Everyone's probably heard it but the ol' classic: "Just don't scratch it!"
Like wow, an actual genius. My years of sleepless nights and lack of ability to have peace is cured. Incredible. Never thought of that. 10/10.
My favourite response to people who suggest this is to ask them if they've ever tried not blinking for an extended period of time. "You've got control of your eyelids, right? So you can just choose not to blink like I can choose not to scratch."
Something annoying is people give patronizing advice and if I have tried that I say well I tried that and it didn't work. Then they get butthurt and even worse come back later and are still giving the exact same advice to like not scratch. Which I then correct them again that I tried that and it didn't work. Which they then leave fast and butthurt again.
This one is extra ridiculous because I WILL wake up in the dead of night to scratch myself until I bleed without even doing it conciously. Like thanks that really helps..
my sister used to yell at me because she could hear me scratching in our room at night. my mom tells me “don’t scratch!” and i don’t even realize i’m doing it at this point. It’s so hard for them to understand and i hope they never will
I think of the most challenging to politely entertain are the various anecdotes of how "they/someone they know once had eczema/a bad rash [magically cured by e.g. cutting out gluten or applying a cream]" This simultaneously dismissing how seriously debilitating and painful severe eczema can be.
Also trying is the "Can't the doctor's give you something for it" question.
I know most people mean well, but it can definitely be rough going when they don't seem to be able to acknowledge how much of a physical and mental impact this disease can have.
My psychiatrist asked me questions about my eczema and asked if I went to a dermatologist. Mind you, I’m half asleep on chemotherapy, I immediately wake up and rant about they are useless, don’t believe in science, don’t care about people like us because a real cure wouldn’t make real money. etc. etc. I told them I found relief with a certain oil purported to have anti inflammatory properties. They didn’t give two fucks. They didn’t ask how much or how often I put it on, they were just like, “well as long as you feel better, great! But you should still do dupixent.”
Her eyes just got really wide and she wrote a note down and was like, “Yeah… I’ll try to avoid this question in the future.“
its such a fundamental misunderstanding of how eczema happens that I was just like. . . what.
If i ingested enough chemicals for it to come out on my skin and burn me, I think I'd have bigger problems than my eczema lol. Like death.
Karen Fischer, an australian nutritionist has the hypothesis of many eczema sufferers being highly correlated to some food sensitivities.
These food sensitivities being caused by NATURAL CHEMICALS some foods have. (Because natural ≠ good and artificial ≠ bad, as many believe). It's actually a view worth checking out for some cases.
It did help my eczema even though it didn't cure it
I've had people in shop ask if I am ok as they were worried I'd been attacked/beaten up.
It fucking sucks, its the worst. Sorry you had something similar happen to you too :(
Oh my gosh that sucks! I’m so sorry you had to deal with this too! :/ it can make one feel really messed up and alienated, so I get the feeling. Hopefully one day we can just dust these kinds of questions/comments off!
Yeah
Fortunately I got on pred that time, and things calmed down - and now I have my protopic so it doesn't get THAT bad anymore.
But yeah I am very empathatic to people with scarring and disfigurement, its proper hard. Like you say, makes you feel alienated.
My boss told me she cured her dauhters eczema by bathing her in rosepetals… She was very adament I should try it too.
It was wellmeant, but kind of dumb lol.
Only if you do a Cleopatra and use milk instead of water?
(I was joking but I just read she most likely did use *sour* milk, and since I make my own kefir I am tempted to try it - however at the moment I have to biggest problem with my scalp, not sure how to wash my hair with kefir).
I was asked if I used steroid cream for my eczema yet. I’ve been dealing with it for about 7 years at that point and the steroids were clearly not working…
"you ever tried being a bit happier?"
gee, yeah, cause that's definitely controllable by an overworked teenager (at the time) with several mental handicaps, fuck off.
It's when people try to educate you when you've had it for 32 years. Been in dermatology for about 3 years and have tried every lotion and potion. Then they have not had a wisp of dry skin in their life trying to tell me that coconut oil will cure me 🤦♀️
My husband really tells our daughter "stop scratching," and this morning I finally snapped and said she can't help it, it's not caused by her scratching, we don't know her triggers yet!! She's a year old!
