Adult eczema was something I had never heard about until I was confronted the year of the pandemic. I had no idea what I was facing.
I had a body heat rash that looked like a sunburn. It was summer so that’s what I thought it was at first.
But that burn turned into an itch that turned into blotches.
And everyday my skin was irritated and itchy.
Writing and typing were the few distracting activities that kept me from being miserable in my own skin, literally!
That first year was scary because I didn’t know that I had developed adult eczema.
I also didn’t know that the symptoms would end.
Benadryl helped to keep me sleeping at night and as a last resort.
After 3 long months, it finally settled down in the fall.
But then a year later, like an anniversary, adult eczema flared up again. Only this time, it was in different skin spots.
But then I had previous experiential knowledge, so I could guess what the source was instead of going down a battery list of other symptom possibilities.
The second time was even worse because I ended up in the hospital emergency room with a foot infection that started from eczema.
Thankfully they were able to hook me up to an antibiotic IV drip.
Then the most recent flare up I was facing was on the face. It looked again like a sunburn.
But I was ready this time!
And that’s the main point of this article to help you be ready!
To not let the flare up last longer than it needs to. Days is much better than weeks and months.
It’s in your control to some degree. You can help make it go away sooner rather than later.
But it won’t go away until it’s ready. So it is like something living inside you, at least temporarily.
You don’t just want to ignore especially during the first few days. The first day being the most critical.
Lessons Learned
The idea is to learn from your adult eczema past lessons so that your flare ups are few and far between.
The goal is to have symptoms only last a few days when possible, instead of weeks or painful months.
Think of it like this: it’s either growing better or worse at any given time.
If you gently self-care and manage your symptoms right at the get-go, your eczema can be gone in a few days.
So you do have some control in most situations. You can nip-it-in-the-bud when it’s starting! And gaining that wisdom is going to help you so eczema doesn’t steal your happiness.
In the beginning or your first time, the not knowing can actually be the worst part.
For any unknown health situations, your thoughts in the mind-body connection can often pass on stress that doesn’t help the health situation.
Stress can exacerbate inflammation so you want to stay as calm and chill as you can. The first time you always want to get it checked out so you have some peace of mind.
I didn’t have that advantage because my first time was in the heart of the beginning of the pandemic so none of us were going anywhere in quarantine. But you or your loved ones don’t have to do it alone like I did.
And you don’t have to experiment with items that don’t help much in this case like calamine, cortisone, or a cooling gel when you know it’s eczema.
You can have a dermatologist take a look and do some light research on your own.
But I wouldn’t recommend looking at other people’s online photos too much. It’s sad to see their suffering as some photos make us weep.
Plus, it doesn’t help much because eczema looks different on each person. And it shows up in different body parts with varying levels of severity.
And like my shared true life story, the flare ups show up differently on different body parts, so you may wonder in your own flare up cases, but you know the feeling the next time around.
So use that as your initial assumption for blotches, that you’re wise to try and restore quickly any future next-times.
Here are few additional tips:
Record
Do take dated photos and note of what you were doing that could have been a cause for the skin inflammation.
You may even want to keep a health journal so you can refer to again.
In my cases, I could see a theme that heat was at the core of my flare ups.
For others or you, it could be more diet related or cold weather related. See what I mean, it looks different for everyone.
But any can be triggers for anyone affected, as adult eczema has dryness symptoms in general at the core.
Foods matter. Avoid sugar and white flour at all cost.
And even some anti-inflammatory foods are triggering for this skin inflammation that adult eczema is.
But anti-inflammatory foods are good despite this. Just avoid the ones that trigger your skin sensations.
Like I found anti-inflammatory turmeric can be bothersome during flare-ups. And so can chocolate.
That was a unique food allergic reaction I had. But spices are generally great and anti-inflammatory, so keep healthy seasoning!
These list of foods and most anti-inflammatory foods were generally okay for me, such as:
Fruit – berries, melons, ripe bananas, apples
Veggies – all
Grains
Nuts
Dairy
Eggs and lean proteins
Seafood/fish
And if you stray from good foods, try to do it in moderation or small quantities.
Recall
Also take note of what you saw as health history when you were younger. Because in adult eczema you are an older version of your younger body.
Often when we were younger, we were more sensitive in those areas already to begin with (compared to others who weren’t).
We just didn’t notice because our bodies were still forming and hadn’t developed into our adult bodies. Adult eczema didn’t show up yet.
Avoid List
-Avoid sugar, white flour, and triggering foods at all cost.
-Never itch and scratch because that just spreads and prolongs the misery. It’s not contagious but like a mosquito bite, it gets itchier and spreads if you scratch the itch. You want to avoid touching except for moisturizing.
