Alternative Methods of dealing with eczema

As an almost 18 year old, I can safely say that I have tried every single remedy or supposed cure on the market. Now whilst these methods have worked for others, they failed to work on me. However, there are some different things that have made dealing with my eczema a little bit easier! So today I thought I would take you through them!

By alternative methods, I mean non-steroid. These are not meant to replace steroids, and please do not try these unless you are safe to do so (see disclaimer).

1) Oats
When I am extremely itchy, oats are great! We already know they make an extremely healthy breakfast dish, but they have great calming properties on the skin!

If my entire body is itchy, I will put a handful of oats in a piece of old stocking, tie it up and pop it in the bath! When you squeeze the oats, what I can only describe as oat milk will come out and this is great to put over the itchy parts of the skin and leave on for a little while.

If it is just a small part of my body that is itchy, say my arm, I will do the same thing, but in a bowl over the sink. Once the oats are wet in the stocking, I squeeze them over the itchy part of my body and it gets rid of the itch and redness!

2) Zinc
Currently I am seeing a herbalist to try and get to the root cause of my eczema. The herbalist decided to put me on a zinc supplement, of liquid zinc to have once a day.

Zinc helps the body to restore the skin sooner and to have a better quality of the skin. I have noticed that my skin is healing quicker and has a better quality!

I simply take a small amount each day and I have noticed a tremendous difference in my skin.

As with everything, please consult your healthcare professional before taking zinc as it may not be for you.

3) Apple Cider Vinegar
This one is a new one for me, so I cannot say too much on how well it works!

Its a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a large glass of water consumed once a day.
Apple cider vinegar apparently balances the PH levels in your body, which can help with conditions such as acne and eczema, which have a unbalanced level of PH in your body.

I have been taking Apple Cider Vinegar for just over two weeks now, and I have noticed that I am less itchy when I take it. If I miss one day of it, I become itchier than if I do take it.

I will not lie, it is not the easiest thing to swallow, neither is the zinc! So it is not for everyone! But for me personally, I have noticed a difference!

So those are a few of the different methods of dealing with eczema that I have been using recently. Of course there are plenty more that I have used, but I thought these would be the most useful. Please let me know your experiences with non-steroid methods and don't forget to head over and like the facebook page for updates! I'd love to get the facebook page to 100 likes so I can start doing some fun stuff for my readers! Link is on the left hand side, so share with your friends!

Have a lovely day everyone!

Eczema Triggers

Good Afternoon everyone! 

Sorry for the late post, but I had an exam this morning!

Exam time means high stress, which for me means my eczema gets worse. This caused me to think about what triggers everyone's eczema flares!

Personally, an excess of sugar or citrus, high stress levels and extreme heat seem to exacerbate my eczema and make me very itchy!

I would be interested to know what your, or your children's triggers are and how you avoid them!

I manage my triggers by having limited amounts of sugar and citrus and keeping cool during summer, but the stress is hard to manage!

Let me know in the comments below so we can talk about management techniques!

Have a lovely day :) 

Product Review!

Hello Everyone! Today is my first product review: PawPaw Ointment!

When I asked on the facebook page what kind of products you wanted me to review, someone suggested Pawpaw ointment!

I find pawpaw to be a great product when my skin splits, to keep it from splitting further and feeling moisturized while I am out and about.

Currently I am in the last 'stage' of a flare, and while most of my skin is getting clearer, my top lip and under my eyes are still split and quite sore! At work, I cannot just excuse myself every ten minutes to go and moisturize because my skin needs it, so there has to be a way around it! I found Pawpaw is great for this. I can apply it every hour or so and it protects my skin from feeling tight and dry.

Pawpaw is a barrier cream, so it does not necessarily moisturize the skin the way a sorbolene cream does, instead, it sits on the top of the skin and protects it against any dirt from entering the skin.

At the same time, if there is dirt in the split skin already, it can trap it there, as it is a 'moisture lock'.

With many and varied pawpaw brands on the market, it is hard to choose which one to use on your skin.

Over time, I have used many brands of paw paw and discovered that they are all different in the way they react to my skin. Please bare in mind that the following are my own personal experiences and that you may react differently.

Lucas Paw Paw Ointment: I found this brand to be not compatible with my skin. There were certain additives within the ointment that made my skin sting and itch. All in all I did not like this ointment. It is also one of the more expensive paw paw ointments, with a tub retailing at around $23.95 for 200g, and over $5 for a small tube.

Healthy Care Australia All Natural Paw Paw Balm: This is a more natural paw paw balm, enriched with shea butter, macadamia and jojoba oil. Being allergic to nuts, I thought that this paw paw would not be good on my skin, but it surprised me (PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO NUTS! SEE DISCLAIMER!). I cannot use this one on skin splits, but if I need to use it just generally on my skin it is a good one. It has a pleasant smell and is a bit cheaper as it retails around $4 for a small tube. That said, this one is not my favorite, due to the macadamia oil.

Aldi Paw Paw Ointment: This paw paw ointment is by far my favorite one! It is almost entirely pure paw paw ointment and reacts really well with my skin. I love to put this one on split skin or just use it as a lip balm. It does not generally sting my skin and is quite soothing. This is certainly a staple in my handbag! It is also the cheapest, generally retailing at Aldi stores for under or around $2.

