Eczema Boil

Random Party Guest: “Corn?!”

Me: “Yeah.”

RPG: “That’s a random thing to be allergic to.”

Me: “No more than anything else.”

RPG: “So, like, anything with corn?”

Me: “Yeah.”

RPG: “It’s in everything!”

Me: “Yeah.”

He thinks for a few moments, eyes darting around like the mouse in his head got trapped in a maze. And then he asks my favorite question. The one with such an obvious answer.

RPG: “What do you eat?!”

Me: “Everything else.”

Do you know how many blogs about personal experience with eczema there are? The ones that are still updated, and in English, are listed to the right in the Allergy/Skin Links.

That’s five to represent the millions of people in the world with eczema.

If we don’t talk about it, no one will know that it’s not just a ‘rash’. If we don’t talk about it, people aren’t aware of how physically painful and psychologically warping it can be. If we don’t talk about it, people will continue to think it’s ok to laugh at someone because they’re different.

Maybe you have eczema and would like to write about it but are nervous about the blog part. Maybe you’ve never set one up before and are worried it’ll be too much work.

You work on it when you want to. Do what you’re comfortable with, what fits your schedule and your life. You can reveal or hide what you choose [because believe me, half of my life with eczema isn't on this site and never will be].  Don’t feel pressured to blog as frequently as other people do – that’s their site and we’re talking about yours.  That is, if you want one. If so, keep reading, I have resources to recommend.

Havi Brooks of the Fluent Self has a fantastic series called Ask Havi, where she helps unravel and soothe worries about living, and blogging. She even taught a teleclass – that I participated in, it was great – helping people get their ducks in a row and blog.  She covered everything from panic attacks about writing style to what companies have great web hosting.

Are you still worried about the set up? I have three methods to recommend here, and two involve the talented and hilarious Johnny B. Truant.

1. Wordpress it yourself. There are lots of blogging platforms, but Wordpress is easy to use but powerful if you want it to be. You’ll get an address like eczemasucks.wordpress.com and choose from the dozens of standard themes. And then start writing.
2. Do it yourself with a little free help. Johnny has a great free e-book; How to Launch a Blog in Under an Hour for STUPIDLY Cheap. This option gets you a .com and uses Wordpress. The first month – for hosting and whatnot – is $15, and $10/month after that.
3. Have Johnny do it. Don’t want to set it up yourself and want the ease and official feeling of a .com? Johnny has a great service where he’ll get your blog running for you for $39. There will also be the charge for hosting from the provider, but that’s normal. [Disclaimer: that is an affiliate link. That means if you take up the challenge to blog and use this link Johnny gives me 50%.]

You can set it all up yourself, and feel great about it afterward. But if you’d rather have some help, I recommend Johnny. Partly because his free e-book is easy to understand, partly because he has an awesome sense of humor.

If you do start an eczema blog, or any kind of site, please let me know!

Why am I asking you to add your voice to the internet throng? Because no one else is you [obvious I know, but bear with me]. No one else has your perspective, your ‘take’, on reality. And people need to hear it.

That’s why we read blogs. To find out what’s happening, what’s out there, what we’ve never thought of or experienced.

In the eternal quest for better hair removal without making my skin swell, I have a new epilator – the Emjoi Optima.

Last night I tried it on the least sensitive part of my leg and I rather like it. It stung for a second, but was nothing really compared to razor burn. It also didn’t take long to remove all the hair. My skin was just as scaly afterwards, but seemed to itch less, based on how little I scratched it in my sleep last night. The most sensitive areas, like ankles, didn’t hurt much either. The trick there was short, quick strokes. It’s also easy to hold, maneuver, and clean.

The only real problem with this method is that it takes awhile. It isn’t nearly as fast as shaving, so that still works in a pinch.

Also be forewarned that if anyone if within hearing range while you use it – it’s a little loud – you may get a very concerned ‘What are you doing in there?” And when you explain that it’s a contraption that using spinning gold discs to grab and rip out hair, they’ll most likely tell you you’re nuts.

Seth (who’s a lot of fun, and a great writer) suggested that I add a photo of myself to the front of the site. While this makes perfect sense to me from a design and networking point of view, I have to say that I don’t want to.

I know most people don’t like looking at pictures of themselves, but it’s more than that. It’s my skin that I don’t want to see, and I won’t want to look at my site if the eczema is glaring at me as soon as a page loads. (I know this is highly ironic given the focus of this site.)

If you couldn’t tell, my skin and I have a relationship based on necessary symbiosis, and very little affection. If I could replace it I would. Every time that I see my face in the mirror I hear the word ‘monster’ all over again.

Ironically, I used to be an artistic nude model (skin doesn’t really matter there) and many of photos of me were on the internet. But I’m far more comfortable with my bare artistically lit torso being on the net than my well it face. Odd I know.

What do you think? Should I put my photo on here?

This is very alarming, especially if you still eat high fructose corn syrup.

Mercury was found in nearly 50 percent of tested samples of commercial high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to a new article published today in the scientific journal, Environmental Health. A separate study by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP) detected mercury in nearly one-third of 55 popular brandname food and beverage products where HFCS is the first or second highest labeled ingredient-including products by Quaker, Hershey’s, Kraft and Smucker’s.

