As some of you may already know, I have eczema mainly on my hands and face with the latter being worst and more of a problem for me with it being the part of the body which is always exposed and most visible to the human eye!
Face eczema is the worst place to get the disease I’m sure most of you would agree with me on that, in particular those of you who have experienced face eczema.
Think about it, you can’t cover it up with clothes like you can with eczema on other areas, plus it’s the part of your body others look at the most so you’re always aware of it. I’m not in any way belittling the impact that eczema on other parts of the body may have on your life, all I’m saying is that having experienced eczema on numerous places, face eczema was by far the worst!
My experience with face eczema was a bad one to say the least. I had never had a problem with facial eczema in the past but since it started appearing in 2008, it hasn’t left me alone!
Before I go any further, I want to show you the only 2 pictures I took of myself the whole period I had bad face eczema and these were before my whole face flared up. I refused to take any pictures for months because of the way eczema made me look.
It does not look half as bad as it actually looked in real life. You can only probably see it on my chin and cheek area but it was also spread around my eyes, brows, over my nose and across my forehead.
My face eczema started mid 2008 when I was going through quite a stressful period of my life. I had lost a lot of weight all of a sudden and my skin went a lot dryer than usual even though it was dry to begin with. The eczema started appearing as small patches on my cheeks and started to spread. I used a number of lotions prescribed to me by my doctor without any sign of significant improvement.
Eventually my doctor prescribed 1% hydrocortisone to use for a maximum of 1 week. I used it and to my relief the eczema patches starts shrinking. But unfortunately that wasn’t the end of the story. I stopped using the cream after the week had past and not long after that the patches started to make an appearance again. I felt so disheartened and so decided to use the cream again. Come 2011 and I’m still using it on and off till this day.
Around December 2009 I decided I had to stop using steroids because of all the negative press they were getting. Theories about it thinning the skin terrified me. I didn’t want to look like an old woman at the age of 23, so I refused to continue using it and boy did I suffer the consequences!
The eczema kept spreading until my whole face was swollen, flaky, itchy, red and uncomfortable. I would wake up in the morning and my eyes would be swollen. Even applying moisturizer was an awful experience. It was so irritable that even a strand of hair touching it would make it feel so itchy which drove me to cut off my long hair off. I was less than thrilled about that!
I had to endure all that until around March-April 2010 when I decided to start using the cream again. I was told that because of my face eczema and the way it was making me feel, it was actually making it worse which made me feel worse leading to my eczema getting worse leading to…well you get the picture. Also, after countless visits to my GP and Dermatologist, I was told that I shouldn’t keep avoiding steroids as the longer I leave it untreated, the more likely the inflammation will cause irreversible damage in the form of thickened skin and deep wrinkles. So I started using it again and have been ever since but on and off like I mentioned earlier.
How the face eczema affected me:
I’m not a loud, outspoken person by nature; in fact I’m quite shy and reserved. So something like this was bound to affect me emotionally. I’m not the type of girl that likes to be seen without makeup. Even though I don’t wear much makeup, just having a bit of mascara and lip colour makes the world of a difference to me. Once my face eczema became sever I was no longer able to put anything on my face. To make things worse, this happened during my last year of Uni which was stressing me out enough on its own. I was so ashamed to leave the house and couldn’t stand people looking at me. When people would talk to me I would look away. I felt so ashamed of the way I looked. Even my dad used to make comments like “your face is red” or “Stop playing with your face it’s so red!” which didn’t help so I would try to avoid him as much as I could.
My face felt soooo hot. It felt like the blood in my face was boiling, but I always had cold hands and feet which suggested to me that I either had bad circulation or My body was imbalanced. To sooth the hot/itchy feeling I would carry around a bottle of water and since this happened during the winter months, the bottle was always cold. I would press it against my face to cool it down or I would even just use my hands to cool my face down because my hands were always freezing.
Share your experience with me if you have/had face eczema:
It was an awful experience and I know for a fact that many people with eczema go through similar experiences if not much worse. I just felt I had to share my experience with you so you all know that you’re not alone, even though majority of the time it does feel that way. Please share your experience with me and let other eczema sufferers know they’re not alone.
Thank you 
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
I haven’t suffered as badly as you have for a long time. As a toddler I had it quite badly on my face. I don’t remember any of this but my mum says I had an awful time. Lots of tears, and I had to wear gloves to bed to stop the scratching. I have a photo, it’s not that great, but you can see the swelling: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v163/kirkichi/photos3-1.jpg
I still get eczema on and around my lips, which can be annoying. I have to be careful what I eat in case it triggers it, or irritates it if it’s already there. I know I shouldn’t, but I use steroid cream on it when it gets bad because I don’t know what else to do and I just want it gone!
