Common addictions

Many items of daily use have exactly the opposite effect to what’s desired. One’s body gets used to the thing, and then can’t do without, exacerbating any problems one might have started with.

In my particular case, the lip balm has been the worst offender. I started using lip balm quite young, my lips were dry and a lip balm immediately made me feel better. At some point during my use, my lips switched from becoming dry to simply burning. Suddenly, I had to apply the lip balm all the time, otherwise I’d get an immediate burning sensation. This was very annoying, but oh well, I just took a lip balm with me everywhere. Then one day it dawned on me that other people didn’t have this problem. I tried different lip balms, to no avail. Then one day, I stopped using lip balm. Within two days, the burning sensation turned into the much more bearable dry lips. After ceasing usage, my lips became ok after a week.

Things of daily use for which I’ve developed an addiction and managed to get rid of it:

• Lip balm – the worst, avoid!
• Nasal spray – I blame it for my prolonged colds. Perhaps three years ago, girlfriend told me not to use nasal spray when I had a cold, and I suffered a little at the beginning, but went through the cold quicker and I haven’t had much of a cold since. Coincidence? I don’t know…
• Antiperspirant – Used one for one summer, smelled like a dead cat whenever I forgot to use it for a day. Afterwards, reeked for weeks. Never again.
• Shampoo – I had to wash my hair every day otherwise my head would become oily and itchy. Some years ago on a yacht, Regina told a story about a woman who stopped shampooing her hair. I tried the same with great success: now that I only wash my head with warm water, it no longer feels the need to produce as much oil. Mind, I’m still bald.

Things I have not developed an addiction for:

• Hand lotion – If you use hand lotion, I’ll show you my hands. You can admire the silkiness. I never use gloves when dealing with aggressive detergents etc.
• That’s it! Can’t think of anything else I’m not addicted to. I’ll amend this later if I come up with something!

[This blog post brought to you by Diana. Diana said I should write a blog!]