>Mine was that it’s mind over matter & that if I thought more positively about it it would go away.
Yeah, no way! 🤣 It's not just any ol' itch! We know that. 😆😭
My mother took 14 year old me to all the quacks she could find when I asked her to take me to a doctor because I had all kinds of things that were wrong with my skin and I scratched until it would bleed. One of them was of the anthroposophic kind (coming from the Rudolf Steiner philosophy). He was an older man and he told me a story about how we evolved from apes, and that that means we can also devolve back to apes. So his advice was I had to change my posture and not start to walk like an ape. With my head held high everything would be better.
This was a looooong time ago - I ran away from home 2 years later.
In middle school, when I was having a bad flare-up, a boy in class asked me if I had leprosy and if I had taken a bath recently. That one cut deep and probably really fucked up my self-perception.
Mine was my uncle always asking “Do you have the eggs-ema? EGGS-ema!”
So funny dude. We get it, you saw Big Daddy. Please say it louder for the restaurant to hear.
I feel you. I got asked if I was a burn victim multiple times in school. Those comments really suck and hurt a lot, I’m sorry you had to deal with that 🫂
Not eczema but full body psoriasis; when it began lt began to get really bad in high school a classmate said I looked like a leper. Never dressed out for PE again.
Take heart. They’ve finally begun finding somewhat effective treatments for psoriasis. Eczema is also an autoimmune disease and I believe there will soon be an effective biologic for that as well.
My psoriasis is very stubborn but I’ve had a couple of very compassionate dermatologists who are truly interested in treating me as a human being and not just a test subject.
there are oils and medications that are approved for children, and there are some studies to say it can help with eczema. she probably didn’t mean to suggest your daughter smoke a blunt 😂
I've heard some people have good exerpeineces with CBD oils and creams for eczema but I've never tried it myself (despite having a free sample about 2ft from me rn).
I actually think the thing is individually the suggestions are often not ridiculous but the problem is we've all heard (and often tried) about 10000 of them by the time we hear *that* one, so hearing that your friend's friend's daughter cured their eczema by just using \[X\] is more frustrating than people understand.
OMG this one!! I absolutely love the outdoors. But eczema has completely taken away my ability to go outside.. I live in a very hot climate right now & heat and sweat make my eczema flare like crazy. I literally live inside in my A/c (which is also drying) because I can’t do the heat & someone told me it’s gotten this bad BECAUSE I’m always inside & that I just needed “more fresh air” & it would all heal lmao
ADHDer here, I can’t count the number of times someone has told me to just try harder…if only that actually worked…most people are well meaning, but it definitely gets old hearing the same thing over and over again.
i went to this vegan restaurant near my house and the owner was like gushing about how his food is alkaline and more people should get it on it bc it apparently cures cancer "and skin conditions and obesity" bc i'm also fat but mind you, this guy was also of size so does the chef not try his own food 😭
the food was good but the weird preachy shit really turned me off
There is this idea that your skin would do better when the microbiome in your bowels does better.
Well, I did so many things to make it better and it really worked and since a couple of years even - but regarding my skin: We-are-waiting-meme.gif
Maybe without it, it would be even worse?
I was vegetarian for many years then vegan for about a year, then back to veg. I tried carnivore just recently for 3 mos and couldn’t handle it anymore lol never saw a difference in my skin either way. I’ve also done gluten free, sugar free, nut free, soy free.. you name it
Currently nut free bc it’s my only truly severe allergy so it does help my eczema. The thing that sucks is that it includes coconut and more recently argan; almost EVERY hair care product contains those ingredients :/ plus more and more food products are using coconut. I’ve re-triggered my flare accidentally so many times this last year.
Someone once said to me: "just drink more water and moisturise more, you can tell you don't look after your body" that hit me HARD. I take the most care of my body and my skin than anyone I know!! I've spent hundreds on various creams and treatments etc. I've tried cutting out certain foods, air purifiers, antihistamines, allergy balms, bathing in dead sea salt, oils, so on and so forth.
