Eczema alert

It's fall time once again! aside from the messy dry leaves that I have to clean up in my backyard, what's dreading me the most at this time of the year is the cold weather. Cold weather means you have to put up your heating. Cold weather plus the dry air coming from the heat pump makes my skin go crazy. I have a very sensitive skin.It cracks when the cold weather sets in. It breaks out on simple irritations. And I didn't just mean zits, but all those scaly red itchy stuff that grows bigger when you scratch it.

For somebody who has a skin like me, life can be so miserable in times like this. There are a lot of things  that you have to follow so your skin won't feel helpless. Nobody wants to talk or even look to somebody with a flaky skin.  

"Beware of the flakes.. not the snow flakes.. but the flakes of the skin you're in!"

1. Drink plenty of water to keep you hydrated

2. Use corticosteroid creams to relieve the breakouts, follow your dermatologists prescriptions

3. Just stick to cottons. Avoid silk, satin and polyester fabrics for the moment since they are really not good to your skin. Cotton can be nice looking too!

4. Do love the unscented ones. This is one of the rules that I usually fail to follow. I am fascinated with those scented lotions, soaps and body wash from Bath and Body works, Victoria Secret, Crabtree and Evelyn and Lush.But my dermatologist recommended these kinds of soaps and lotions to prevent any eczema breakout, mind you they're not cheap! Just 2 keywords "water based" and "unscented" and you'll be fine. 

The following are highly recommended by my dermatologist

Spectro jel

Cetaphil gentle skin cleanser

 

Cetaphil Restoraderm body wash and moisturizer

The petroleum based vaseline cream lotion

5. Stay away from Hot water. Hot water makes your skin really dry. Dryness worsens a person's eczema.

6. Latex gloves are not our friend. For disposable glove users like me, we must switch to Nitrile or any non-latex gloves. You'll feel the difference.

7. Cotton gloves are suggested to be worn on regular housework. When my dermatologist told me this, I was like "Whuuutttt?" But he was serious though...

These are suggestions that I try to religiously follow as much as possible (I try!) because if I don't I have to deal with the scratchy, painful, itchy, cracking and excessive dry skin for the next 4 months.