Let me know in the comments below if there are any other products you would like me to review and what you think of these paw paw brands! :)

Also, dont forget to head over to the facebook page and give it a like!  http://facebook.com/theeczemaexperienceblog

Have a lovely day :)

Weather and Eczema

So with Australia heading into another extremely hot summer and the American and European readers heading into winter, I thought it was timely to discuss what people do differently for their eczema in different seasons.

For me personally, winter means a lot more moisturizer! At least a tub and a half a week! and definitely defending my skin against the wind with scarves and the like.

Summer means keeping cool, which can sometimes be hard. Cool cotton clothing and plenty of water, a good sunscreen and of course! Moisturizer!

Please let me know in the comments below what you do differently in each season and leave your tips for others! I cant wait to see what others do to keep their eczema under control!

Recipe Time!

So it is finally the weekend! YAY! I know for me, the weekend brings more of an opportunity to bake some delicious treats! Allergy Friendly of course :)

Today I would like to share a cupcake recipe that is so tasty, you would never know it's allergy friendly!

These are Dairy, Egg, Nut and Soy Free and can be adapted to be Gluten Free as well!

You will need:

1 1/2 cups of Self Raising Flour (or Gluten Free Flour)
1/3 cup dairy free custard powder or cocoa/carob powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Caster Sugar
1 cup Water
1/3 cup Canola Oil
1 tablespoon Lemon Juice (optional)
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla Essence

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
2) Sift all dry ingredients into a bowl and mix together
3) Add all wet ingredients and mix together with an electric mixer until batter is smooth
4) Pour into a muffin tray or patty cake cases
5) Bake for 25 minutes


NOTE: If you want to turn this into a single cake, complete steps 1-3 as normal then place in a cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.

Bakers Tip! The mixture will be quite runny but do not worry! It is meant to be that way!

The photo above is the finished product! Let me know in the comments below how you go if you bake the cupcakes and any other recipes you would like to see! Have a great day! :)

Out and about

As I am out and about in the middle of a flare, I realised that something has to be spoken about. 

It is a well known fact that teenagers are not the most self assured and confident people.  In fact,  most of us are not happy with ourselves,  largely due to the image pressures from society.  But even as a fairly confident teen who is happy with her body, I find it hard to go out in public when I am flaring. Why? Staring.

As a university student with a part time job, I have to go out and fulfill my commitments.  No matter how bad my eczema is I have to go to work and university.  However,  sitting on a bus or train and having people staring at you and trying to figure out what is wrong with you makes you feel just a little bit worse

Eczema flares don't just affect you physically,  its also a mental game. For example, my emotions go on a rollercoaster every time I flare. So having people rudely watching you does not help.

One particular person decided to ask: What disease do you have? Whilst staring at the eczema on my face.
Now whilst I do not object to having people ask, as they can then be educated, its hard to respond when they are rude about it.

This is why I started my blog. To raise awareness of eczema and allergies so that people aren't so ignorant in the future.

The truth is, I have no answers on how to help when this happens. I hold my head high and try to stau strong.  Perhaps tell them you have eczema and explain it to them. Otherwise, ignoring their snide remarks is probably the best idea.

Eczema isnt something we should be ashamed of. Its a skin condition,  that makes us different.  Whilst it may be difficult to deal with, we have to live with it, so we might as well make that life fun and as awesome as possible!

Spring has Sprung!

Spring brings warmer weather and a taste for the summer to come, but for eczema and allergy sufferers, it brings a whole host of issues.

Pollen season is upon us, and with lots of wind and not a lot of rain, the pollen count is high and floating around!

For me personally, this means an eczema flare up! My face started first, followed by arms, thighs and anywhere that was exposed to the air when I go outside. With my skin red, itchy and sore; Spring is not fun!

Currently my arms and legs have subsided, but not without the help of steroid creams. My face is still in full flare and gets worse whenever I leave the house.

I'm extremely lucky that Polaramine (antihistamine) does not make me drowsy, as it is the only thing stopping me from feeling so itchy! Yet I can still go out and do everyday things.

I feel like I need to hibernate for the season of Spring, but work, university and other commitments make that impossible!

Let me know in the comments how Spring is for you with Hay fever and Eczema and how you are dealing with it all!

Welcome

Hello! Welcome to The Eczema Experience. My name is Micaela and I am a 17 year old university student who lives in Australia. My entire life i have battled with eczema and allergies. Chronic eczema and anaphylaxis to dairy, egg, seafood and nuts to be precise.

Im creating this blog to help teenagers like me face everyday life with allergies and eczema. But also for parents with children and teenagers who have allergies and eczema, and need a bit of support.

So far in life i have found an astounding number of people who do not understand allergies and eczema. With 1 in 3 children having allergies, there needs to be more awareness about allergies and eczema! This is what I aim to do with this blog. Through recipes, hints and tips and general chat about allergies and eczema I hope to help as many people as possible!

So whether you are a teenager, parent, or anyone suffering allergies or eczema, WELCOME! and I hope you find some help and support here :)