Had someone mention to me that they soak their hands in petrol to toughen the skin. Is this the same process as dit da jow? Which is more effective?
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Had someone mention to me that they soak their hands in petrol to toughen the skin. Is this the same process as dit da jow? Which is more effective?
What are the potential health effects of gasoline?
Main Routes of Exposure: Inhalation. Skin contact. Eye contact.
Inhalation: Can irritate the nose and throat. Can harm the nervous system. Symptoms may include headache, nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and confusion. A severe exposure can cause unconsciousness.
Skin Contact: May cause mild irritation. Repeated or prolonged exposure can irritate the skin. Not expected to be absorbed through the skin. Any skin contact will also involve significant inhalation exposure.
Eye Contact: Not irritating.
Ingestion: Can irritate the mouth, throat and stomach. Can cause effects as described for inhalation. Aspiration hazard. May be drawn into the lungs if swallowed or vomited, causing severe lung damage. Death can result.
Effects of Long-Term (Chronic) Exposure: Can cause dry, red, cracked skin (dermatitis) following skin contact. Gasoline is a complex mixture containing as many as 250 separate hydrocarbons including several with well-established toxicity (e.g. benzene, toluene, xylenes, and n-hexane). However, there is little information available regarding the potential effects from long-term occupational exposure to gasoline itself. Most of the information available relates to neurotoxic effects from intentional long-term abuse or "sniffing" of gasoline. These extreme exposures are not relevant to occupational exposures. Effects on the blood, which have been seen in some studies, are most likely from the presence of benzene or lead in the gasoline.
Carcinogenicity: Possible carcinogen. May cause cancer based on animal information. Has been associated with: cancer of the blood or blood system, kidney cancer.
International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC): Group 2B - Possibly carcinogenic to humans.
American Conference for Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH): A3 - Confirmed animal carcinogen.
Teratogenicity / Embryotoxicity: Not known to harm the unborn child.
Reproductive Toxicity: Not known to be a reproductive hazard.
Mutagenicity: Conclusions cannot be drawn from the limited studies available. Gasoline contains variable amounts of benzene, a known mutagen.
From what I recall SevenStar, many of those soaks (gasoline, brine, urine, camphor ice, etc.) used in the bareknuckle boxing era were primarily to make the skin more difficult to tear (I have heard it mentioned that it effects the collagen in the skin.). The hands get hard primarily by using them in those old regimens. These treatments share some effects in common with the intended effects of a jow used for this purpose, but jows also have many other intended effects that these soaks will not necessarily address.
I've never soaked my hands in it, but have had 87 grade gasoline splash all over my hands before; had a crazy allergic reaction. Don't know if I'd recommend it.
I've dealt with spilled gasoline too. It reeks....for days.
But I suppose if you ever got in a bar fight, you could light your fists on fire. :rolleyes:
Corn Huskers Lotion will do you a wonderful job of toughening the skin and reducing skin surface injury. I used it when toughening my hands and I would not use anything else.
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I think Sho Nuff may have used petrol but I wouldn't recommend it. :D
A quality jow will work great in combination with Iron Palm training for hardening the bones and toughening the skin. Make sure to work the heavy bag without gloves to rough up the knuckles.
I'm fairly new to Iron Palm so hopefully some of the Iron Palm masters on this forum will offer some additional advice.
Jow doesn't toughen the hands.
The ethanol in it elutes the active ingredients of the herbs in the mixture. The purpose is to create a tincture, a vehicle to allow the herbs to penetrate into the skin.
Gasoline is toxic, and you don't want that on or in your skin for prolonged periods.
jow is time tested and has multiple effects. gasoline is rediculous, i never heard of it.
I heard that over time, vinegar is bad for the bones.
i only apply jow for injury so its non issue for me.
Its not the first time I have heard of gasoline being used for this purpose. I think it was bigger in the UK part of the world than in the states (just an assumption from where the people were located that have mentioned the practice). I have no idea how it would affect the bones, but it makes sense how it would work the skin on the hands into a tougher state. Corned beef brine was also used by some over there.
I remember one of the old travellers in the "knuckle" documentary mentioned a petrol soak as well. Looked like he inhaled quite a bit of it as well in his time too.:D