I thought I would start my blog post series with one of the best most helpful things anybody has ever said to me about my eczema. It wasn’t told to me by a doctor, or a dermatologist, or even a fellow eczema sufferer. The advice came from my boyfriend, who had watched the eczema flare-up on my face go from bad to worse, and my emotional state along with it.
I was determined not to use steroids on my face, thinking that if I could only get enough moisture into my skin in would make it better. In desperation I had slathered on one cream and then another to try and find something that would help, only to see my skin get progressively worse. It got so bad that people were stopping me at work and asking if I was ok!
And my boyfriend, who obviously hated to see me feeling so down about it all, said to me: ‘Why don’t you just leave it alone for a bit?’ I thought he was mad – I had to find something to make it better! But do you know what? He was so right.
Sometimes when eczema is flaring really badly there is very little (aside from steroid creams) that you can apply to it directly that will calm it down – especially when you’ve already bombarded it with all sorts of lotions and potions. And just like when tempers flare and arguments arise, sometimes when eczema is extremely aggravated it’s best to just give it a little cool-down time, and then treat it when it’s a little calmer and more receptive.
If you do try out a new cream, try just a little bit on a small area of your skin/ eczema first and see how you get on. Part of the reason my skin got so bad was that I slapped so much cream on, hanging all my hopes onto it, without testing it first – and I was putting onto one of the most sensitive areas of skin too; my face.
My skin has never been as bad since the time of that major flare on my face. And the interesting thing? I have since used the same creams I used then without having a terrible reaction, but because they’ve been applied to calmer skin, they’ve been fine, or at least, better.
Charlotte
Hi I’m Charlotte and I’ve had eczema pretty much all my life. I had it as a kid but but recently it has come back with a vengeance, prompting me to start my blog: http://www.sensitiveskinsurvival.com/ and my search to find something that works! I’m 30. I live in Manchester. I work in Marketing. And I also play bass in an all-girl death metal band.
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