I hope that it clears up for you, I understand how you feel.
hi Kirsty
Thank you so much for sharing it’s so nice seeing people who have suffered with eczema opening up to each other and showing support and encouragement. I also find it so helpful talking about my experience with others who i know will understand me. I was constantly complaining to friends and family about my skin and how it made me look, but after a while i could tell they were fed up of me and they could not relate.
My skin is better now because at the end I resorted to using my 1% hydrocortisone. It just made my life so much easier and made me feel so much better about myself. I have been using other things along side steroids in an attempt to minimise the amount of steroids I use and it seems to be helping a lot as my flare ups have decreased.
i’m not 100% good when it comes to diet, in fact just yesterday i had some biscuits and chocolate which I know is not good for eczema but you have to be naughty sometimes
so how’s your skin at the moment? mine is extremely dry, hot/humid weather does not agree with it at all!!!
Hi Nadia, Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’m a woman in my 50s who, thanks to a lifetime of keeping my face out of the sun, not smoking, vitamin supplements, etc., still has a pretty good face. I don’t have many wrinkles, etc, and people always think I’m younger than I am.
I never had eczema in my life; never even thought about it.
Well, about 10 months ago, I started noticing that the middle and index fingers of my right hand were starting to burn and redden. Then the flakiness started, and long, depressing story short, it developed into a horrific eczema situation that has never stopped, just gotten worse and worse. Those two fingers look like wrinkled sausages, and it’s so embarrassing. I shy away from shaking hands now, which is awkward at work. My right hand looks like a gnarled old woman’s. Those two fingers are so stiff, they will hardly bend.
To make matters worse, about three months ago, it started becoming dyshidrotic eczema; those horrible, fluid filled blobs; which spread to the back of my right hand and started a bit on the same two fingers of my left hand, then about two weeks ago, started appearing on my face! Are you kidding? I agree, eczema anywhere is terrible, but having it where everyone can see it, when it is so disfiguring, seems like a cruel joke.
Also, this is not something that someone who has never had any serious skin problems to speak of expects to see cropping up in her 50′s!
I counted 18 “blotches” on my face at one time; once it gets going, it seems to spread like wildfire. Thankfully, the face thing seems to be dying down quickly, as well, but every day, there seems to be a new one in a new place.
One thing I do which might help you is, I got some Bragg’s apple cider vinegar from the health food store. ACV seems to have a dampening effect on eczema. Don’t use the regular ACV you can get from the grocery store; that’s useless.
I mix a tablespoon of the Bragg’s ACV with a quarter cup of water, take a few cotton balls, soak them in the solution, and rub it all over my face. It smells awful, but really does seem to help. It could give you a break from the cream.
I also drink the stuff; a tablespoon or so in a glass of water. Almost impossible to get down, but again, it does seem to be helping.
isn’t it frustrating that with all the people who suffer from eczema, there’s still no clue what causes it? It must have something to do with nerve paths. Another frustration is that stress has so much to do with it; I know that I was going through a very stressful time at work when it first started. But come on, who gets through life without stress? We can’t go around in a Zen like state all the time – life comes atcha! – and it doesn’t exactly help the stress levels to be in pain and look terrible constantly.
Thanks for your story, and for letting me vent. Fwiw, you are still a very pretty girl!
Hi Nadia,
Thank you so much for this blog post, i feel i can relate to you so much. I’m too a rather shy reserved person living the university life with eczema on the face, which is very proving difficult. Also the eczema on my face developed in 2008 aswell, it started with slight redness around the eyes and as the years have past its become dry, flakey and has spread to the tempo area, my forehead, chin, around the kneck and ears. I refuse to put my hair up in public in fear of how people will react. I used to have my hair cut short showing the back of my kneck but with the developement of the eczema on my kneck, i am now in the process of growing my hair long enough to cover it up.
My confidence has gone down hill, i’ve noticed i can get very anxious when around others, i try to not look people in the eye for long to avoid them looking at my eczema for long. I even get anxious when around family members because i know they will ask questions, usually its ‘whats wrong with your eye?’ or ‘have you been to the doctors?’ which frustrates me the most, i wouldn’t choose for my skin to be like this if it could be helped.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, i feel so alone sometimes. All your work of blogging and your twitter page really helps me get through the tough days of eczema.