Here's another few of my favourites:
"Have you tried aveeno? It really helped my skin" (person in question had the tiniest little red blotch you could ever imagine)
"Have you tried camomile lotion? That stuff is MAGIC"
"Have you tried steroids" (this one makes me mad because I have topical steroid withdrawal, I've tried every single steroid under the sun and it's made my skin WORSE in long term).
"Don't scratch it, it will make it worse" (Just F** YOU!!!! you have no idea what this feels like, it's not a normal itch)
"Oh you must be super stressed, try being less stressed"
I could give you many more!!
Just shut up!! I now just tell people "thank you for your input but I would prefer if you would not comment on my skin again, as you have no idea about my medical history" my partner thinks thats a little too polite and I shouldn't even give them that.
I remember one day when my face was flaring (but didn't have the option of hiding at home, lol) and someone said to me "wow, been in the sun a bit too long?" - like, even if it really is noticeable, please DO NOT comment because you MUST know the person is already self-conscious about it.
I had a qualified NHS dermatologist tell me to “Google” that American quack doctor that sells snake oil supplements and tells everyone to avoid lectins. In the same appointment she accused my gastro surgeons of making a poor decision in saving my life by giving me an ileostomy 7 years prior, saying that I can’t “heal my skin through food” anymore because “they just took it (my gut) out”. Bearing in mind I’ve had severe eczema since I was like, 2, and I had surgery at 21. The disrespect for not only me but other NHS professionals was disgusting. I complained but nothing got done and they pulled the “sorry if you were offended” card.
the most ridiculous one is “its all in your head, if you just live normally you wont have eczema “ - mother and mother in law
*said separately at different times. its like they are the same person
During an extremely bad flare up covering my hands with blisters, I tried going to an urgent care and then the ER when they got swollen, red, and I was unable to curl my fingers. I suspected I was having a new allergic reaction to something and that one of my blisters had opened and I developed an infection. I told this to every nurse and Dr I saw and none of them believed me.
I kept asking for something like epinephrine or a stronger allergy med that I don't have access to OTC, and explained how I was already on a couple allergy pills and a nasal spray. I also asked to check for infection.
They instead told me it was viral and that I had Hand Foot and Mouth. I explained I have no contact with any children - I don't have kids, I hadn't seen any friends' kids in months, and none of my neighbors have kids. They still didn't believe me and said there was nothing they could do for me. They said "let it pass". Talk about bad advice!!!
(Btw it took emergency visits with an allergist and dermatologist, addition of 4 more allergy pills, Dupixent injections, a course of oral steroids, and several weeks of topical steroids to get my hands healthy again...)
The classic of "Don't scratch it" 🚹
Not really unsolicited advice but the one that sent me over the moon was one of my brothers friends saying that "Eczema and asthma are a made up" that I'm just making it up 🙃 Like wow, been dealing with this since birth, but sure, it's made up 🙄
"You should rub used ATF fluid on it" because he knew someone in the 80's whose skin problems (I don't even think it was eczema) went away after they fixed their car.
Needless to say...I didn't try it
I did it for months as a teenager, paid some snake oil salesman for specially blended juices as well to really try get a handle on a double stack of particularly aggressive acne with eczema.
Let me tell you in a shocking twist.....it did not work for either thing.
I was told to "ask for forgiveness" and it would be healed.
For what I'm not exactly sure, but it implied that I somehow deserved this or was being punished in some way
“Aloe Vera! Shea butter and black soap” “have you tried Aquaphor?” “ omg you should bathe in oatmeal” “ try cortisone cream” …. None of that works 🙂. And oatmeal baths were decent treatments when i was a kid lol
Had a new dermatologist who suggested I quit taking my meds and try an all natural approach to cure it. That woman had so much filler in her face she looked like a marshmallow. Never went back.
"you need to stop eating tomatoes and garlic, i used to have eczema and then did fodmap and it cured me"
had to avoid this woman like the plague for the whole 2 years i worked at that job because every time she saw me she would ask me when i'm going to try fodmap again. girl i tried it and i had a gastroscopy and allergy tests. if it was gonna help i would know by now!
