Minnesota’s historically cold playoff game turned Kam Chancellor’s hands into horrifying ‘iguana skin’
The Seattle Seahawks safety revealed a startling development on Instagram -- his hands are developing “iguana skin” from the frigid temperatures he and his teammates played in to begin the postseason.
Seattle strong safety Kam Chancellor is part lizard -- or at least his hands currently make him look that way.
Chancellor revealed via Instagram that his hands have taken on a resemblance to “iguana skin” thanks, mostly, to having played in one of the coldest games in the history of the NFL when he and his Seahawks took on the Minnesota Vikings in the playoffs.
The truth be told, Chancellor isn’t experiencing a change to a new species. He’s just suffering from very, very, very dry skin.
Having grown up in Virginia and attending Virginia Tech, Chancellor wasn’t really subjected to extreme colds for the majority of his life.
As a Yooper who spent nearly the entirety of his life either living in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula or Alaska, I have the luxury of really not knowing what living in warm weather is like. I pretty much live in the cold (not complaining, mind you -- I love it below freezing) and am often out fishing through holes in the ice (and reaching into the holes if the fish don’t want to cooperate and just come through), snowblowing and shoveling and generally enjoying the great outdoors. My hands take a beating every winter, but I have to use them for writing and editing and general nonsense, thus, I have some suggestions for Chancellor.
Tonight when you get ready to go to bed, wash your hands really well in warm, soapy water. Pay special attention to where the skin is the most cracked. Then apply a nice slather of Bag Balm to them. It’s usually used on cow udders to keep them from getting irritated from all the milking they go through. I know, I know -- it says it’s only for use on animals. But, really, it works. And if you don’t have anywhere around you that you can snag some Bag Balm (order some for next year if that’s the case), you can always use petroleum jelly in a pinch.
Now, put some gloves on. That’s going to help trap the moisture against your skin and stop it from rubbing off at night and it’s really going to help. Don’t have gloves around? (I’m guessing you’ve at least got some football gloves around though.) Well, when I was a kid, we just slid socks onto our hands. Hey, why not? When you’re sleeping, your hands are just as busy as your feet are. Stop judging. Just do it.
You’re going to have to do this for a few days to get those ball-hawking hands back to playing shape, but it’s going to work. In between sleeping, make sure to moisturize your hands several times a day. Some folks use moisturizing lotion, but I’ve known people who use olive oil and even butter. Apply three or four times a day, rub it into your skin well and -- Voila! -- good as new.
Or there’s always the option of going to get some hand massages at your favorite manicurist and opting for paraffin wax dips but, let’s be honest, that’s not nearly as fun.
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SB Nation presents: The Vikings-Seahawks game was all kinds of cold