From your fellow twitter follower
SusieYLW
Aww hey Susie!! It’s so nice to hear from you on my blog
I’m glad you feel you can relate to me I know how lonely eczema can make you feel. I’ve been there. It’s sad yet comforting to know that someone else is experiencing what I am. It’s much better these days but last year when I was at Uni I felt so embarrassed and ashamed of myself. I’d look around the lecture room and think “why can’t I look normal like everyone else?” I envied all the girls because they could wear makeup and look so pretty with smooth flawless skin.
I know what you mean about the anxiety. I have always been an anxious person, but since I developed eczema on my face I became even shyer and kept to myself as much as I could. It sure doesn’t help with self confidence!! The fact that I felt my face looked disfigured plus my face feeling itchy and hot made me so irritable. The smallest of things would make me cry for hours, even tears made my face burn! It’s like I could not win whatever I did!!
It’s so difficult when those close to you find it hard to understand you. My dad made me feel awful about my appearance. Like you said, it’s not like you want your skin to be this way! It’s not your fault!!
At the moment my 1% hydrocortisone seems to have my eczema under control…how’s your skin these days?
Thank you so much Susie for your lovely words, It’s so nice receiving positive feedback and encouragement….will keep in touch via twitter
I live with eczema for the past 27yrs now, on 70% of my body.
It used to drive me insane when I was younger because I was growing and going through all the normal childhood to adolescent stuff as well as trying to cope with eczema. It was quite a juggle.
BUT as years rolled on you mature and learn in more ways faster when you have an on-going issue. Now eczema is a part of me as I lead my life.
I would honestly not and do not call it a disease cause it makes it sound vulgar and contagious which it isn’t and we don’t want others to feel the same.
My life has and continues to be a roller coaster due to eczema. Sometimes I am the issue But mostly its because of many of the ignorant people I share the world with
Follow me on @Soup4Psoriasis on Twitter
Sounds like you had it really tough, I’m so sorry to hear that
It’s good to know that you’ve accepted it as part of who you are. I have yet to reach that stage. But I guess I am accepting it more now, after all it’s always going to be in my genese so hence a part of me!
A disease does not mean it has to be contagious. This is the definition of a disease as I understand it : a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment. I’m sorry if I upset you by using that term I should have replaced it by the word “condition”.
How’s your eczema/psoriasis community comming along?
Hi Nadia!
I swear If I didn’t know any better I would say you have been spying on my life and now writing my story. Everything you speak of from the timeline of 2008 to now,to not really having to deal with eczema on the face to the looks from another as you look away due to embarrassment. These have been the hardest 3 years of my life. My current onset can be attributed to an exposure to mold which I m allergic to and it caused my eczema to cover almost 100% of my body. I have never been so miserable in my life, and trying to find help with little or no medical coverage did not help either.
Because this flare up went so long without the proper treatment I am now not only suffering with spotty eczema on my face and body but Hyper-pigmentation as well. As I am already a dark skin African-American female this complication brings on emotional distress that always brings me to tears. I scar very badly and it can takes years for my skin to heal and return to its natural color. So with bright pink marks on the arms and face of my hyper-pigmented skin, I try to venture out into the world and do day to day task,but it is hard. And some days I simply can’t do it.
Thank you so much for sharing your story. And creating an outlet for me to share mine. I now don’t feel so alone anymore.
Give Thanks,
Sarai
Hi Sarai
I must say first of all, I love your name!! and secondly thanks for sharing your experience. It wasn’t an easy read let me tell you! I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through all this pain. so is it getting better at all or only getting worse? I’m not sure how the medical system works where you live but here in the UK we have a medical system created by the government and runs on our tax money, so in a way it’s free but in reality it’s not, if you know what I mean?
so does that mean you have not been able to see a doctor or specialist? There is an endless list of things to try but where to start?! For example taking a food intolerance/allergy test can help you work out whether or not you should be cutting out certain foods from your diet. Also a skin patch test can tell you if you’re allergic to other environmental factors. You mentioned being allergic to mold, how did you find that out?
I tried endless things to stop my eczema flare ups but nothing has stopped it completely. However I found that small changes have made a big difference. Things like using coconut oil, eating specific foods, taking supplements…etc. But the only thing that gets rid of my flare ups completely is steroid creams (1% hydrocortisone).
