Dealing with Eczema

Eczema is pretty common and most people will have suffered from it a little at some point and if you have, you'll understand just how annoying it is. I've suffered from eczema quite badly for as long as I can remember and has been the reason for feeling majorly self consciousness at times. I was told when I was younger that I would 'grow out of it' but at 20 years old, I'm still dealing with it...



At the age of 13/14, I went through a really bad phase with it, mainly affecting my inner elbows and knees, where I had patches of red raw, flaky skin that covered areas bigger than the size of my palm. Not only was is itchy, irritating and painful, but incredibly unsightly, making me feeling seriously self conscious. I'd make sure that when I was at school, I would always wear a cardigan and tights or over the knee socks, even on warm days. P.E in particular was a nightmare (running in over the knee socks was not fun) and I hated having my arms exposed and would fold them to cover them up a little. After a couple of trips to the doctors and extensive moisturising, the eczema eventually cleared and being able to have my legs and arms on show with pride was such a relief.

Up until about 18, I'd only suffer from the odd small patch here and there... it really did seem like I was growing out of it! But no... After coming home from holiday in Venice, I had a massive flare up all over my legs arms, face and chest. Eugh. I was covered in an itchy rash. Luckily, after about a week of using E45 cream, it had settled and my skin was normal again! However, I've struggled with eczema on my face and hands ever since.

Obviously, my face and hands are constantly on show, so all the insecurities came flooding back and I was so worried that people would start to stare. On my face, I suffered with really dry, flaky skin on my forehead; I only had to rub it slightly for flakes of skin to fall into my lap, yuck! I tried to use make up to cover it up, but it would only end up drying my skin out even more. As for my hands, they we're covered in red itchy patches and just didn't look nice at all. I'd have to pull down my long
sleeves over my hands to cover them in between writing notes down during lectures. I also always keep my legs covered as I still get eczema all over them too. I have good days where I feel I can get away with wearing a dress, but I still have to wear skin coloured tights to mask some red patches.

It wasn't until I asked my friend in uni one day if my forehead looked okay (I'd just reapplied makeup) only for him to reply "What do you mean? You look fine." I asked again if the eczema on my  forehead looked okay, at which point he really had to look closely at me and this time responded, "Oh yeah, I'd never noticed before. It really doesn't look bad, honest." This was my wake up call. I'd been stressing over that much, that to me it just kept looking worse and worse. It was only because I was really scrutinising myself that I was noticing my 'flaws' and no one else saw them until I physically pointed them out. It was from this point that I stopped trying to hide my eczema and just focused on making it better. I did a bit of research and asked people what they found worked for them and soon found products that worked with my skin and it all soon cleared up. I still suffer with it on my hands a face a little now, but I'm past caring about whether people stare or not (be flattered that
people feel the need to stare at you that intently in the first place)

For anyone who does suffer from eczema or dry skin, here are a few tips on how to deal with it...

• Moisturise regularly, especially after showering/bathing (sounds obvious, but I really notice when I haven't taken the time to moisturise after a while). I tend to use E45. I have a large bottle and a smaller tube that's easier to carry around with me.
• Try not to use products (eg. Shower gels) that dry out your skin. There are a few moisturising shower gels out now, and from my experience, work pretty well.
• For your face: try to avoid wearing any make up and instead just moisturise. If you do wear make up, try to use a moisturising foundation. I use Clinique's Supermoisture makeup (£22.50) a little pricey I know, but so worth it. You don't need a lot so it lasts a while too. I also use Clinique's Moisture surge Extended Thirst Relief (£34.00). Again, pricey, but my skin was super soft after using these two products and there was no sign of dry skin within a week. I use this moisturiser on a daily basis, and I'm quite happy to go out with just putting this moisturiser on and mascara when I want to give my skin a bit of a break
• Hands: I swear by the BodyShop's Hemp Hand Protector (from £5.00). I'd used several different hand moisturisers and none of them really worked. This however, cleared my hands up within days. I always keep it in my bag.
• Try to wear loose clothing and avoid sweating. I find that sweat really aggravates my skin and was probably the reason I had such a big flare up after going on holiday.
• Don't suffer! If there doesn't seem to be anything that you can buy off a shop shelf that seems to be working, go to your GP and they may be able to prescribe you a much stronger moisturiser and in some cases a steroid cream.
•  And the biggie, avoid scratching. This is definitely easier said than done. I've scratched to the point where I bleed and it then becomes really sore and it can leave scars.

So, don't suffer in any shape or form with eczema, it can be dealt with. There's no need to hideaway and let it knock your confidence the way I let it... X

Do you have any tips on dealing with eczema, let me know!