How I have got rid of eczema around my eyes

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eczema11
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Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2015 1:59 pm
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by eczema11 on Fri Oct 02, 2015 2:39 pm

How I have got rid of eczema around my eyes

Hello all, I have recently worked out how to really get my eczema under control, and I thought I would share it with you all as it has really had a positive impact on my life, and hopefully it will help someone out there as well.

A bit of background - I have had eczema nearly continuously throughout my life in various areas, however about two years ago it started on the skin around both eyes. In addition to continuously itching, it made the skin in the area very dark, a bit red and quite wrinkly. I looked terrible all the time, which in turn had a detrimental effect on my self confidence. I went to several doctors multiple times to try and find a solution, but was always met with 'there is no cure for eczema' (which to be fair there isn't, but I was hoping to get something more helpful in terms of finding ways of mitigating it's effects) and was prescribed hydrocortisone, but was told to use it as little as possible as the eyes area a particular danger area for thinning of the skin. I tried countless emollients, creams and lotions to keep the skin moist, but the itching was relentless (sometime I had to literally stop what I was doing and actively concentrate on not itching) and I looked awful constantly. I couldn't go more than a couple of days at a time without it becoming so unbearable that I had to use the hydrocortisone.

Wind forward to a few weeks ago, I went on a three week cycling trip with a friend where we were wild camping. I was expecting that keeping the eczema under control was going to be an ordeal, but in fact it was quite the opposite: I used hydrocortisone maybe once in the first week, and not at all in the final two. Therefore, I figured that I was doing something different to my normal routine that was helping the eczema, and I identified that as I was wild camping I was showering very rarely. Obviously, I can't got a week at a time without showering at home, so I looked on the internet when I got back and found that two aspects of showering are detrimental to eczema. a) hot water can dry out the skin b) the chemicals in shampoo and shower gel can dry out the skin. Therefore I have started to do the following -

1 Shower with water that is cool. I haven't gone for completely cold water, but cool enough that I have to have a brief shower and am not exactly comfortable. Not cold to the point of shivering.
2 Use an emollient shower gel, and E45 shampoo, and make sure whilst showering that I don't get the shampoo on my face whilst washing or rinsing. The main criteria was to find unfragranced products and ones without sodium laureth sulphate. I think the shampoo has something similar, but I haven't found a shampoo that really cleans hair without it. If you have one please let me know! (specific products http://www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk//medicin ... _8902.html
and
http://www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk//beauty/ ... _9644.html)
3 Use thick emollient moisturiser on the area immediately after showering (specific product http://www.pharmacyfirst.co.uk//medicin ... _2384.html)

I have been using this regimen for just over a week, and the itching has almost completely gone (maybe one quick itch a day, probably no more than someone without eczema), and the redness has gone from the skin around my eyes. They are still a bit dark, but I am (maybe optimistically) thinking that they are improving with time. Crucially, I have not needed to use hydrocortisone at all. Overall, a huge improvement from before and it has already made a dramatic impact on my life. Mainly, no more itching, but also an improvement in self confidence, and just generally feeling more optimistic.

It is still early days, but I am hoping this will be a long term solution. I will provide another update in a month or so to let you know if it is still working and if my skin has improved any more. Hopefully this works for someone else out there too!

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Marcie Mom
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by Marcie Mom on Sat Oct 03, 2015 6:34 am

Re: How I have got rid of eczema around my eyes

thanks for your share and good to hear your eczema has improved, look forward to hearing more good news from you!

Cheers,
Mei
Mei
Forum Moderator
talkhealth moderation team


Mei - Founder of http://www.EczemaBlues.com and Mom to Marcie
Visit Mei on her talkhealth blog all about eczema http://www.talkhealthpartnership.com/blog/author/mei_m/

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