How can I protect myself from leprosy damage with daily-self-care after being infected with it (Tamil)
By following an effective daily self-care routine, you can avoid most malformations of leprosy. Every day you should soak the skin of your hands and feet in water for at least 20 minutes. Then gently scrape it. Then oil it with cooking oil, Vaseline, or lanolin hand cream. Do not use butter or animal fat! These attract insects and rats.
As you oil your hands and feet, regularly do stretch exercises to keep the complete range of motion in the joints. To avoid fixed clawing of the hands, gently straighten your fingers. Open your fingers as much as you can without help. Then use your other hand to open them the rest of the way. Close fingers and repeat.
It is also important to check your hands and feet for cuts, wounds, or thorns every day. If you find any injury, take special care of it daily. Also, check your whole body for any other changes, for example skin patches, loss of feeling, thickened nerves or wounds. If you detect any changes, please contact a health worker.
If you have a loss of feeling, you must always protect yourself from injuries.