On Monday and Tuesday it was about 95′F at the office, so I was expecting some kind of dermal explosion.

On Wednesday it showed up. I woke up with my face, chest, arms and knees breaking out. I put on my office clothes and planned on going in, but after a few minutes in them my skin hurt even more, and began to swell, so I changed and called in sick. By midday my eyes were half shut from being swollen, and I had a few bleeding gashes on my face and arms. My legs were ripped up and it hurt to bend them. It’s nothing compared to how my eczema used to be, but it hurt to touch things, and the pain was very distracting. Maybe it’s just me, but when my whole body is breaking out like that I end up feeling a bit ill as well. And of course, it can be difficult to feel professional when your face is bleeding and won’t stop.

Yesterday I stayed out of the sun as much as possible, including taking my parasol to the bus stop.  It’s treated with SPF 30, the closest thing I can get to sunscreen. [If you have any suggestions for a sunscreen for insanely sensitive skin, please let me know!]

Today my skin is feeling much better. My left arm is still breaking out, and several tiny infections are brewing, so I’m trying to keep them as clean as possible. My right arm is fine though. My face has some long cuts but they’re healing well. It also has red swollen spots that burn, and I’m not even sure what they are, but I’m touching those as little as possible. My left foot has at least 12 little boils on it this morning, hopefully more won’t pop up. I’m wearing jeans so I can’t scratch my legs no matter how much I want to.

I tried to stay upbeat this week, and did a fairly good job, and rarely mentioned my skin. The best part was that people chose to ignore it, so I was able to pretend that I looked more ‘normal’.

Over the years I’ve experimented with different fabrics and techniques, and come across two in particular that work for me.

• Improvised Sock Bandage
• Custom Knit Bandage

Socks, or heavy denier stockings, can make great bandages when you’re in a hurry. I recommend cotton, especially pima, as the smoother fabric will leave less lint in wounds.

Knit bandages can be fun because you choose the yarn, color, etc. These are often very simple to make, from a knitter’s perspective, and also very easy for people who are just learning. While wearing these people frequently tell me they look cool, and ask where I bought them. It’s a nice change from having the wounds sneered at! I’ll cover both techniques with pictures and full explanations in upcoming posts.

Do you use bandages for your eczema? What kinds have worked for you?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

Please read the directions on your medication and follow them accordingly. These ointments suppress your immune system. It’s like giving sleeping pills to an over-reactive guard dog. It can be useful, but you don’t want to do it all the time.

For the record I have used Protopic, but only to stop the cycle of a major outbreak, and only for two weeks. The dermatologist explained the cancer warnings to me so I applied it sparingly. It worked excellently for me, but I also had learn to be careful with it.

The instructions said to not touch anyone after using the ointment unless I had washed my hands, and I forgot to, and handed something to my mother. She had a red burning rash on her palm for the next few hours.

Atopic eczema (AE) is a multifactorial skin disease caused by a variety of factors such as genetic conditions, alterated skin structure, immunologic deviations and environmental factors, among others.

Recently, it was demonstrated that Filaggrin (=filament-aggregating protein, FL) is a major gene for atopic eczema.

The BBC covered an interesting study into cat exposure sparking eczema in babies.

Scientists found having the mutant FLG gene increased the risk of eczema in a baby’s first year twofold, but adding exposure to a cat quadrupled that risk.

Another Pubmed article, from Royal Victoria Infirmary, notes

The discovery that null mutations in the filaggrin gene (FLG) are associated with atopic eczema represents the single most significant breakthrough in understanding the genetic basis of this complex disorder.

It’s very exciting to know that doctors have pinned what causes eczema, even if we don’t quite know what to do with that knowledge yet.