if you don't have eczema!

Around four years ago, I started having rashes on my left arm.  They were initially just red and itchy, then later on, during extreme hot or dry weather conditions, they started "bursting," looking like wounds.  I ignored these at first, and assumed it was sunburn.  They came and went with every change in weather condition.  I would put Green Cross alcohol on the affected area or exfoliate it briskly with my loofah and Safeguard.  Then there came a time when the itch became pain and it was unbearable.  I figured it was time to see the doctor.  And so I did.  Her findings I found unbelievable at first and I thought maybe she was just trying to make money out of that checkup.

The dermatologist at Makati Medical Center (I forgot her name.  Sayang, she's a good doctor.  Good because she sort of healed my skin problem and because I finally know how to treat my disease)  first asked me the usual questions - do you have allergies, did you eat seafood, did you get an insect bite, did you come in contact with animals, etc.  Then the medical questions - are you taking any medications, for what are they?  Do you have a family history of skin diseases, have you had this before.  Physical checkup came next.  She inspected everything (yes, all of it) and then said, "My dear, you have eczema."  I didn't know what it was at that time; I just heard it many times but didn't care to research about it.  So I asked where/how did I get it and she said it could be hereditary, otherwise, the cause is unknown.  She then asked me how/what I've been doing to relieve myself of the itch or the pain, and she raised her voice when I told her I used alcohol!  "Good lord," she said.  Apparently, everything that I've been doing has been aggravating the situation - I keep my skin dry and this is exactly what eczema is all about.

• Exfoliating your skin daily is a no no, it causes your skin to flake and it removes the skin's natural moisture.  
• Safeguard as my daily bath soap has been drying my skin.  (It is a good anti-bacterial soap, but how "dirty" could I be to need it every day?)  
• My heavily scented lotions (hello, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works) irritate my wounds.  Downy fabric conditioner on my clothes rub into my rashes.  
• Alcohol dries and raises the temperature of my skin.  
• Scratching the affected area (is stupid) opens the wounds further and causes bacteria to enter.

All these things - they damage your skin.  Oftentimes it's a compliment when people say you have sensitive skin (because it sounds so mayaman LOL) but NO.  It's actually hell to live with sensitive skin due to so many restrictions.  So how did I go about my eczema episode?

Eczema will always be there.  Once you've had it, you can and will never get rid of it.  You will have attacks every now and then but you can mitigate the effects or lessen the inconvenience but it will be forever on your skin.  Too bad.  I now have three resident diseases:  eczema, amoebiasis, and diabetes.

First off, she prescribed a bottle of ointment that had her name on it.  I assume it's her formula because it didn't have a name on it.  But damn, it was expensive, PhP 1,950 for a 30mL container.  I had to apply it after bathing and before sleeping.  She told me I can just come back and buy it again from her if I needed to, but in my mind - thanks but no thanks, your "cure" is so expensive.  Now that I know it's eczema, I know there are other options.  Thankfully she also gave me some other pointers:

• Do not exfoliate everyday.  Once or twice a week is fine, and when you do so, refrain from rubbing your skin as if you were sanding wood.  (Liha versus kahoy LOL)
• Do not use Safeguard as your daily bath soap.  Use any of the following soaps.  What brand you choose depends on your budget:  Dove for Sensitive skin (green white box),  Ivory, Cetaphil, or Physiogel.  
• Avoid using anything scented on your skin - lotion, cologne, perfume - especially on the affected area.
• Avoid using fabric conditioner (Downy, Vernel, Del, Perwoll, Surf) on your clothes.
• Try to use mild detergents for washing clothes.  
• Do not scratch your sick skin!  

That afternoon, I went on a buying spree:

• I bought Dove Sensitive at a Mercury Drug Store.  Hell, 80 pesos per bar?!  You're kidding me.  
• At S&R, I got Aveeno Baby lotion for eczema.  400+ pesos for a 200 mL container.  Dang.

It was frustrating!  Given how huge my skin surface area is (go figure why LOL), my eczema required a huge "maintenance" fee.  I had to think of other options.  

Because I saw that the Aveeno I bought is "for babies," I deduced that eczema is probably a "thing" with babies.  I asked my mommy friends about it.  They recommended Elica.  Though expensive, it only costs around 400+ compared to the 1,950 pesos from the derma.

Elica

I also researched that eczema is aggravated by dry skin so I searched for fragrance-free skin lotions and moisturizers (thank you, Google).  A few brands came up: Physiogel, Cetaphil, Aveeno, and some others.  I found my Aveeno baby lotion to be effective, so when I saw that Aveeno has a scent-less moisturizing lotion, I grabbed it.  It's a lot cheaper than the "for babies" variant.  The 500 mL was being sold at S&R, 2 bottles for PhP 1,149 (it even had a free travel size pack).

Aveeno and Dove.  I don't have a photo of Dove Sensitive, and I'll have to explain to you in another blog why those are the Dove variants on the photo.

I also chanced upon Cycles detergent for babies and started using that to wash my clothes.  I couldn't avoid putting Downy on my clothes, so I just lessened the amount I used and avoided using long sleeve clothes for these come in contact with my skin.  

A few months after, some of the rashes disappeared and the itchiness was gone.  I kept on using my eczema busters.  Elica was my immediate solution for the eczema attacks during hot and humid days. If you have eczema, you can choose to follow the path I took, but if it doesn't work for you, please visit your doctor.

Meet my twin - Eczema - on regular days.