Life with Eczema

/ Pants- Free People / Shirt- Apricot Lane / Jacket-F21 / Shoes-Sam Edelman / Watch-MK / Necklace-unknown / 

/ Earrings-Q Boutique /

My whole life I've had eczema and I currently have it on my arms, neck, face, and scalp. Life with eczema isn't always easy. It's a constant battle to not itch those areas and to try and find a happy medium. Living in Utah I always can expect my eczema to break out more during the changing seasons, especially from summer to fall and winter to spring. So why am I bringing this up? Well there are 2 reasons.

1. I wanted to share my little tricks with people about managing eczema

and

2. I'm taking out my extensions today because it's too hard with my scalp eczema.

So here are some tricks I've learned over the past 27 years about living with eczema.

-WATER SOFTENER!! I know they are expensive, but holy moly this thing made the biggest difference in my life! If you are someone like me and you 'suffer' everyday the money is well worth it, not to mention you can take it with you if you move from house to house. 

- AVEENO! I use Aveeno body wash and daily body lotion EVERY SINGLE DAY! These products help keep my skin soft and moisturized especially in the dry air of Utah. I carry the lotion everywhere and travel with both of them anywhere I go. I can actually tell when I haven't used them for a couple of days.

-STAY AWAY FROM ITCHY FABRICS. I can't wear anything made of wool next to my skin or have a lot of angora in it. The wool is so itchy to me, and it only makes my eczema flare up. The angora gets in my eyes (sounds silly yes but it does) and once it get my eyes all itchy and watery my face starts to flare up and it's all over from there, so no angora!

-STEROID CREAM, only use sparingly. I really don't like using steroid cream, only because it's a steroid and they aren't good for your body with a lot of use. I only use steroids when I absolutely need to, like dang it scratched myself to bleed moment and then I will put it on at night and then go to sleep.

-SLEEPING/ANTI-ITCHING MED. Every once in a while (seriously maybe once every 4 months) I can't sleep because I'm itching everywhere, the pillow case is bugging my cheek, the sheets are scratchy against my arms...it's a disaster!

I think that's all my tricks and though I might still have big flare ups they help manage my skin to have less. Occasionally I still get to the 'break the skin start bleeding' moments and I always have to remember that those areas put me at a greater risk for infections. So always wash your hands and try and not touch those areas until they are healed (Nurse Nikki coming out, sorry).

I do have to thank my husband for being so patient with me, my itching, and complaining. He seriously saved me by finding the Aveeno, complete lifesaver!!

Please feel free to email me with any questions about eczema, I love to share any details that might help others out there.