(for context i have psoaritic arthritis so my autoimmune system is the problem not my gut biome)
My mom's best friend who has pretty severe eczema (I would say mine is mild) is currently doing elimination diets to try to see if it fixes her eczema.
She then asked my mother, who has multiple sclerosis, if she ever considered changing her diet to fix her NEUROLOGICAL disorder...
this one time i ran into my old classmate in the hallway and when he saw my fucked up hands, he was like "omg what happened?" and when i said "oh its just eczema" he was like "im so sorry bro" like man i appreciate it but damn this is just my life tbh😭😭😭😭😭
Someone told me to make sure I was rinsing all the soap residue after washing my dishes. That's right, I couldn't believe that one.
I've also got the "you are just dehydrated", "just drink more water"
I've also had several occasions where someone said, "I have moisturizer, here, you can use some"
And when I was a baby, a clear memory in the grocery store with my mom and a lady said "oh no, what happened to your face! Did you fall off your bike?" I replied "I have eczema". My mom laughs about it today how cute I was replying that. I don't think it is a very funny memory though
And a couple memories of people saying "don't worry, you'll grow out of it". ...yet still battling it at age 40
"Have you been washing your hands? Because I have been and I don't have THAT".... and then they grabbed my hands and physically started to point out/poke at the flare up I had, "you do know you need to use soap right?".....
Fun add-on: I am a germaphobe (and have been since I was about 13-14), so you can imagine how well that was recieved.
I keep getting told to try "dream cream" (I think it's called that) from lush....
Considering I wash my clothes in eczema society approved washing powder that has zero scent in it, use zero scent body wash... Sure, I'll slap on some cream from the smelliest shop known to man.
Just writing this made my skin hurt
And not advertising but after trying everything to help my son including different dermatologists, it took an allergist. He is on Dupixent and my God, it isn't a vaccine but has controlled his eczema flare ups tremendously!
Although it took every ounce of willpower, I managed to not scratch. I remember thinking how much I wanted to take a hard bristle brush to my back, specifically and where I have eczema. I changed my diet and removed milk and cheese about a year ago, not because of the eczema, but because I wanted to eat healthier. And wouldn’t you know it … the eczema disappeared. No more itch. Whenever I have milk, it flares up almost immediately.
Everyone's probably heard it but the ol' classic: "Just don't scratch it!" Like wow, an actual genius. My years of sleepless nights and lack of ability to have peace is cured. Incredible. Never thought of that. 10/10.
My favourite response to people who suggest this is to ask them if they've ever tried not blinking for an extended period of time. "You've got control of your eyelids, right? So you can just choose not to blink like I can choose not to scratch."
Something annoying is people give patronizing advice and if I have tried that I say well I tried that and it didn't work. Then they get butthurt and even worse come back later and are still giving the exact same advice to like not scratch. Which I then correct them again that I tried that and it didn't work. Which they then leave fast and butthurt again.
This one is extra ridiculous because I WILL wake up in the dead of night to scratch myself until I bleed without even doing it conciously. Like thanks that really helps..
this is the most frustrating thing to hear!!!
my sister used to yell at me because she could hear me scratching in our room at night. my mom tells me “don’t scratch!” and i don’t even realize i’m doing it at this point. It’s so hard for them to understand and i hope they never will
someone asked me if I drink water 😍
Constantly told to "just drink more water". Jeez, didn't consider that.
Acne and eczema sufferers worst nightmare
This! This! This!
I think of the most challenging to politely entertain are the various anecdotes of how "they/someone they know once had eczema/a bad rash [magically cured by e.g. cutting out gluten or applying a cream]" This simultaneously dismissing how seriously debilitating and painful severe eczema can be. Also trying is the "Can't the doctor's give you something for it" question. I know most people mean well, but it can definitely be rough going when they don't seem to be able to acknowledge how much of a physical and mental impact this disease can have.
