31/10/2025
🎃 Happy Halloween 🎃
Wee trigger warning, these photos are not a Halloween mask 🤣
October is National Eczema Awareness Month and having lived with this hellish condition since the day I was born, I wanted to shed a little light on this chronic inflammatory skin condition.
I came in to the world rashed according to my folks but I was lucky that my grandad was a GP who could offer advice.
I've tried everything:
Steroid ointments and oral steroids
Emollients
Creams
Light treatment
Anti-inflammatories
Immunosuppressant drugs
Antihistamines
Patch testing
Gloves & bandages
Different diets
Holistic treatments
Cutting out alcohol
But sadly for me, nothing has worked long term 😭
Over the last couple of years I have also been living through perimenopause and in turn my face eczema, especially around my mouth, has been horrendous.
The pain can be absolutely excruciating and at times to the point I feel like decapitation would be best!
My hand eczema weeps and I get so embarrassed as my hands and face are visible to everyone I meet.
I only ever wear make-up when I am conducting as my skin hates it and needs days to recover, so when I turn up to couples meetings I always apologise for the state of me 🙈
In my opinion, eczema doesn't get the empathy, care and understanding that many other chronic conditions do. It literally is soul destroying.
1 in 10 people in the UK and 1 in 5 children have eczema!
(2 of my Creeps have mild eczema.)
Eczema is often life long and incurable.
In one survey I read, 98% of eczema sufferers said their skin condition affects their emotional and psychological wellbeing. And I can fully relate to that.
Being a busy mum of 4, having 2 pups, a husband to annoy, a home to keep and being self employed means I have to keep going, even when my flares are horrendous and painful.
National Eczema Society provides lots of useful info and there are also many support groups to vent, share and offer advice.
This is not a 'poor me' post but we need to raise awareness for those living with chronic skin conditions that are at times being treated as second class citizens within the NHS.
Be kind ❤️