Great Tips for Atopic Eczema

Eczema

Living with my Eczema

Eric Ong

Preface

Atopic Eczema is a hereditary skin disorder

associated with dry and itchy skin condition. Itching, pain,

embarrassing and demotivating are synonymous with atopic

eczema. The root cause of atopic eczema is not well

understood. Several forms of treatments are available with

topical steroid being the epitome of eczema treatment. In

general, the treatment consists of avoiding any known

triggers, treating dry skin, alleviating itch, suppressing

inflammation and reducing pent-up stress.

Atopic eczema has been affecting me for more than

ten years. Now, my condition has significantly improved

after a series of treatments and my skin is back to normal.

This is a story about my journey with atopic eczema.

Confessing the truth of how embarrassed and how difficult

living with the incurable skin disorder has made telling this

story difficult. In addition, I would like to share some useful

information and practical tips to treat, control and prevent

eczema from flaring. These are based on my real-life

experience, online articles as well as advice and guidance

from skin specialist, dermatologist and allergist.


Eric Ong

Contents

My Journey ............................................................................ 4

What is Atopic Eczema? ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.

My Treatment ....................................................................... 11

Antihistamines ................................................................. 13

Topical Steroids ............................................................... 14

Moisturizer ....................................................................... 15

Allergy Test ...................................................................... 16

Sublingual Immunotherapy .............................................. 17

Traditional Chinese Herbs................................................ 17

Useful Tips ........................................................................... 18

Managing Stress ............................................................... 19

Controlling Itch ................................................................ 19

Preventive Measures ........................................................ 20

Relaxation ........................................................................ 20


Eric Ong

My Journey

Are you feeling itchy now? To be honest, I am

habitually scratching my body while writing this. Indeed, it

is itchy, unpleasant and embarrassing. Although my eczema

has subsided for some time after a series of treatments and

preventions, there is still a possibility that it will flare again.

Unfortunately, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I

am one of the 20% of patients worldwide who succumbs to

atopic dermatitis. Most of the atopic eczema conditions

improve by the time children reach adolescence. Unluckily, I

did not outgrow it. My eczema persists into my adulthood

and it still flares periodically. I am 25 years old. Feeling

disconcerted and self-conscious of my skin condition, it is

difficult for me meeting friends. Controlling eczema from

spreading and deteriorating is tough and tiring as well.

When I was in primary school, I was just like others

with smooth healthy skin, and was active and energetic. No

sign of eczema or any skin disorder appeared until the year I

entered secondary school, Form 1. Out of the blue, my inner

side of my elbow and knee started to get itchy uncontrollably.

The moment I rubbed those affected parts, small prickly red


Eric Ong

bumps appeared. They were so irritating that I kept rubbing

and pinching them. The small bumps turned reddish and

were spreading to back of my hands and fingers. The more I

rubbed them, the itchier they were, creating red patches. I

strived hard to cover those parts by wearing long sleeves and

bending my arms to avoid people seeing those rashes. The

affected parts became very dry after a few weeks later and

they looked pale and wrinkly. Eventually

……………………………………………………….

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20 years of experience

treating my atopic eczema






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Eric Ong

…………………………………

Rashes enveloped my whole body with some even

oozing and weeping as a result of excessive scratching.

Itching was intense, especially at night which led to

insomnia. Coupled with my stressful engineering

assignments and projects, my eczema got worse. I would

have my hands scratching almost every part of my body

trying to figure out solutions to my engineering problems.

Itching has tremendously distracted my attention to

concentrate in my studies. I would try to avoid siting at my

desk too long doing assignments, watching movies or even

playing games. Instead, I would force myself to have a walk

outside the house and engage in chitchat with my neighbors

and friends or even stroll in shopping malls. Involving in

social activities would be the only way to make me more

conscious of my scratching act and would deter me from

touching my skin. In winter, as weather turned dry and cold,

moisturizing alone would not help reduce my scratching.

………………………………………………

…………….


