I think my hands are sensitive to coconut oil. Is this an allergy? If so, should I be concerned about eating it?
I always have dry hands - I’m a potter, and it comes with the territory. But they got really bad last month - the whorls of my fingerprints started cracking! I’ve systematically eliminated everything else, the new hand lotion, the fancy gardenia-scented soap, etc. Then I realized I’ve been rubbing on some coconut oil when I make my bpc each morning. I stopped a couple days ago & my hands are recovering.
So, how do I know if this is an allergic reaction? And if it is, aren’t allergies systemic? Could consuming coconut oil be a really bad idea for me?
Coconut oil, cracked skin & allergies?
Jan
(Jan)
#1
DBatting
(Derek I. Batting)
#2
It probably isn’t an allergy so much as a natural reaction to the lauric acid in coconut oil. I looked into it very briefly, but happened to spot the quoted info below in a forum along the way:
Coconut oil is made up of glycerol esters of shorter-chain fatty acids, mostly lauric acid (about 47%). Lauric acid has 12 carbon atoms compared to 18 carbons in stearic acid, a common component of most fats and oils. Other major components are 8, 10, and 14 carbon fatty acids. This makes coconut oil a lot different than most other oils.
Coconut oil obtains some very special benefits for your skin from these shorter-chain fatty acids, very nourishing and healing, in part because they PENETRATE skin very well. What they DO NOT do well is stay on top to form a moisture seal on your skin. Some folks would interpret this as “drying.”
So-- YES, do use coconut oil on your skin for its very special benefits, but add a little of something else, maybe a nut butter such as shea butter, for moisturizing. Another possible thing to add for moisturizing is castor oil.
Hope this helps set you in the right direction in. 
DBatting
(Derek I. Batting)
#3
More info from another site I happened across:
COCONUT OIL CAN CAUSE DRY SKIN
Despite the fact that coconut oil is definitely an oil, and as stated above it does absorb into the skin many people also report that coconut oil increases their skin’s dryness. This seems completely counterintuitive, but again, plenty of comments threads read like this one that states “coconut oil causes sandpaper hands”. Yep.
How could this be? One possible explanation is that the oil’s absorption actually causes more problems than it solves for some people. Your skin produces its own sebum to moisturize the skin. Applying oil to the skin actually communicates with your skin and can modify your sebum production. By applying more oil you communicate to your skin to produce less because it is already oil-rich. You can see the opposite of this effect when people use too many astringents and strip their skin of oil repeatedly, then causing overproduction of oil resulting in a slick like the Gulf spill of 2010 right on their face. With oil and faces the right amount of the right type is like the heavens open up and angels sing - sublime! But the wrong one for your skin type can definitely throw things off.
Coconut oil may be causing a slowing of natural sebum production while virtually disappearing from the surface of the skin through absorption. Your skin needs a layer of oils (lipids) on the surface to protect it from environmental stressors and transepidermal water loss - the evaporation of your valuable hydration from inside the skin. With an oil that is too absorbent it may be sending the wrong, oil-rich signals to skin and then by absorbing you have nothing left to protect you on the surface. Whoops! Skin is then left feeling like it’s having one of those dreams about being naked in public. Not so pleasant.
In my personal experience I’ve done skin consultations for two sisters whose reactions to coconut oil were totally different. One could use it for everything and it worked beautifully for her. She was as happy as the Pointer Sisters in “I’m So Excited.” Sister #2 reported that her skin on coconut oil was dry, uncomfortable, and even itchy. She had to stop using it because of how it affected her. And that seems to be the trend for results with this oil - half happy, half not.
Source: Why Some Skin Types Should Stop Using Coconut Oil - the mixed results of this otherwise healthy oil
Jan
(Jan)
#4
Thanks! I always have dry skin on my hands, but never has it been this bad. And just since I started using the coconut oil. I even stopped working with clay for nearly a month - even that didn’t help. I think I’m gonna skip this on my hands, and just use it for coffee. And truffles…
janknitz
(jketoscribe)
#6
I used to have terrible contact dermatitis. Neutrogena hand cream was the only thing that helped. It’s expensive, but a little goes a long way.
carolT
#7
You may find shea butter better for keeping moisture in the skin. It’s even said to help with severe conditions such as eczema.
Jan
(Jan)
#8
Thank you - I’ll try that. I was using the coconut oil only because it was convenient when making bpc, & 'cause I’d read that it was good for skin. Not my skin, I guess!
Jan
(Jan)
#11
DBatting: Just read your bio. Is that all? No leaping tall buildings at the speed of sound?Battling Wookies? Ach, what a boring life! (NOT!!!) Loved it!
DBatting
(Derek I. Batting)
#12
Well, I didn’t want to brag…
“For what is modesty but hypocritical humility, by means of which, in a world swelling with vile envy, a man seeks to beg pardon for his excellences and merits from those who have none? For whoever attributes no merit to himself because he really has none is not modest, but merely honest. No doubt, when modesty was made a virtue, it was a very advantageous thing for the fools, for everybody is expected to speak of himself as if he were one.” - Schopenhauer
jfricke
(Guardian of the bacon)
#14
Got my curiosity up so I read it as well.
Sounds like you are a farmer who once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. 
DBatting
(Derek I. Batting)
#15
Can’t get anything past you, you old sleuth! 
(By the way, that literally had me laughing out loud. Glad no one was home to hear me guffaw!)
SondraRose
(Sondra Rose)
#16
My husband removes the hardened fat from the top of the finished bone broth after leaving it in the fridge overnight. He then melted the fat and poured off just the top layer to eliminate the broth bits. It doesn’t smell to my nose!
AnnaLeeMI
(AnnaLeeThal)
#19
This is the tallow body butter I made. It’s divine. I get the same problem with coconut oil, hurts my skin.