I truly do hope you can get yourself seen by a specialist. It could only be a matter of giving you a cream to use for a few days. Trust me, and I’m saying this from personal experience, the longer you leave your eczema untreated the more damage it will leave behind. I left mine untreated for months and I now have thinner skin on my face with visible wrinkles. I wish I hadn’t been stubborn and used the cream instead of waiting for it to heal on it’s own. eczema is a complex condition which hasn’t really been looked into enough for it to be understood fully.
About the discoloration, have you tried using Bio oil on the pink patches? I’ve heard a lot of good things about it so it could be worth a try. And I know it’s good for scaring as well.
Thanks again for your comment and I’m looking forward to hearing back from you again soon
All the best,
Nadia.
Hi Nadia,
I found your youtube video and think the concept of this blog is very clever. First, full disclosure: I work for a company called Western Allergy Services that has just started to distribute a line of therapeutic clothing for eczema sufferers in Canada – Dermasilk Therapeutic clothing. I do a lot of research as part of my role (marketing) and have found that there are so many sites that claim to be information sites, but are actually pedaling some sort of cream, clothing, cure all etc. So I think that what you are doing is excellent for eczema sufferers because there is a lot of misinformation out there. Can we connect via email?
Hello Nadia
Thanks so much for sharing your story. I’m Adriana,19, student of Movie Production and also girl with Eczema.
. Since I was 12 and I became a Teen my skin used to be almost normal 
However every1 beilived that I’ve been cured, I’m not.
My suffering started when I was just 8 months old. It sounds crazy, but by the years I have learned to not beilive to my Skin/Allergy Specialist.
I got throught cortisone injections, months in hospital.. but that was just help for that moment, not a cure.
(I’m sorry for my English, It’s not my native language)
But there were a good days too
By the time my Eczema minimalized only to my hands (I have that old looking fingers and stuff… but I’m using Australian pure collagen just for 3 days, and I finnaly see changes
) and hands, and face are the most viewed parts of my body, soo I was happy, that I didn’t have “red” face… Until…
). Thanks God, that I graduated with all A’s and my dream university accepted my application and entering tests 
Sooo come back to my Exzema…
January 2011, eczema started to appear on my face, neck, arms, hands, chest… I were in hospital for 2 weeks but that was just waste of time and money… So I have gone to home care, but… I was suffering soo hard, but I had to graduate… Soo I was writing my final exams with eczema all over my body and with rush (Yes, rush
Today I have Eczema on ma face littlebit, chest and hands and it’s getting better
I’m on strict diet (veggies, Goat milk – that’s amazing stuff for ppl who are allergic to lactose and casein, rice and soy – almost all stuff from my garden or from stores with organic food), and I use fantastic products from Bioderma called Atoderm (nutritious creme, antirecidive milk and creme with zinc) and sometimes (only for that hurting tottaly red spots) I use soft steroid creme called Afloderm mixed with White vaseline 1:1 and my final thing is Chinese Medicine
Yes that sounds crazy, but I on TCM care witch means, that I take few pills made of special herbs and vitamin pills.. It helps me a lot.
I hope that one day, you will find perfect care for you
And today, I wanna reccomend some stuff for your face Ecz.
Because you always have hope! And don’t forget, that you are beautiful! No matter that you have some red spots 
You’re pretty!
Try to drink Goat milk for 2 weeks (2-3 glasses per day) and eat just green vegetables (’cause green veggies contains chlorophyle and it helps to “clean” your organism and it helps your skin a lot) and try to be optimistic
I hope you’ll get well soon
Take Care
Adriana
Hello Nadia,
It’s a sad thing that some of us have to watch our every move because it may stir our skin to become itchy , burning and sting relentlessly. I made it my business to find a solution outside of the western medical world. doctors and dermatologists arent trained to remedy something but to suppress. I stopped using hydrocortisone cream because the long term side effects outweigh the eczema for me. i would strongly recommend you take a look at this site and i hope that u may find peace what you’re searching for. http://www.earthclinic.com and look up ailments- eczema- apple cider vinegar and a diet without milk, refined carbs and sugars is usually the big one. lots of water and raw fresh veggies. cheers girl, Kim.