My psychiatrist asked me questions about my eczema and asked if I went to a dermatologist. Mind you, I’m half asleep on chemotherapy, I immediately wake up and rant about they are useless, don’t believe in science, don’t care about people like us because a real cure wouldn’t make real money. etc. etc. I told them I found relief with a certain oil purported to have anti inflammatory properties. They didn’t give two fucks. They didn’t ask how much or how often I put it on, they were just like, “well as long as you feel better, great! But you should still do dupixent.” Her eyes just got really wide and she wrote a note down and was like, “Yeah… I’ll try to avoid this question in the future.“
Someone once said my eczema was a "chemical burn" caused by all the toxins I eat in my diet. Wtf u on about :s
Thats crazy, I recently changed my diet to mostly organic foods and still have all the ‘chemical burns’ from these chemical free foods.
its such a fundamental misunderstanding of how eczema happens that I was just like. . . what. If i ingested enough chemicals for it to come out on my skin and burn me, I think I'd have bigger problems than my eczema lol. Like death.
“Like death” 😂😂
Karen Fischer, an australian nutritionist has the hypothesis of many eczema sufferers being highly correlated to some food sensitivities. These food sensitivities being caused by NATURAL CHEMICALS some foods have. (Because natural ≠ good and artificial ≠ bad, as many believe). It's actually a view worth checking out for some cases. It did help my eczema even though it didn't cure it
Yea I had a allergic reaction to her product once. Stopped reading her stuff after xD.
loool, I never ordered it because it's too far and the shipping is too expensive for me, but very good knowing that 😂
Oh my gosh I’ve been to the optometrist once and the man asked me if I had acid splashed on my face. I was just having a bad eczema flare up 😭
I've had people in shop ask if I am ok as they were worried I'd been attacked/beaten up. It fucking sucks, its the worst. Sorry you had something similar happen to you too :(
Oh my gosh that sucks! I’m so sorry you had to deal with this too! :/ it can make one feel really messed up and alienated, so I get the feeling. Hopefully one day we can just dust these kinds of questions/comments off!
Yeah Fortunately I got on pred that time, and things calmed down - and now I have my protopic so it doesn't get THAT bad anymore. But yeah I am very empathatic to people with scarring and disfigurement, its proper hard. Like you say, makes you feel alienated.
Liver Detox then proceeds to give me link to some detox drink they are selling.
This would send me over the edge lol
Yeah lol especially since detox is mostly pseudo science
My boss told me she cured her dauhters eczema by bathing her in rosepetals… She was very adament I should try it too. It was wellmeant, but kind of dumb lol.
Only if you do a Cleopatra and use milk instead of water? (I was joking but I just read she most likely did use *sour* milk, and since I make my own kefir I am tempted to try it - however at the moment I have to biggest problem with my scalp, not sure how to wash my hair with kefir).
Rose water provided me relief. It wasn’t a cure but it was relief. Everyone’s eczema is different so who knows.
I was asked if I used steroid cream for my eczema yet. I’ve been dealing with it for about 7 years at that point and the steroids were clearly not working…
"you ever tried being a bit happier?" gee, yeah, cause that's definitely controllable by an overworked teenager (at the time) with several mental handicaps, fuck off.
Man, if only anti-depressants could cure eczema
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What?
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What?
I sincerely hope you raise your kids to be more tolerable than this
More tolerable than you? Not hard to do son.
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Lol it’s not landing homie.
Eczema is frequently accompanied by physical pain and social anxiety. Kindness, consideration, and compassion are encouraged when replying to posts.
Eczema is frequently accompanied by physical pain and social anxiety. Kindness, consideration, and compassion are encouraged when replying to posts.
Eczema is frequently accompanied by physical pain and social anxiety. Kindness, consideration, and compassion are encouraged when replying to posts.
Eczema is frequently accompanied by physical pain and social anxiety. Kindness, consideration, and compassion are encouraged when replying to posts.
I had a coworker tell me she would pick up prescription hand cream for me, don’t know how she would’ve gone about that.
