In my two recent blog posts, I have been writing about things that are related to and things in my life in some way. For this blog, I am going to be honest, it is going to be no different. So lets get started.

Everyone whether young or old has experienced a sense of not feeling confident in their own skin and how they look. One of the main problems that cause that is their actual skin. If they have acne, dry skin, a scar on their face, or really any skin problem you can think of this causes people to obsess over every little detail they see or that appears, and the problems that have with their skin start to take over their life. I can relate to this 100%. When I was younger and up to this very day I grew up having severe eczema (and yes like the fine “you got eczema”). I have struggled with my skin and it eventually started to have an impact on how I am feeling that day or if I want to go. Before I dive into how it affected me, I’m going to tell you a little more about it.

What is Eczema?

Eczema affects more than 31 million Americans. According to the National Eczema Association, they said “eczema is an inflammatory skin condition that can cause dry skin, itchy skin, scaly patches, and blister”; and I know what you are probably thinking that’s gross, or that sucks, or you could be thinking both things and you aren’t wrong. Eczema comes in 6 different forms:

  1. atopic dermatitis
  2. contact dermatitis
  3. dyshidrotic eczema
  4. nummular eczema
  5. seborrheic dermatitis
  6. stasis dermatitis

But in this post, we are going to focus mostly on the first one, atopic dermatitis which also happens to be the most common. so what causes it?

Causes:

Although there are many contributors to eczema here are a couple.

  • extended exposure to cold or hot temperatures
  • bathing products like body wash, face wash
  • Certain jewelry metals and types of fabrics

Eczema flare-ups occur when an irritant from outside the body or within triggers your immune system and causes inflammation which is the flare-up. Although researchers don’t know exactly the root cause there are leaning towards the idea that protein called filaggrin is a protein that helps retain moisture and locked into our skin, but because there is a deficiency this could explain the dryness and itchiness of the skin.

Symptoms and treatments

I listed some of the symptoms at the beginning of this post but just to reiterate, you can have dry and itchy skin, oozing of cuts, swelling, and discolored skin. Today there is no known cure for eczema and make it go away forever. Right now there are only treatments that can be perscribed based of how serve it is and what kind you have.

Treatments

  • prescribed topical medications
  • Immunosuppressant and shots
  • natural treatments
  • bleach baths
  • cryotherapy

the most common one that is prescribed and what I have been on the most is being on the prescribed topical medications.

Overall each case is different and some people are able to get rid of it and grow out of it and others are not. In my next post I will go over how having this type of problem affected my day-to-day life.