When I started writing this blog post, my skin was…okay – not great but alright by eczema standards. However, things have taken a turn…as you can see.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been itchy. Covered in dry flaky skin and forever spelling ezcema wrong, also so lovingly known as atopic dermatitis (which I think sounds a lot more…extravagant). Two events triggered me wanting to share about itchy skin. First was a drunk guy asking if I was a burns victim on a night out. The second was a customer at work commenting on my arms and telling me what I should be doing about it… like I had no idea.
I’ll briefly tell you about my scratchy beginnings. I’ve had eczema my whole life, there are lots of baby photos of me looking red and blotchy and mum often recounts having to put little socks on my hands when I went to sleep to stop the constant scratching. My main areas of eczema when I was little were: arms, legs (classic behind the knees) and torso. I have very vivid memories of my navy school sweatshirt and being too embarrassed to take it off during summer and getting home and having to peel navy fluff stuck on my weepy arms (because of course, I would rub through my jumper). When I was younger, I was convinced that everyone would see my eczema and think I was unclean. I thankfully outgrew my eczema in my teens, oh those sweet years being itch-free – kind of. During my teens I didn’t need to use medicated creams, I just made a conscious effort to always stay moisturised, staying in good habits.
But this didn’t last very long, as soon as I moved out for uni…I welcomed eczema back like an old friend. Feeling uncomfortable in your skin is part of being a teenager, but having a chronic skin condition, which I often forget I have – can be really debilitating, both mentally and physically on the skin. My ‘main areas for concern’ are arms, armpits, wrists, shoulders and I get a really weird rectangular patch under my chin on my neck. As you can imagine… it’s all very attractive. I’ve come to realise that my skin just shows what’s going on, on the inside. Uni has brought out the worst in my skin because lets be honest, uni-houses are disgusting, and students don’t look after themselves properly. We go out too much and don’t drink enough water and don’t kid yourself if you don’t think alcohol isn’t a trigger.
Being itchy is a struggle, when I was younger it was the embarrassment of having other children ask what was wrong with my arms, this has graduated into being embarrassed that I don’t have the self-control not to itch. But I think educating myself on causes (stress, environment) has helped me control any triggers and if I do slip up, I can normally see a coloration between how I’m feeling emotionally, and the condition of my skin.
I also find that non-itchy folks really don’t understand how high maintenance it can be.
“What do you mean you have to moisturise after EVERY shower?”
“Why are you putting cream on in the middle of the day?”
And my personal favourite… “You shouldn’t scratch, you’ll make it worse.” Or “Have you tried not scratching it.”
At the moment I’m having a bit of an extreme flare-up, which I’ll share with you in my next post, but if anyone is suffering from extra dry skin or mild eczema, I’ve made a list of potentially helpful creams.
Granted they haven’t help me but they might be compatible with someone else’s skin.
- Aveeno Diprobase (prescribed but also available on Amazon)
- Aqueous (prescribed but also available in Boots/Superdrug)
- E45
- Vaseline Advanced Repair
- Garnier Intensive 7 Day Replenishing Lotion
- Child’s Farm Baby Moisturiser
- Nivea Lotion for Dry Skin
- Hydrocortisone (prescribed but also available in Boots)
- Betamethasone dipropionate 0.05% (prescribed)
- Body Shop Almond Milk and Honey Body Butter
I hope my little list might help someone find something that works for them!
Until next time,
Hannah xo
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