Hi Nadia,
I saw your link on the Facebook eczema page and came to your blog. I am sorry that you have suffered with eczema and the horrible condition it causes. I have suffered all of my life with it, but always kept it under control with topical steroids. My body started reacting to the steroids a couple of years ago so of course, the doctors prescribed oral prednisone and stronger steroid cream. it was a vicious cycle and I knew that my body was talking to me. It could no endure the steroids anymore because they were doing damage to my immune system, my adrenals, my bones, my bowels, my blood, my eyes and my skin. I broke out in what looked like measles and itched bad. I kept putting stronger steroid creams on it because the doctors thought it was scabies or some kind of something, so they just kept prescribing steroids. The very poison that was causing all of my health issues. I had hormone imbalances, hysterectomy for that, goopy eyes and a fog in them at times, diagnosed with osteoporosis, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, fatigue, bowel issues, bladder issues and overall feeling of old and sickly. I am 56 years old. I changed my diet to the Weston Price diet in 2000 and that helped me a lot, but I still was using the steroids and that is why my body erupted in 2009. Since then I have found out why my body was falling apart, the topical steroids. I quit them for good seven months ago and now enduring the hard withdrawals. I have a website dedicated to this cause and am part of a red skin syndrome support group for anyone who is seeking the truth about the long-term damaging side effects of topical steroids. redskinsyndrome.com
Hi Nadia,
My experience with eczema mirrors yours somewhat. I developed it in 2006 after my husband was diagnosed with a terminal illness – it was stress. Although I tend to be a happy-go-lucky type, I still experienced the cycle of being upset about the eczema exacerbating it. As I get older the less these things bother me.
After a few lifestyle changes to reduce stress in my life the eczema went away, until recently my circumstances changed and it has flared up again only in the past week. So number one cause (for me) is the stress.
Eczema is an autoimmune disease – where the bodies immune system starts attacking the bodies own tissues. With eczema the immune system attacks the skin, other types attack other organs (e.g. lupus). Being an autoimmune disease, it makes a lot of sense that stress is the cause (the immune system flips out under extreme stress).
This leads me to something that I am very, very surprised (and disappointed) your doctors have not prescribed for you yet – Elidel..
Elidel is an immunosuppresant cream specifically designed for eczema on the face. It is prescribed for the face because it *does not* thin the skin like hydrocortisone. Again, it’s not recommended for more than a few weeks use at a time (and you can habituate to it). But it works by directly addressing the immune response, not just reducing the secondary inflammation that is caused by the immune response. Please ask your doctor about Elidel. It has risks involved because it suppresses the immune system, particularly if your immune system is weak (i.e. children and cancer patients) but if you’re otherwise healthy and your immune system is already over active then I think the risk is worth it.
The next thing (and I really, really do hope you try this) is the types of creams you use must be designed for eczema. The holy grail (I’m serious) here is A-derma exomega emollient cream and cleanser. They are for both face and body but are great just as face products. I can’t express enough how much of a difference A-derma has made to me. The final addition is the A-derma Dermalibour zinc cream for use on flare ups (heavy but still fine on the face). Zinc is hugely important for skin health, and I have found that this cream is actually on par with elidel and steroid creams in reducing the inflammation (although a little slower). I would use eczema targeted skincare like A-derma exomega or alternatively the atopic lines by bioderma (atoderm), la roche posay (lipikar) or avene (trixera) to the exclusion of all other products for a little while to really give it a good chance to do it’s work.
Finally, all other dietary stuff aside (I personally don’t react to foods except for sulfates and histamines in alcohol) eczema sufferers need the right lipids in their diet (skin food) and by this I mean flax seed oil capsules & evening primrose oil (EPO). Flax seed oil is not only an anti-inflammatory, it also contributes to skin health. Evening primrose oil (internally) had been proven in clinical trials to improve and reduce the severity of eczema. I had been forgetting to take these recently and I think that contributed to my flare up.
Although Eczema is a complex thing and caused mainly by the body’s immune system overreacting these three things I wholeheartedly recommend to anyone who is going through facial eczema:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Elidel
2. A-derma
3. Flaxseed & EPO capsules.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please, please, please try them, I really believe they will help reduce your suffering as they did with me.
Amanda.
P.S. I also can’t use any pure oils on my face anymore. Even if I don’t react immediately to an oil (e.g. olive oil, coconut, rosehip oil etc) I believe over time eczema prone skin reacts badly to pure oil applied directly. I think it may be one of the things that can vary person-to-person though.
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You are definitely not alone!!! I have extremely dry skin and have had eczema on my body since I was 3& eczema on my face since maybe junior high. It was terrible while I was in school, but has gotten better. It’s really strange because I notice that my eczema moves around. Sometimes it’s on my forehead for a maximum of a year and it’ll move around even reaching my neck. The worst it’s gotten is on the skin between my nose and lips. It was cracked and bleeding and extremely painful and uncomfortable.
Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep it under control recently. My skin routine is actually pretty non existent. I don’t use soap to wash my face at all because I find that the smallest amount of abrasion can start a flare up or make one worse. At one point I even washes my face with drinking water, but now I take a shower in the morning without letting the tap water hit my face. The stream however seems to moisturize and soothe my face. Then after I get out, I apply a steroid free cream on the spots where I need it (i don’t have the name of the perception on me at the moment). After much experimentation with drugstores brand moisturizers, I found one that seems to do the trick. For me, when I have a flare up, moisturizers with sunscreen can feel like my face is on fire so I looked for one without sunscreen: Aveeno Eczema Therapy moisturizing cream. It’s greasy, actually moisturizing, and vaseline-like, but only for the first 15 minutes you have it on, then it really sinks into your skin. I know sunscreen is really important, but it’s hard when you have face eczema. I recommend Aveeno Face Sunscreen in the yellow tube. I use 70 spf only when I feel like my skin can handle it. Then before I go to bed, I remove my makeup with the only makeup remover that I’ve found that is mures gentle than the rest: Garnier Makeup Remover. Before I go to bed, I apply Aquafor mainly to my eyes and all around the skin by my lips because it’s the most sensitive.
As far as makeup, the hardest thing to find is concealer. I use Benefit Erase Paste to cover up all that scarring. It’s thick and greasy, but this is a blessing for people with dry skin. I then use liquid moisturizer on top of the Aveeno Eczema Therapy and then finish off with a light dust of finishing powder.
I know first hand that it can be such a challenge to get through flare ups, but it’s best if you see your doctor asap (in my case, my allergist has more answers for me than my dermatologist) when your current prescription doesn’t work. I find that my skin becomes immune to different perceptions if I use it enough. Use your medicine only when you need it. I heard Elidel isn’t a steroid cream. It’s great to use on your face at that point when your higher strength cream is healing your patches and they’re just red, but the pain is absent. Also, avoid ANY product with any kind of alcohol!! Ouch! Best of luck and with some experimentation with different routines you’ll be able to figure out what products work best for you!
I sympathise how having eczema on the face can you feel self-conscious! Since June (exam finals stress) it has been on my face and one of the worst things at first was not being able to cover it up properly. I used to use Benefit Erase Paste which someone else here has recommended – but only because at the time I didn’t know what else to use. Makeup like this is actually very harsh for the skin and can dry it out. It’s better to find products made specifically for eczema skin which use natural ingredients.
I really recommend you check out Dr. Hauschka and Sheer Cover . You can find them at Fresh & Wild stores or online. Whereas previously eye makeup made my eyes itchy and watery, Dr. Hauschka eye liner and mascara have been perfect. Sheer Cover foundation has been amazing at covering up my red skin and making it look clear! Sheer Cover sells concealer too but I’ve found the foundation by itself to be enough. These are not the cheapest products but have been fine for my eczema skin, and have really boosted morale as I no longer have to be red in public!
If you want to check out other moisturisers, you could try Allergenics and Pure Potions. Both are all-natural and have received good press.
I hope it clears up soon for you
Hi Laura
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. It’s awful when eczema appears at the worst of time, it was bad enough that you were having to deal with exam stress let alone having to deal emotionally with eczema problems! I can wear makeup on my eyes and lips, not any products though only ones I know won’t cause flareups. I can never wear any other make up though; anything I put on my face when I have a flareup only makes it worse. Also, when the eczema is bad I have not only red, but dry patches so any makeup I use to cover them only emphasises the dryness which makes it look even worse! The other thing is if I don’t use foundation to cover up the eczema, lip and eye makeup don’t look right on their own so I tend not to wear anything at all.
I feel really sad because I do love makeup and experimenting with it, It’s like a hobby of mine but I don’t get to do it much and it does make me feel self conscious going out with a bare face that is covered with eczema patches.
Thanks for the recommendations, I’ve heard really good things about Dr. Hauschka, It’s quite pricy thought so I’ll see if I can get a free sample first to try it out and see whether it suits my skin or not.
Not heard of those moisturisers so will look them up online. Where do you live? They might not sell them here in the UK.
