Here is a post about my experience with facial eczema, the products that help control it and tips to cope with the physical and emotional effects of eczema and also the product that reduced my eczema like nothing else!
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Product images from Google
How did my eczema start?
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My eczema story started when I was 14/15 years of age and eczema must be an awful and annoying skin condition at any age but during high school it was particularly difficult. My eczema started as very small mild patches of slightly drier skin and no matter how much moisturiser I applied, the dryness didn't go away. I kept talking and complaining about it to my parents and we went to see our GP who is a deramtologist and he said that I had eczema. My eczema started around my eyes and the dermatologist gave me hydrocortisone, a mild version, and I have used that for years (although I haven't for about two or three years now). Unfortunately my eczema did start to spread and the hydrocortisone, which is a steroid cream, did not work as well - and hydrocortisone shouldn't really be used around the eyes for long periods of time as I used it because it can causes thinning of the skin.
Eczema Progression & Products
By the age of 16/17 the eczema had spread to the tops of my cheeks, all around my eyes (especially my eye lids) and it was just awful and quite depressing at times. Eczema, the version I had, looked really red, inflamed and super flaky so it wasn't nice at all! Which is especially horrible if you are a teenage girl at high school/college. When I get small eczema flare ups now I still get redness, extreme dryness and my eye lids tend to get inflamed and swollen. I found some products that did not irritate my skin during this time, I found the Simple Rich Moisturiser which does not irritate my skin at all so I would recommend it if you have sensitive skin (although everyone is different). I also found the Avene gentle cleanser, the no rinse version, also didn't irritate my skin. However, sometimes my eczema was so bad and painful that I was literally scratching at my face and scrubbing at my skin in tears because the eczema was stinging/burning/itching almost constantly! But I found that calamine lotion worked wonders, it stopped the itching and burning almost instantly and even though it made my skin even paler and dry than it already was, it allowed me to feel like I had normal skin for the time when I was at home and not at school. I love the Care+ calamine lotion.
At the age of 18, when I started college, my eczema now came in flares, so I didn't have it all of the time and I have been trying about four different creams for my eczema, mainly steroid creams from my GP/Doctors. I wanted to try and cover up the redness, blotching and the other disgusting effects that come with eczema but it wasn't easy because it was on my face so you can't really hide that! However, the Revlon Colorstay foundation (for dry skin, shade Buff) was a lifesaver as it helped cover the redness and gave me some confidence. Also the Cosmopolitan foundation sponge that I adore, also helped a lot because it didn't exmphasises the dryness of my skin and it somehow makes foundation press onto the skin and not look dry or flaky. One main tip that I would say if you have facial eczema is not to scratch the skin because it does make it worse and also try using basic products and go to see your doctor or a dermatologist if possible (however try and stay away from steroid creams).
The Miracle Cream?
After a few years of on and off eczema with no real end in sight I went back to the Doctors and they gave me a non steroid cream called Protopic 0.1% which is an absolute miracle worker! Since using Protopic on my face my eczema has been virtually non existent and for the past year or so I have only had to use it when I had an odd flare up - once a month. I would definitely recommend that you look out for or ask about Protopic if you have eczema. I also found that when I had a little flare up, the Clinique 7 day facial scrub was fantastic, it doesn't irritate my skin and it is quite gentle but it still exfoliates well and gets rid of the excess flakiness that my eczema caused. Another tip for facial eczema, when you get a flare up, try and figure out your personal eczema triggers/causes - eczema can be triggered by so many factors and I have gone through months of eliminating things from my diet to see if that causes my eczema but I still haven't found the cause fully. I find that stress is a factor for me and also some skin products trigger my eczema, such as the I Love Strawberries Face Mask and the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish to an extent. Also the Eve Lom Cleanser really irritates my skin.
There is my eczema story, I hope it helps some of you who also suffer from Eczema as I know how horrible and painful (physically and emotionally) it can be particularly as a teenager and young adult.
Hoping for a few good skin days as I am going to the T.G.I Fridays event in Manchester on thursday, has anyone else been invited? I will see you there, be sure to say hi! x
