With eczema you cannot help but to be very self-conscious. When persons stare at you it makes you uncomfortable.  In order to lessen the stares, I wear long sleeve blouses. This prevents the stares but it presents another problem. The problem is that some fabrics irritate your rash. So, you basically get rid of one problem but another presents itself.  Unfortunately, that's life with eczema. With eczema you don’t get a break. If it's not one thing it's another. Therefore, you just have to be resilient and creative. To minimize the discomfort of wearing long sleeve clothing I try to make a note of the fabrics not to wear. This can be a little frustrating especially when you go to the store to buy clothing, but we have to do what we have to do. Another challenge we face is that when our body temperature rises the itch gets worse. This makes wearing long sleeve during the summer days quite difficult. So, then we have a tough choice to make. We have to decide...

PART 4 Pretty skin is always in, but not  for those  of  us who  suffer from  eczema…         Eczema causes scars that may not  fade  and  even if  they do it will take  time and  a  lot  of effort.  A friend after seeing my hands asked  me  whether  I would be left with permanent  scars.  I responded with false bravado,  “I hope not”, while deep down I was already worrying about that. But along with the physical effects, eczema can also be emotionally draining. It is stressful to be filled with itchy, oozing rashes.  These rashes demand your attention 24 hours per day. You have to be constantly trying to find ways to soothe them.  When the area becomes dry the itch gets worse but on the other hand when you apply too much eczema cream it also itches like crazy.  So, our dilemma is to try and strike a balance. It i...

PART 3 As bad as the itch was in the day, it got worse at nights. This meant many sleepless nights. Some persons think that the itching is worse at nights because we are not able to apply eczema lotion as frequently at nights, as we do during the day. I would wake up about 3 times per night because of the itching, and when I do sleep, I would scratch my hands in my sleep.  Sometimes my hands would get so dry that it would literally crack, and in the mornings, I would awake to bleeding hands. Yes, a painful experience. So eventually I had to start sleeping in eczema gloves to prevent me from scratching and also to maintain the moisture in my skin while I sleep. The scratching causes the rash to ooze pus and cause scabby areas. The best way I can describe the result is “crocodile-like” skin. I felt I could relate personally to Job, in the Bible. He was struck with painful boils and would use a piece of broken pottery to scratch himself.  Yes, I knew exac...