How’s your skin doing these days? Hope it’s giving you some peace
x
Wow! If only I knew about social media when I had obvious eczema! Amazing job you are doing at spreading the word. I have atopic eczema and horrid face eczema all my life-has left massive scars which I just accept. The main triggers were always dust mould and stress and as whenever you’re embarrassed you get stressed it was a viscous circle. I had it horrifically right up till my hubby to be moved from London to live with me in Australia. Well boy did it get bad then! Of all times, prob cos of stress. So biggest triggers wheat, stress and soy milk (which blocked my iron consumption and therefore supersede my immune system) I have become an eczema expert out of sheer necessity and trying everything under the sun. I’m devastated I now appear to have passed it on to my little girl and wasn’t going to have kids as I was do fearful of doing it. As the eczema gene can’t be isolated I had no choice but to risk. So I guess who better than me to help her cope. Thanks for sharing. I wish you the best in your struggle as boy do I know it’s a biggie, but once you tackle it, it’s an amazing feeling of strength.
So far, I have not seen anyone suggesting the use of Shea Butter as a way to treat eczema. I am not talking abut the processed shea butter products out on the shelves that contain all of 1% shea butter. I am referring to real, unrefined, unprocessed shea butter. It is amazing! My daughter had really bad skin until my grandmother in Ghana sent me some shea butter. Within two weeks, I had noticed a huge difference.
check out the sources below:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2283633_treat-eczema-shea-butter.html
http://www.natural-skin-care-info.com/eczema-bh.html
check out the website. The butters are what I have been using to treat my daughter’s eczema.
The butters have fewer than 7 ingredients…. all of which are easy to recognize!
I also found out later that shea butter contains cinnamic acid which offers a small but natural amount of sunscreen protection.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
hey Nadia, I’m having the exact same problem as you, I’ve tried going to the doctor so they can figure out a cure but their always giving me some kind of cream to make the itching go away. But when I stop using it it comes back even worse and it makes me worried because there’s nothing else to use I’ve tried so many creams and nothing works. I also tried going on an eczema diet and I just started i’m going to see how that turns out
i’m so glad i’m not the only person with severe face eczema it gets me so embarrassed and everyone always asks me why my face is so swollen and red it makes my confidence level go down and I feel so shy to talk to people i hope someone finds a cure to this soon!!
Lauren, you sound young like my 14 year old. I have found that RED lollies e.g. red smarties etc bring on a red rash on her skin, icecreams, hot dogs. My daughter also has a food allergy to eggs and nuts including seeds. Keep away from Mars Bars, my daughter had an allergic reaction after attending a friends birthday party who had mixed chopped pieces of mars bar throughout the icecream cake. My daughter always has a ice-cream cake for her birthdays as she can’t eat cake due to the egg and so her friend thought she’d make a cake which my daughter could eat but didn’t realise Mars Bars have egg in them. Drink lots of water, quick short showers, dry skin thoroughly. My daughter only uses the cortisone ointments in extreme cases of it as prolong of using cortisone can cause other problems. My daughter has Milia around the eyes where we has used some mild cortisone for her eczema. She is working in a take-away food outlet and understandably like you, Eczema makes her self-concious.
Hello!
I was actually born with eczema and have suffered with it my whole like to the fact that it would bleed. But, anyways my face has just started doing the same exact thing just randomly and would last for about a week each time. It doesn’t happen anymore because I found out what to do. I hope this works for you and I hope you read this because I hate eczema and have suffered with it forever and have cried so many times about it.. but I just have to live with it. It’s okay. Haha, so. You actually DONT want to put cold water on your face! Just don’t. The cold water actually irratated it. Use warm water, not hot, but warm. and I used the sensitive, like all nautral aveeno body wash on my face and just spread it around my face and then washed it off with the warm water, I WAS SO RELIEVED!!!!! and also take benedryl. also, you should get Aveeno eczema therapy moisturizing creme. that helped sooo much! but anyways, after you wash your face just put fragrance free, lotion with nothing in it, i use kroger gentle skin lotion for dry,sensitive skin. and then for the parts of my face that was still red and burning a little i put my doctor prescribed fougera lotion on. THIS WAS A MIRACLE TO ME! like, i understand we feel like, not normal because why do we have to have this? noone else does it seems… but its okay! when its gone it made my life 100000000000% better! it was a miracle worker. so now everytime it strikes i know what to do! also try taking warm baths with oil, oatmeal, and milk in it. it probably sounds weird, but its true. i have soo much experience with eczema its not even funny. i love helping people with it because of how much i have suffered. i would hate for anyone else to go through what i did. i really hope this helps people! <3
try aloe vera, pure 100% aloe, not one with any other chemicals added. It should help soothe the dryness and itchiness.
