Skin care weblog

Maggie,

I use Aqueous Cream B.P. all over my body. It is water based emollient
cream and it was recommend by my specialist about 10 years ago - I am in
the UK but I am sure that there are similar products in the US. It can
be used for washing instead of soap and also acts as a strong
moisturiser. I use it on my face as well and it is really good at
softening the dry skin around my eyes and mouth. You have to be careful
not to use it on greasy areas of your face (if you have any) as it is
too heavy. I also cover my body in it before I go to bed. Whilst in
bed I wear silk pyjamas and cotton gloves which keeps my skin
moisturised during the night and also stops me scratching too much.
When the eczema is bad I tie the gloves on with bandages to stop me
pulling them off. As you can imagine, it took me a long time before I
would let my fiancé see me like this - it is not exactly sexy but very

necessary. He has only seen one very severe outbreak and that was
enough for him to act as my private policeman whenever he sees me about
to scratch!

I do use a very mild cortisone when my skin is slightly inflamed. This
is only one of those that you can buy over the counter so that I know I
am not doing too much damage. My specialist told me that I could use it
round my eyes but when I see the damage that steroids have done to the
rest of my body, I am extremely wary of this. I do keep a fairly strong
steroid around just in case it gets really bad on the rest of my body.
I have tried many remedies over the years but nothing so far has worked
for me - I keep trying in the hope that one day I will find something
that works.

I am also very allergic to nickel but luckily have no fillings so have
managed to eliminate it from my home environment. I had a patch test 6
years ago and they picked up the nickel allergy and also an allergy to
rubber. I have known for about 20 years that I am allergic to dust so
that was not used on the patch test. Luckily you can buy non-rubber
gloves here so I use those whenever I am washing up, gardening or doing
the housework. I also wear cotton gloves at work if my skin is bad.
The only problem with my job is that I work in a laboratory most of the
time which is very dusty and I also have to put my hands in water a lot
- rubber gloves worn at all times!

About 6 years ago I also did a food elimination test which picked up an
allergy to cow’s milk products. I now avoid those at all costs but I
find that really hard when I am away from the UK as I don’t know exactly
what goes into different types of food. We are going to Italy on our
honeymoon so I am going to have immense amounts of fun avoiding dairy.
For the last couple of years I have been giving myself a break once a
year - Christmas - as the eczema is not as severe as it once was and it
has helped me to keep to the regime for the rest of the year. I refuse
to let the eczema rule my life completely.

I don’t really know what to suggest as to what is causing the eczema
round your eyes - it could just be something environmental that you have
no control over. There was one place that I worked in which caused my
eczema to go haywire and to this day I have no idea what caused it.
Good luck with tracking the cause down. Is the eczema always there or
does it come in fits and starts? If it is always there it might be
worth considering wearing an eye patch for a week or so. My specialist
told me about this trick when my eyes were bad - you use the aqueous
cream and cover the eye initially with a cotton pad and then an eye
patch. The idea is that it gives your eye some relief from what ever is
aggravating it and making the situation worse. It worked for me as the
eczema didn’t get to the same level for several months.

I might consider using a sunbed before the wedding. The Grand Hotel in
my hometown does a special deal for brides in the town so I might take
them up on the offer. At the moment though I am sitting outside soaking
up the sun at every opportunity. The last 2 weekends have been glorious
here so I have started to develop quite a nice tan and my eczema is
quite clear. In typical English style, the weather has now turned and
it is raining again! Never mind - there is the rest of the summer to
look forward to.

Anyway, I had better get back to it as coffee break is over for me.

Vicky

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