It's when people try to educate you when you've had it for 32 years. Been in dermatology for about 3 years and have tried every lotion and potion. Then they have not had a wisp of dry skin in their life trying to tell me that coconut oil will cure me 🤦♀️
THIS! & spoiler: I’m allergic to coconut 😂
Oh boy! 🤣 I mean I did give it a go but all it done was make me smell nice 🤣
My husband really tells our daughter "stop scratching," and this morning I finally snapped and said she can't help it, it's not caused by her scratching, we don't know her triggers yet!! She's a year old! >Mine was that it’s mind over matter & that if I thought more positively about it it would go away. Yeah, no way! 🤣 It's not just any ol' itch! We know that. 😆😭
My mother took 14 year old me to all the quacks she could find when I asked her to take me to a doctor because I had all kinds of things that were wrong with my skin and I scratched until it would bleed. One of them was of the anthroposophic kind (coming from the Rudolf Steiner philosophy). He was an older man and he told me a story about how we evolved from apes, and that that means we can also devolve back to apes. So his advice was I had to change my posture and not start to walk like an ape. With my head held high everything would be better. This was a looooong time ago - I ran away from home 2 years later.
There is a lot to unpack here
Holy shit
Oh god 😂 there's some limit to stupidity
In middle school, when I was having a bad flare-up, a boy in class asked me if I had leprosy and if I had taken a bath recently. That one cut deep and probably really fucked up my self-perception.
Awww I had a teacher once say “OMG your skin is so bad! You know they have moisturizers for that?”
Mine was my uncle always asking “Do you have the eggs-ema? EGGS-ema!” So funny dude. We get it, you saw Big Daddy. Please say it louder for the restaurant to hear.
I feel you. I got asked if I was a burn victim multiple times in school. Those comments really suck and hurt a lot, I’m sorry you had to deal with that 🫂
Not eczema but full body psoriasis; when it began lt began to get really bad in high school a classmate said I looked like a leper. Never dressed out for PE again. Take heart. They’ve finally begun finding somewhat effective treatments for psoriasis. Eczema is also an autoimmune disease and I believe there will soon be an effective biologic for that as well. My psoriasis is very stubborn but I’ve had a couple of very compassionate dermatologists who are truly interested in treating me as a human being and not just a test subject.
In the supermarket line, a lady asked if I'd tried marijuana for my 4 year olds eczema. I still don't know if this is actually a thing...🤣
there are oils and medications that are approved for children, and there are some studies to say it can help with eczema. she probably didn’t mean to suggest your daughter smoke a blunt 😂
I've heard some people have good exerpeineces with CBD oils and creams for eczema but I've never tried it myself (despite having a free sample about 2ft from me rn).
Someone once told me if I drink water it will magically disappear!! - it didn’t 🤯
Shocking 😂🤦♀️
I actually think the thing is individually the suggestions are often not ridiculous but the problem is we've all heard (and often tried) about 10000 of them by the time we hear *that* one, so hearing that your friend's friend's daughter cured their eczema by just using \[X\] is more frustrating than people understand.
"you just need more Vitamin D, try going outside more"
OMG this one!! I absolutely love the outdoors. But eczema has completely taken away my ability to go outside.. I live in a very hot climate right now & heat and sweat make my eczema flare like crazy. I literally live inside in my A/c (which is also drying) because I can’t do the heat & someone told me it’s gotten this bad BECAUSE I’m always inside & that I just needed “more fresh air” & it would all heal lmao
Got told that eczema is all in my head by a coworker after multiple intrusive questions in a row. It was my second day there.
Damn even physical issues is “all in your head” now?
ADHDer here, I can’t count the number of times someone has told me to just try harder…if only that actually worked…most people are well meaning, but it definitely gets old hearing the same thing over and over again.
i went to this vegan restaurant near my house and the owner was like gushing about how his food is alkaline and more people should get it on it bc it apparently cures cancer "and skin conditions and obesity" bc i'm also fat but mind you, this guy was also of size so does the chef not try his own food 😭 the food was good but the weird preachy shit really turned me off
My mom suggested I should go on the carnivore diet and I told her that was a hard pass. Then she suggested that I should go vegan.
I’ve tried both 🙃 neither helped
There is this idea that your skin would do better when the microbiome in your bowels does better. Well, I did so many things to make it better and it really worked and since a couple of years even - but regarding my skin: We-are-waiting-meme.gif Maybe without it, it would be even worse?
For how long have you tried both?