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Eric Ong

I came back to Malaysia after my university

graduation last year and my skin has just returned to normal

recently. I was recommended by an allergy specialist to do

immunotherapy to combat dust mite allergy for three years.

However, I stopped doing it as it was expensive and I did not

see any significant improvement after nine months of

therapy. My skin recovers fast under Malaysia damp tropical

environment. My skin is moist and hydrated naturally. Also,

I try reducing my stress level and apply moisturizer every

day after shower and before sleep. Now, my skin has turned

healthy and itching has stopped for a few months already.

My experience has given me the motivation to write

this and share with you my journey living with eczema.

Additionally, I would like to share in the following sections

some useful information and practical tips to treat, control

and prevent eczema from flaring.

Something you should know about

Atopic Eczema

Since I am not a doctor or dermatologist, I will

explain the skin condition in layman’s terms based on many


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years of online research. Eczema is a general term to

describe an allergic skin condition which is dry and itchy

with obvious rashes characterized by a few symptoms such

as redness, flaking, cracking, oozing and crusting. It is

grouped into a few categories with two most common ones:

atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is

the one that I suffer from and is hereditary and runs in family

members whose members also have asthma, rhinitis, hay

fever or other allergy conditions. In comparison, contact

dermatitis is triggered by allergen and irritants. Contact

dermatitis will be a more commonly thought as allergy in

general.

Skin is the biggest organ in our body. Controlling the

itch and managing the flare-up are challenging. Atopic

eczema sufferer’s skin has a genetic defect in the skin’s

protective outer layer allowing irritants, microbes and

allergens to penetrate the skin causing itch and adverse

reactions. Scratching damages the skin tissue underneath,

leading to contamination and injury. With prolonged

scratching and rubbing………………………………………


Eric Ong


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Eric Ong

Eczema is a general term to describe an allergic skin

condition which is dry and itchy with obvious rashes

characterized by a few symptoms such as redness,

flaking, cracking, oozing and crusting.

Atopic eczema is the one that I suffer from and is

hereditary and runs in family members whose

members also have asthma, rhinitis, hay fever or

other allergy conditions.

Atopic eczema sufferer’s skin has a genetic defect in

the skin’s protective outer layer allowing irritants,

microbes and allergens to penetrate the skin causing

itch and adverse reactions. Scratching damages the

skin tissue underneath, leading to contamination and

injury.

There is NO cure for eczema. It is a recurring and

cyclical condition.

Food allergy does not relate directly to atopic eczema

but is often mistakenly thought to be the root cause of

atopic eczema. However, people with atopic eczema

might have food allergy as well. Food allergens can

sometimes cause eczema to worsen.


Eric Ong

Atopic eczema normally affects about 10 percent of

children in the world and most of them outgrow it. A

small percentage continues to suffer from eczema

into adulthood, including me.

The skin outer layer can retain water seeping up from

deeper layers of the skin and moisture is retained by a

surface of natural oil (sebum). Atopic eczema patient

has a deficiency in this process. Natural oil produced

is not enough to hold in moisture on the skin, leading

to very dry skin.

My Treatment

The actual triggering cause of atopic eczema is not

well understood. My treatment consists of avoiding any

known triggers, treating dry skin and reducing inflammation.

Also, I benefit a lot from a psychological approach whereby

my mind is trained to control itch and stop the habitual

scratching action.

Antihistamines

The most common medicine I was prescribed is

antihistamine. To my knowledge, antihistamines have


Eric Ong

evolved from more classical first generation ones to the non-

sedating second generation ones. Antihistamines or more

specifically H1-receptor antagonists…………………….


……………………..The sedative effect makes me sleep

better. It helps reduce my itching and make me feel relieved

at night. During the day, I take the non-sedative one – Zyrtec.

Zyrtec is used mainly to relieve sneezing, runny nose and

allergic conditions. It contains active ingredient Cetirizine

which is known to be more selective for peripheral H1-

receptors, reducing sedation.