The entire article is at the Organic Consumers Association website.

Seventh Generation Liquid Dish Soap in Free and Clear, which I’ll just call the Good Stuff, because that was far too long winded, is awesome.

I’ve always found it nearly impossible to do dishes because my hands would turn bright red and swell. I figured it was a combination of the orange soap and too much water. When Orion and I moved in together a friend gave us a bottle of the Good Stuff as a housewarming gift. And I love it.

After using the Good Stuff for 8 months I now know that the reactions were mostly to the aforementioned Nasty Orange Soap of Doom. I can do a few loads a day without my hands becoming red and the skin peeling off! Major improvement.

Now Orion has a hard time convincing me to let him do dishes.

And I’m not even kidding.

Nourish-mint. This is the only lip balm I’ve ever used that doesn’t make my skin react. It also lasts long enough that I only need to apply it two or three times a day. While it’s $15/tube, it’s worth it to me. Goodbye crocodile kisses, hello one more illusion of being normal.

Lip Glaze Lip gloss that doesn’t feel like algae sludge, and isn’t so shiny that your mouth seems laminated. It also does a great job of keeping your lips moist. I really only wear this for ‘occasions’, like office lunches, dinner parties, or demonstrating at a conference. So… maybe 5 times a year?

Petal Essence Single eye color, in Willow. Another product I completely love. Eyeshadow that I have no reaction to at all. And the Willow color is awesome, the best I can describe it is titanium with tiny flecks of rainbow mixed in.

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Besides the products, the customer service is excellent. First they give you delicious tea – I’m a sucker for yummy tea – and then ask you if you need help with anything. They’re never pushy. If you have skin sensitivities they’re understanding and won’t challenge or cajole you ['oh, but you haven't tried our fragrance!']. They also don’t assault you with their products by spraying you the moment you walk in the door.

What make up works particularly well for your skin?

From CNN. Here’s the short run down:

1. Take a Test – Bear in mind there are several kinds and they are not always accurate. As a child they said I was not allergic to apples [though I am] but I was allergic to horse hair [though I don't sneeze around horses].
2. Medicine Kit – Such as an EpiPen or possibly Benadryl.
3. Kitchen – Watch out for cross contamination.
4. Food shopping – Read every single little label, even if it’s something you’ve bought before. It’s even more interesting if you look up the ingredients later and find out what exactly what they are.
5. Restaurants – Sometimes checking the menu isn’t enough. An allergy card [the link is an interactive .pdf] can be very helpful for the waiting staff. One method is to have the waiter take it to the chef to find out what you can eat from the menu – for me there tend to be one or two items.
6. Air Travel – Especially because of the peanuts.

This image was the banner for the site for awhile, but I realized I’ve never properly posted it here. Below is a macro of an eczema boil on my foot, the place I most frequently have them. Gory details of self-maintenance ahead – you’ve been warned!

They act and feel different from normal boils, being specific to eczema. Inside the ‘bubble’ is clear fluid, which burns and itches if it contacts the skin. Eczema itself is named for this symptom; meaning to boil over or erupt.

The best way I find to care for these is to open them carefully – tweezers or needles work well – and drain the fluid. Puncturing the boil shouldn’t hurt as it simply full of fluid. [It may hurt if the skin is aggravated, but that's just a general part of eczema.] I remove enough of the skin forming the boil so that the wound can’t immediately close itself and refill, but be careful not to tear off skin that’s living. A delicate touch is always best with skin maintenance.

After the fluid is gone it will probably continue to ooze a little, and it’s good to put a thin, soft piece of cotton over the area as a bandage so that the oozing won’t spread and create a rash. Since my feet break out the most I have a few pairs of thin, very soft cotton socks that I use for this purpose. Also, wash the wounds at least once a day to make sure they’re clean. These heal very fast compared to other kinds, like the stereotypical arm or knee scabs. However they also come back quickly. I usually have at least one a day.

I have a strange infirmity, which is nothing
To those that know me.

- William Shakespeare, Macbeth

The other night I was scratching rather loudly at my forehead and after 15 minutes Orion left the room saying “I have to go somewhere else,” and I couldn’t help but reply “Sorry!” After a bit he came up to me and said “It’s not you. Sometimes the sound of the scratching gets to me, but that’s not you. You’re not the eczema.”

I was very relieved to hear that, even though I already knew it. Some people look at me and only see the disease, and it’s degrading to be considered a thing rather than a person. Others know me, despite the skin issue, but still act like I’m a liability to their good time.

As another shade of gray, several people have told me that they would never date me, simply because of my allergies. While that stings a little at first I think this gray is more positive.

1. They’re being honest, a very important quality in friendships.
2. They know that eating out, frequently, at random places, at the drop of a hat, is important to them. It’s part of their lifestyle they wouldn’t trade.
3. It means that I’m not valuable enough to them – in ‘that way’ – for them to try to find the loopholes in my allergies. Which lays out definite boundaries.

And that’s fine. Some of my best friends feel this way, and have said so. But it’s the only odd thing in our friendships, the only thing we don’t really talk about.  And we’re all comfortable with it that way. After all, your body can effect your personality and sense of ’self’, but it isn’t the same thing.