MY ALMOST THREE YEAR BATTLE WITH ECZEMA

WARNING: some of the pictures contain graphic images.

i have been struggling seasonally with eczema for almost 3 years now..i developed dyshidrotic eczema on the palm of my right hand and in between the fingers of my left hand in the middle of 2008..at first i developed a rash that weeped directly where i had a ring on my finger..i thought maybe the nickel in the ring may have triggered it..the rash than spread to in between my fingers and on the palm of BOTH my hands..eventually it has gotten BOTH on the soles of my feet..it was awfully painful! it went from mild to very severe february of this year all the way until may..it was the worst eczema i ever had my entire life..as a kid, i was asthmatic..name all the types of asthma — i have it!! almost all the specific types of asthma such as exercise-induced asthma (asthma that occurs with physical exertion), nighttime asthma (asthma that makes sleeping miserable and is quite serious) & skin asthma (allergic asthma) i have experienced already..but as i grew older, only one type continuously bugged  me every now & then — the skin asthma!

it has been the rock ages since i last had a flare up of eczema & much to my surprise it began appearing on my fingers on the latter part of 2008..this was during the time when my mom was terminally ill  & has been in & out of the hospital..it was the lowest point of my life..i was so stressed up, depressed & over all anxiety hit me..not to mention my sleep deprivation, weariness & too much fatigue that i have been experiencing that time..since i was sooooo busy i didn’t have time to worry much about the flare ups..if it gets itchy, i would scratch until it makes me satisfied..sometimes if the itch is to the point where i could scratch the skin off my hands and fingers, i try to just rub my hands together to alleviate the itch and quite often this results to bleeding & skin eruptions..my hands were constantly raw from all the scratching & rubbing..all those times, i didn’t knew my eczema were getting into it’s  worst phase since i didn’t give it much attention..it was only when my mom passed away that i was able to tend to my eczema..

i went to several doctors on a fruitless search for relief but nothing seemed to really help..the only thing that worked for me was the topical steroid cream DERMOVATE OINTMENT..however, this was only short term relief because after awhile my skin would errupt in red spots that would itch almost nonstop, bleed, scab over, spread a bit and continue this pattern..the cycle would usually end with another trip to yet another dermatologist for stronger and stronger steroid medications (usually topical creams, but too often oral meds as well)..my prolonged use of the mentioned topical steroid cream made the skin of my hands so thin it breaks easily up to the point wherein just a simple task of picking up or holding something suddenly becomes an ordeal..the oral steroid meds affected my immune system as well..

as of now, my eczema has improved dramatically..i can’t say that it’s totally gone, but it is a lot better now..i still get a few flare ups every now & then but i can totally handle it.. c”,)

this was early february 2011

this was mid march 2011

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