Topical Steroids

Secondly, topical corticosteroid is another topical

medicine I have been utilizing only during severe flare-up. It

is a steroid and undoubtedly it will have adverse effect to our

body if applied and used for long term purpose. It is best to

opt for the form of ointment instead of cream as ointment

indirectly moisturizes the affected part. Corticosteroids

wil…………………………………………………………





Eric Ong

Moisturizer

Moisturizer is the sole item that I have been using

continuously. Even if eczema does not flare, moisturizing the

skin is still the most important thing to do every day. If dry

skin improves, I will not stop using moisturizer, instead, I

will just apply a thin layer of moisturizer all over my body

every time after shower. I have used many different types of

moisturizers………………….


In summer or hot weather that will make oneself sweat, I

will pick lighter aqueous cream while in winter or cold

weather, emollient will be used. Greasy ointment all over the

body is unbearable. I will apply greasier ones on exposed

areas and light ones on areas covered with clothes. A recent

study by Scientists at Bath University showed………………

As an alternative and briefly mentioned earlier, fatty cream

and non-ionic creams are recommended. The healthE fatty

cream is specially…………….





Eric Ong

Allergy Test

As suggested by an allergist, I went to perform a

blood serum allergy test to serve as a guide to identify the

underlying triggering allergens to better control and manage

any future flare-up. In an allergic condition, the immune

system overreacts to allergen by producing an antibody

called Immunoglobulin E. I obtained a shocking………….


Laboratory testing for allergy measures specific IgE

(sIgE) to allergens in serum. The results are reported as both

quantitative (kU/L concentration) and semi-quantitative

(class 0 – 6) values. I read about an article few weeks ago

saying that positive result to any particular allergen only

indicates sensitization





Eric Ong

Sublingual Immunotherapy

You might notice in my serum allergy test that the

IgE concentration to dust mite allergen is very high. This is

something that I think would be one of the causes my

eczema persisted during my university study years in New

Zealand with all my shredded peeled dead skin on my bed

being the food source of house dust mites. Dust mites……….


Traditional Chinese Herbs

Another approach that I tried to control my eczema is

to consume traditional Chinese medicine. There are many

types of Chinese herbs that are prepared to treat eczema in

general. It does not treat atopic eczema directly; instead, it

will help relieve any typical skin disorder. I had a type of

herbal drink that contained Flos Lonicerae (金銀花) and…….





Eric Ong

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My Useful Tips

Managing Stress

When there is flare-up, the first thing that we should

do is………………………………………………………..


Controlling Itch

The more we scratch the more sensitive our skin is,

further stimulating the sense of non-stop itching and

prickling. Sufficient sleep is required for skin to recover as

soon as possible. Whenever there is persistent tendency to

scratch the affected parts, try distracting yourself by doing

other things which will keep the hands and fingers busy.

Strolling at the garden………………………………..





Eric Ong

I recently found to be useful during flare-up – Pinetarsol. It

will temporarily ease the itch. A very good soap called:

Preventive Measures

Since eczema is not curable, there are many

preventive measures that can be adopted to stop flare-up

reoccurrence. Moisturize the entire body every day after

shower will help soothe the skin. I would recommend taking

supplements such as Vitamin C, Flaxseed oil and Fish oil

which contain beneficial oils to replenish the skin. Drink

more water as the recovered skin needs water to repair itself.

We have reduced levels of lipids (oils) in the stratum

corneum of our


Relaxation

Relaxing meditation and listening to music are

favorable as well……………………….



Eric Ong

You are not alone. They are millions of people suffering

from eczema. Eczema flare-up is not a big deal. Think of it

as a natural way of getting the skin to replenish and repair

itself, leading to healthier and smoother skin. New layer of

skin is reborn to protect us even further. Be patient, be

confident and do not feel embarrassed. Your skin will

eventually heal itself

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Eric Ong


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Great Tips for Atopic Eczema

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Great Tips for Atopic Eczema