Everything itches

[vivien]

I'm having trouble with eczema as the air gets colder and dryer. It's making me itchy and grumpy. I've got some eczema "settling" lotion, but it hasn't settled too much. There are spots on my hands, the back of my neck is itchy, there are other random sritchy scratchy places. My feet also hurt - a fun combo on the bottom of the heel from plantar fasciitis and on the outside if the heels from my shoes because of new pressure from the inserts I'm wearing for the plantar fasciitis. I swear to Pete. Flesh prisons are never happy.

Oh, and I deleted my Tumblr by accident the other night. 2007-2023 RIP! I'm not too upset, as it wasn't a memory collector place, per se. But I was bummed. So much fannish history!

Comments

[genarti]

Ughhhh, that sounds miserable! I hate itching so much. And the combo of plantar fasciitis pain and insert pressure pain sounds like an extremely unfun combo also. I hope they all clear up soon!!

[shati]

Do you want any eczema recs? (Wouldn't necessarily be anything you don't already know.)

[vivien]

I’d love some! Beyond applying lotion a lot I’m not sure of best tricks. I do have a prescription cream I use for the patches on my hand that makes it go away - but it always comes back.

reposted i am struggling to operate dw today kjafkdf

[shati]

My eczema cred is one time it got bad enough that my hands cracked open and bled, although tbf this was while the front door got broken/stuck open in the winter at the grocery store I worked at. At the moment I am eczema-symptom-free. Anyway, if any of this helps:

- What made the biggest difference for my hands was starting to keep thick reusable cleaning gloves to wash dishes with (hanging over the sink); all the soap and hot water was killing them and incidentally made dishes psychologically much more difficult than they needed to be
- Second biggest difference for my hands: Gold Bond healing hand cream really does last through handwashing to some extent, if you find it difficult to slather lotion on every single time you get your hands wet (I do)
- Apply lotions immediately after you shower, if possible. For really dry patches, straight jojoba oil can really help and feels very nice imo, but it's very messy
- If you don't already take something like Claritin, my understanding is that could help -- a common reason to have eczema is your skin reacting to environmental allergens that in more humid weather it would be protected from by its own moisture barrier
- If you find you're not already dressing as warmly as you can comfortably tolerate (like if you don't bother with gloves/a scarf if you're just a little chilly), that can help -- I had to start wearing more layers outdoors to stop getting eczema on the skin on the inside of my elbows/knees, bizarrely

Assuming you're not already doing some of the above, I'd use the prescription cream (I assume it's something like hydrocortisone?) until the patches heal, since that's the fastest way, and then try the above for keeping them away.

Re: reposted i am struggling to operate dw today kjafkdf

[vivien]

This is very helpful, and I think the allergy connection is definitely a thing. I've started up my claritin again. The Gold Bond rec is perfect - I've got a few brands around that are reputable, but they don't seem to last. I do have some Gold Bond, so I'll move it to wear I can use it more.

[meghan9436]

Hello! Pardon my intrusion, but it seems that the universe wanted us to meet! I found you simply from the exploration feature on DW by clicking on random journal

Indeed, it sounds like you have a cocktail of the same health problems that I do. It started with chronic foot pain thanks to my 10+ years in retail, which has spread up to my knees earlier this year. I can no longer stand or walk for extended periods of time anymore, yay.

I also have eczema. This is going to sound unbelievable, but my condition completely cleared up after I made the move from Canada to Japan! I'm not kidding or exaggerating. I might have a tiny flare up once in a while, but it's nothing that a little Vaseline can't take care of.

On the other hand, I have read anecdotes on Reddit where people said that they had eczema break out after they moved to Japan. What I'm saying here is that everyone is different and something as drastic as a move may not magically solve the problem. But climate may be something you want to consider. My eczema completely cleared up probably around four to six weeks after my arrival here.

Cheers, and hello!