Relief for Eczema Sufferers
Image source: http://www.naturesense.co.uk/naturesense/eczema-info/info_24.html
Eczema is a relatively common chronic skin problem, especially in areas with dry climates ie. Melbourne. It is an autoimmune disease where your body overreacts (hypersensitivity) to harmless stimuli such as wind, dust, ect. and hence, makes efforts to protect itself by attacking its own cells. Redness, itchiness, dryness and flakiness are all symptoms of it. As you can see, many cells become damaged so our skin becomes more sensitive to irritants, and cannot retain natural oils and water very well.
I've had eczema since I was 2, it's not genetic because I'm the only one in my family history with it. Eczema is more common in babies and younger children since their immune system hasn't fully developed yet and for most, disappear by the time they reach 10 years of age. Unfortunately for some, it never goes away and it cannot be cured. However, it can be controlled.
I used to have eczema all over my body, but by watching what I eat and using a variety of ointments and creams, I have now localised it to my mouth area and neck which now, cannot even be seen! The only good thing about my eczema is that my skin is so dry, I never get pimples/acne! The downside is that I have scars everywhere from scratching over the years and very uneven skin tone around my mouth. I know a lot of people have it much worse than me which is why I have created this post to help other eczema sufferers.
First, you want to diagnose the agitators of your eczema, observe what causes your flare-ups. Mine is agitated by dry conditions, dust and foods with weak acids eg. tomato, orange, lemon, fish sauce and try to avoid it as much as possible or protect yourself against it. With acidic foods, I just take care when eating not it let it touch my skin.
1. Drink lots of water, eat fruit, vegetables: have a healthy diet. Exercising helps.
2. Bio-Oil: The key ingredient is PurCellin Oil, which according to the packaging, is a type of oil designed to mimic and have very similar properties to the natural oils our body produces. Since we don't produce enough of it or our body can't retain it very well, we need to use external sources of this oil we lack. It does take a while to absorb into the skin, but with this, I don't even need moisturiser throughout the day anymore! It does not clog pores, so it's unlikely to cause breakouts.
3. Rosehip Oil: use this along with Bio-Oil - it helps moisturise and rejuvenate the skin, reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and has numerous other benefits. It is a highly raved about product featured on many blogs and even on the news.
3. Medication: use sparingly! I only used it when I had really bad flareups.
- Advantan Fatty Ointment (requires prescription)
I had a flareup all over my neck, it was flaky and looked it had slits on it (gross I know) so I put this on and the next day it was all gone, my skin was smooth and wasn't itchy at all. Note: it is very strong so use small amount
Image source: http://www.tmdcl.com.hk/TMDCL%20Photo/Sigma/IMG_4275.jpg
4. Vitamin E Oil: (I used Invite E 100% Pure Vitamin E Oil) After months of suffering with redness, dryness and itchiness on my eyelids nothing could cure, the vitamin E oil relieved me in a day. It hasn't come back since! The only downside is that it looks very oily.
5. Fish Oil: You can take this in the form of Omega 3 supplement capsules or fish meat
6. Don't touch, don't scratch. I know it's the most repetitive thing you hear, which is even more annoying when it comes from people without eczema and don't understand the unbearable itchiness, but they're right. Our hands are covered in bacteria and other impurities which can irritate the skin and cause breakouts for some people.
7. Take moisturisers around with you! QV, Cetaphil are both rich drugstore brands. I also use the Face Shop Rice Emulsion Moisturiser in the morning to brighten up the complexion.
So that's all from me, and I will update this post if I find anything else useful but I really hope some of you found this useful :)
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