Maarten Vasbinder lives in Isaan. His profession is general practitioner, a profession that he mainly practiced in Spain. On Thailandblog he answers questions from readers who live in Thailand and writes about medical facts.
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Dear Martin,
I have received very good advice from you before. Meanwhile my weight of 133 kg on arrival in Thailand in Oct. 2016, now only 100 kg and I want to go to less than 90 kg. Partly due to many jobs, so being active, sweating, mentally distracted from food and other luxuries, drinking a lot of Organic Tea, living far away from a 7-Eleven or any other supermarket and living in the mountains of the Golden Triangle with clean air, I succeeded.
But there are many insects here in nature. I always wear shorts and socks but constantly have flies on my lower legs. It's very annoying and I keep hitting them.
I have cut quite a lot of floor tiles with a grinder, the dust of which came with force against my lower legs. I also worked quite a lot with cement, which was not immediately washed off my legs. Since two months I have a nasty and itchy rash. I can hardly keep my hands off it, but I don't scratch.
I have been using an ointment against insect bites and allergies 'Beta Dipo' (Betamethasone and Neonmycin) for months, but I see only a deterioration. Since a week I have anti-allergy pills 'Zyrtec' (Certiricine dihydrochloride). You can see the result in the photos, should I continue with it or switch to something else?
Thanks in advance,
R.
*****
Dear R.,
I've seen the photos. Quit the Beta Dipo. You end up destroying your skin with that. It does work, as you can see. That is thanks to the betamethasone.
The Neomicin is an antibiotic, which is absolutely not indicated in this case. If you are afraid of an infection, use betadine.
The Cetirizine probably won't do anything except provide a good night's sleep and less itching.
Treat especially with cool water and be patient. Make sure your legs get good blood with massage and by rocking up and down on your toes.
Menthol powder can also help. For sale at Boots. (Snake Brand Prickley Heat) If the skin is chapped, apply coconut oil.
Cement is quite aggressive and is probably still in your skin. It takes time to lose that.
The flies seem to like you. Keep them at bay with a fan, or put on long pants. If possible, wear only cotton socks and leave the grinder to others.
Yours faithfully,
Maarten