you can apply the lotion again the same way to remove a few more layers of skin. It can take several application s to get down too soft, normal skin.

If your skin gets irritated, stop for a couple days and new skin will grow back naturally.

Here is what the Healthy Skin Program booklet says:

“Calmurid® (urea 10%, lactic acid 5% in sorbolene cream): This softens skin crusts and facilitates shedding, thereby allowing better penetration of scabies lotion or cream. Apply after bathing on the days not applying the topical scabicide. Calmurid® only needs to be applied to crusted or thickened skin areas”

NOTE: Sorbolene is an all-purpose cream commonly sold as a moisturiser but often used as an alternative to soap or make-up remover. It seems to be a term used in Australia.