Replace itching with a bag of ice.
Adult Eczema Check List
We can’t prevent global warming and outdoor allergies.
At the core of dyshidriotic eczema that can be the adult eczema type is dry skin prevention from heat or up and down fluctuating weather.
Even if you didn’t have to prior to a few years ago when our climate changes became noticeable as hail was in the summer and 80 degree weather was common in winter. And we see wildlife nature disrupted.
✅Create a moisturize routine.
✅Have an eczema relief and restore kit ready!
Have eczema relief tools as arsenal by our sides in our home.
That’s critical as time is critical. Those first few days and hours are critical to nipping the flare-up quickly. We don’t want buds.
We want relief in a few days.
What are these adult eczema relief calm aids?
✅Ice – this is the #1 way to keep it cool and not irritated. Ice is good for so many skin medical applications.
Besides ice for sipping on our cold drinks if we feel overheated, we want to have freezer ice handy as part of our first aid kit.
Any time there’s inflammation, ice is the answer. We never know when we will need ice for an accident or eczema flare ups.
It’s important to ice immediately. Not when you get home, but within the hour. Because the sooner you do so, you start the soothing process that can accelerate your healing back to normal.
You may remember in physical education class, when a student was hurt they went to the clinic. And many times the nurse gave them a bag of ice.
I remember a school biology class outing where we went to the swamp lands and I got bit by a swamp bug.
My wrist swelled up like a baseball and my teacher gave me ice. She also told me to take some Benadryl at night. I was almost back to normal fine the next day. But that’s because she acted swiftly and knew what to do. We gotta love our teachers! 🧑🏫
So don’t wait on the ice. Ice is nice and water is too.
✅Water – somewhere along the lines we learned that our bodies are mostly consisting of water which means we need to keep replenishing.
And if we don’t have enough water in us, that can make our body work extra hard.
They even have coconut water and aloe juices available these days that can help extra hydrate. But regular filtered water is just fine.
✅Aloe vera – this is water for the lizard skin and is a sun burn symptom must. The sooner you apply aloe, the sooner it takes effect and doesn’t grow. So have aloe vera ready.
It’s evergreen even though the plant itself is not an evergreen. But the liquid will always be soothing to your skin.
When you crack open an aloe plant leaf that can look like a cactus leaf, you can also use the fresh juice of the leaf.
I keep aloe close to the kitchen in case of a baking burn accident. This is important as having moisturizing lotion available always.
On that note…
Moisturize frequently
It’s not so important what brand of lotion potion you use, as it is to just moisturize daily.
For prevention, you can do 2-3x daily especially on vulnerable parts like feet, hands, elbows and back of knees that are common places where eczema can start.
You also want to keep your face fully moisturized.
✅Vaseline – right after you shower routine, you can seal in the moisture. If you’re having an eczema episode or flare up, keep those areas irritated-free from clothing irritation. Let the body parts breathe.
✅Witch hazel – if it’s heat, you can use witch hazel tonic. You can also benefit from the rose version that is good for soothing.
If you are struck with an adult eczema flare up, be sure to get plenty of rest so your body can detox and do its nightly repair care.
Also, don’t let it get you down. I know for me, the first and second time it happened, it did play on me.
Two days felt like a week and a week felt like two weeks. But DO have a positive outlook: this too shall pass.
And that helps you body heal with your happy thoughts, optimism, and hope.
Focus on what you can do. If you’re stuck indoors, you can still paint, write, read, listen to music, and go online as a few examples.
Just think a century ago, our choices were so much more limited.
Final Adult Ezcema Tips:
Be prepared. As mentioned, have aloe, Vaseline, moisturizer, and ice ready in your home.
Enjoy yourself despite your discomfort. Whether your adult eczema is recurring, in the winter or summer, find ways to enjoy yourself anyway.
Like holding ice to your skin, is a good time to get in your relaxed Corpse pose.
Set and forget. Set alarms in the beginning when symptoms show up to do self-care.
Habit stack to do your moisturizing routines. With a flare up, drench your skin with moisture regularly like at least every 2 hours.
Take cold or cool showers to not irritate your skin. If it’s winter, start with cool water and then go to slightly warmer but not hot, and then end on a cooler water setting as much as you can bear.
Do not let the warm water touch directly with inflamed spots as that will only aggravate your blotches.
Just think, soon enough you’ll get your life back if you take care of your body now!
Soon enough you’ll have forgotten all about your forgettable flare up… and now you’re prepared for any returns!
If you found this useful information, please share this information with anyone you think it can help.