I started battling eczema since 2014, and it’s been a constant tug of war with the irritating condition ever since. Eczema may be considered one of the most unfortunate skin issues to be afflicted with, simply because there is no cure – the condition can only be dealt with and managed for life. While the standard treatments such as moisturizer application is a must, I’ve found some non-medical practices to be useful – and which doesn’t involve overhauling changes to my lifestyle.
Rest
One of the most important factors in my opinion, getting enough sleep is crucial to maintaining an eczema-free lifestyle. When you sleep more, your internal organs work together to rebuild your skin; the lack of sleep prevents this process from happening, which leads to a weak skin condition that is more susceptible to flares. From my personal experience, I have found that a better rest makes my skin less itchy the next day.
Sleep also impacts the following factor:
Stress
It’s easy to spiral into a state of stress in the fast paced world today, with the heavy workload from work or school for adults and students respectively. And many studies have already arrived at correlations between anxiety and eczema – the reason for you to start managing your stress. Practice mindfulness exercises, get enough rest, and find peers who bring the best out of you when you’re having a bad day.
Patience
Eczema is a long lasting condition that is (unfortunately) likely to accompany you in your life. As such, I learned not to expect my skin inflammation to go away in a few days; even with the right treatment it may take up to several weeks for the red patches of the skin to subside. It’s important to be patient with your skin (and yourself as well).
Eczema is also actually a good indication of your overall physical health, so use that as a hint to when your body is taking a toll.
Determination & Motivation
It’s ever so tempting to just scratch the skin because of how itchy it is, even though we are fully aware of the negative repercussions of doing that. So don’t. Recognise that if you can stop scratching your skin (which requires an excruciating amount of discipline), you can do anything. That’s what’s keeping me going in the past several months.
Also, I find that eczema can affect my self esteem, especially in social situations. To counter this mentality, I started learning more skills (such as writing this blog), to prove to myself that even with a condition like this there are still many things in life I can achieve. Don’t let eczema control you, you control it.
People always say that your mind and your body are one, and that couldn’t be further than the truth – science has discovered correlations between our mental and physical health together through studies and experiments. While eczema may be a physical condition, how you view and respond to it plays a big difference in the amount that eczema can impact your life.
xianyou 