My daughter was diagnosed with Atopic Eczema at two months of age, 14 years ago. Since then she has developed Eczema Herpeticum twice, age 6 and 13. Following her last episode of Eczema Herpeticum which this time settled mainly on the skin around her eyes, white spots have developed and her Dermatologist said they are called “Milia’s”. My daughter needs to clean her face more thoroughly on a regular basis and is using Cetaphil Moisturising Cream. Lotions irritate her skin and so she sticks to the creams, we have tried almost all of them and Cetaphil seems to so far be working but so had the others. Maybe my daughter’s skin becomes immune to the creams.
SBS TV had a show this week which I missed seeing; the advert showed that people with Eczema were being treated by water using hydrotherapy, so wished I’d seen it. Can’t find it but shall contact SBS soon.
Also, my daughter has had regular cold-sores around her mouth, it is so frustrating as they come regularly nearly every six weeks. Famvir we have used once and it worked.
Hi Nadia,
I started following you on twitter and found your blog by typing into Google search – Eczema and Shea Butter. I’ve had Eczema on my face, scalp, legs, and arms since I came into puberty which was 7 or 8 and I still have it as an adult. It sucks. It’s embarrassing. But there are ways around it as I’m sure you explained in this blog. And now in my early twenties, I’ve been trying every shampoo from Head and Shoulders to to Dr.Bronner’s to Nature’s gate. Something has got to give. I tried shea butter and it soothed my scalp so much. I mean I didn’t have to itch it once. I dislike the smell but because it works so well, I think I’m going to stick with it. I am also going to do some internal changes as well with my diet but I truly appreciate this website. God bless you and thank you!
Hi Nadia, thank you so much for your post! I’m an 18 year old man, and I just recently developed very severe eczema 2 months ago on my face and my arms… I know how you feel about not wanting to go out and see people, and it’s taking a huge toil on me. I love being around people, and this eczema is completely screwing me up.
The worst thing is the scratching at night. There were times when my eczema would almost heal, but then i would wake up bloodied from scratching.. I just want to know how you have dealt with that? I put on gloves to bed, but it doesn’t even help that much..
btw, a note to everyone. Don’t drink any alcohol at all, it will most definitely worsen your eczema to a whole new level.
In Sept of 2011 I noticed a small itchy red spot on my forehead. I have tried everything in attempt to get rid of it. Nothing ever really helpeand in fact, I now have 3 quarter sized spots on myforehead and just noticed another by my bottom lip. I am unsure exactly what it is, as I have not seen a doctor yet. They itch so bad, are bright red and really flakey. However, their texture when not extremely flakey is raised and oddly more “smooth” then the rest of my skin. I had self esteem issues to begin with and was already stressed out and this has just been horrible. I will be seeing a doctor within the next few weeks or so, as I don’t have insurance and have to save up some extra cash. I am 24 and hopefully I can manage this to have some get up and go again for my husband and daughter. It even affects my work :/ Anyways, I am so glad I found your blog! I can totally relate and it’s always nice finding others experiencing the same issues you are going through. I have found some relief using Bio oil, it is literally the only thing that helps with the redness and dryness, which in turn helps with the itching. Thank you for sharing!!!!
Hi Nadia,
Nadia, I know what you are going thrue. I agree with you having eczema on your face and hands is so embarrassing. People just don’t understand. They think it is no big deal. I was born with eczema and now I am 50, look like 60 and still have eczema. My parents didnt take much pictures of me “because I always had eczema”, sometimes my neck broke out so bad, that my brother thought it was so funny because I looked like I wanted to hang myself. My father told me I was so ugly I never will find a husband. I have no confidence. Never made in live. I didn’t had any confidence to go to school. The only work I did and still do is taking care of the eldery. Because I feel this are the only people who dont look down on me because of my looks. I tried everything and I mean everything to get my skin under control. Sometimes it got better for a little while but it always came back… Eczema ruined my live.
Hi Nadia,
I have had eczema on my face for 3 years. It started as a small patch. Then it would go away and come back for awhile. Recently it spread over my mouth and around my nose, and most recently, under my chin. It is itchy, red, and flaky.What do you recommend? I haven’t been to a dermatologist yet. I started using hydrocortisone 1%.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Tom.