Whether you have eczema or not most people have had itchy skin at some point in their life, maybe from a virus, infection, rash or insect bites. But few will understand the misery eczema can cause long term.
Just imagine that you itch all night long, every night. Think about how tired you would feel if you had to struggle to get enough rest, and that you woke in pain and exhausted yet again.
Then consider your days are spent trying to avoid scratching by icing itchy patches, breathing techniques, distraction, and giving in to scratch attacks and causing more pain and damage over and over again. Once the cycle is set in it’s hard to break it because healing often means itching too.
Spare a thought for those living with and sharing a bed with a scratcher – they lose sleep too and it can be hard to comfort someone who is in pain and hell bent on destruction.
What would you do if you had disfiguring eczema on your face and hands? Would you care what people thought? Would you go out anyway and ignore the odd looks? Would you struggle to mask the red skin with makeup, which in turn hinders the healing of your skin?
Anyone who has eczema, psoriasis or any other dry skin condition will know that it can be painful, disfiguring, soul destroying and exhausting.
Because it’s National Eczema Week today I thought I’d just scratch all day and night for a whole week with wild abandon. NO! Definitely not! But I thought I’d dedicate my blog to eczema and other skin care related posts for a whole week.
You can find out more about National Eczema Week and what The National Eczema Society (NES) are doing to mark the occasion. The NES are the only charitable organisation in the UK dedicated to improving the quality of life for people with eczema and their carers. It’s well worth joining. They offer fact sheets, a regular magazine packed full of the latest thinking from doctors, scientists and also encouraging stories from real people with eczema.
There is also another great support network and resource from TalkHealth, TalkPsoriasis and Talk Eczema, who have regular deals and giveaways on their website.
NEVER say Stop Scratching to say to someone with eczema
Never, ever tell a scratching eczema sufferer to ‘stop scratching’. It’s such a negative message, and half the time we didn’t even know we were scratching, but now you’ve said it we definitely do, we know you know and we know anyone else within earshot also knows. The itch is then guaranteed to build in intensity until you think your brain might pop with the effort of ‘not scratching’.
Distraction, especially for children is a much better technique. For a very small child, just take their hands and lead them into play, read a book, stroke the sore skin, apply some ointment gently. There are loads of ways of distracting a child.
For an adult, instead of saying Stop Scratching or swiping at their hands. Just take their hand (if you know them well enough – otherwise that might be creepy) or give them a hug. Ask if you can do anything to help them with the itch. That way you show you care but not that you’re judging and not understanding how hard it is.
Never EVER smack a scratching child for scratching. It’s punishment enough to have been born with this ailment. They don’t need a smack as well!
If you smack you make scratching shameful and punishable. All that does is means we all do it in secret instead. You thought we actually stopped? Nah. We just sneak off to do it behind closed doors.
Just start a totally unrelated conversation. It’s much harder to scratch and talk and will take their mind off scratching. The best thing to do though is just do something else. Use your hands to make something and learn what triggers scratching bouts. Is it getting hot? Certain foods? Getting too tired? Need a cold shower? Feeling anxious about something? It could be many things of just the randomness of eczema.
That’s enough about eczema. My last passing comment is to ask where you go to scratch in private where no one else can see? Ever done that? Gone to the loo, not to use the loo, but just to lock the door and SCRATCH in private? Ever used your ring, jewellery, a comb or something else to secretly scratch? People with eczema will go to great lengths for a secret scratch. They feel sooo good!
Are you a secret scratcher? Where do you go? and how do you distract yourself from the itch?
Photo by kira schwarz from Pexels
That’s amazing post, thanks for the information, really that’s very helpful for me.
Thank you for your blogs Ruth. Your life sounds just like mine. Flare ups, itchy, uncomfortable, sore skin. I have suffered with this all my life. It was really bad when I was young sometimes I couldn’t even walk it was so thick behind my knees. Clothes would stick to my weeping sores and I’d have to soak my socks off in water. Now I’m 52 and,although it is a lot more under control, still have the awful flare ups. I just went away for the weekend with my husband had a bad flare up and forgot my steroid cream. My skin was crawling all weekend, I was grumpy didn’t want to be touched all wanted to do was scratch and sleep, needless to say it wasn’t a very romantic weekend! I also nick off to the loo just to have a good scratch. I even sat on a park bench in Sydney and gave my feet a good go… I didn’t care the itch was too great. It’s hard for people to understand the intensity of the itch and how it makes you feel so on edge inside. Thanks again for sharing your stories I rarely see another adult with eczema like mine and it’s Nic to relate.
Sue it’s lovely to hear from a fellow scratcher! Although I obv wish neither of us needed to suffer. I don’t know many adults with eczema either. We’re supposed to grow out of it! But some of us don’t. I remember the same, horrible sores that just ooozed and cracked when I walked. Having to get up hours early to have an oil bath, moisturise and moisturise and moisturise over and over just before going to work. Cutting out dairy change my life. Most of my flare-ups are triggered by allergens or stress. Am learning to NEVER leave home without steroids. Then you never need them but the last holiday I went on without them was a week of itching hell. YOu put on a brave face but you just want to go home and like you say, sleep and cry! Am writing a series of short stories about eczema, allergies and such like so will be sharing those when they’re done. Watch this space! Keeppppp scratching! (as Bruce Forsyth would say on Strictly come Scratching)
Hi!
Been sometime since we last tweet 🙂 Thanks for sharing about eczema! I’m going to post it’s the Eczema Week on my blog (I didn’t know! assuming it’s coincidence that people hold events this week!) and so so glad that I’m hosting the first Singapore national eczema sharing session this Sat, still within the week!
Great news about your first Singapore National Eczema session. Good luck! I’m not sure if it’s this week across the world but it’s always this week in the UK.
Nice post Ruth. I think my eczema knows it’s a special week as it’s gone haywire this week.
I admire what you’ve said perviously about steroids – just use them when you need them- I got a couple of tubes of Dermovate yesterday and already i can move all of my joints and feel happier. You won’t get that from homeopathy. I’m in my 40s and have had severe eczema since I was a baby, apart from an inexplicable period in my early thirties when it just went away for years – I enjoyed that!
Keep it up and best of luck with your skin!
Hi Andrew. Thanks! Sorry to hear your eczema is misbehaving. I hate to use steroids and often let mine get really bad before resorting to them, but often it’s the only way to heal it. When it gets really bad steroids are the only thing that works for me. I am (almost) in my 40s too and have had it all my life but I too have had periods where it goes. But it always comes back to haunt me. I’m in charge now though and at the moment, it’s not too bad. Happy Eczema Week to your eczema!
your write up are really very interesting. i just want ask, is there really a total cure for eczema because all what i have been using to cure this eczema only cure it for some time and after it will re-occur again. please help me out because am fed up.
Hi Jimmy, sadly I don’t think there is a total cure for eczema out there. Not yet anyway. However, working out what triggers yours will go a long way to helping you to live with it and cope as best you can. For instance getting very hot or very cold, stress, certain food, wool, animals, dust, moulds, etc. can all be triggers. Do you know what sets yours off? If you can work to avoid your triggers, manage your skin well, ie. moisturise, have oil baths, use steroids on flare ups as prescribed and try to avoid stress as much asyou can it gets easier. I promise! Keep smiling.