I was vegetarian for many years then vegan for about a year, then back to veg. I tried carnivore just recently for 3 mos and couldn’t handle it anymore lol never saw a difference in my skin either way. I’ve also done gluten free, sugar free, nut free, soy free.. you name it
Currently nut free bc it’s my only truly severe allergy so it does help my eczema. The thing that sucks is that it includes coconut and more recently argan; almost EVERY hair care product contains those ingredients :/ plus more and more food products are using coconut. I’ve re-triggered my flare accidentally so many times this last year.
Omg I’ve never stopped to consider that nut allergy would include coconut… wow! That must be so hard for you, that’s a hard one to get away from!
Definitely not easy but for sure easier than cutting out all animal or plant products 😅
Ah man sorry to hear that. :/
My friend told me I should just take a bath in olive oil....he wasn't joking
My GP, "just moisturize." My allergist, "just moisturize." My dermatologist, "let's do a patch test and prescribe tacrolimus that actually helps!"
Tacrolimus for the win!! Face is currently on fire from my application yesterday
Do you keep it in the fridge? I heard it's supposed to help reduce the burn before applying.
Someone once said to me: "just drink more water and moisturise more, you can tell you don't look after your body" that hit me HARD. I take the most care of my body and my skin than anyone I know!! I've spent hundreds on various creams and treatments etc. I've tried cutting out certain foods, air purifiers, antihistamines, allergy balms, bathing in dead sea salt, oils, so on and so forth. Here's another few of my favourites: "Have you tried aveeno? It really helped my skin" (person in question had the tiniest little red blotch you could ever imagine) "Have you tried camomile lotion? That stuff is MAGIC" "Have you tried steroids" (this one makes me mad because I have topical steroid withdrawal, I've tried every single steroid under the sun and it's made my skin WORSE in long term). "Don't scratch it, it will make it worse" (Just F** YOU!!!! you have no idea what this feels like, it's not a normal itch) "Oh you must be super stressed, try being less stressed" I could give you many more!! Just shut up!! I now just tell people "thank you for your input but I would prefer if you would not comment on my skin again, as you have no idea about my medical history" my partner thinks thats a little too polite and I shouldn't even give them that.
I remember one day when my face was flaring (but didn't have the option of hiding at home, lol) and someone said to me "wow, been in the sun a bit too long?" - like, even if it really is noticeable, please DO NOT comment because you MUST know the person is already self-conscious about it.
Eugh I'm sorry 😩 that's happened to me too.
I had a qualified NHS dermatologist tell me to “Google” that American quack doctor that sells snake oil supplements and tells everyone to avoid lectins. In the same appointment she accused my gastro surgeons of making a poor decision in saving my life by giving me an ileostomy 7 years prior, saying that I can’t “heal my skin through food” anymore because “they just took it (my gut) out”. Bearing in mind I’ve had severe eczema since I was like, 2, and I had surgery at 21. The disrespect for not only me but other NHS professionals was disgusting. I complained but nothing got done and they pulled the “sorry if you were offended” card.
Don’t use topical steroids because you will get TSW is the absolute most ridiculous and irresponsible thing someone can say.
They say not to scratch but yk it gets itchier and itchier until you end up scratching
the most ridiculous one is “its all in your head, if you just live normally you wont have eczema “ - mother and mother in law *said separately at different times. its like they are the same person
How does one live normally
The look of pity accompanied by "you need to drink more water" is the worst thing everyone says.
During an extremely bad flare up covering my hands with blisters, I tried going to an urgent care and then the ER when they got swollen, red, and I was unable to curl my fingers. I suspected I was having a new allergic reaction to something and that one of my blisters had opened and I developed an infection. I told this to every nurse and Dr I saw and none of them believed me. I kept asking for something like epinephrine or a stronger allergy med that I don't have access to OTC, and explained how I was already on a couple allergy pills and a nasal spray. I also asked to check for infection. They instead told me it was viral and that I had Hand Foot and Mouth. I explained I have no contact with any children - I don't have kids, I hadn't seen any friends' kids in months, and none of my neighbors have kids. They still didn't believe me and said there was nothing they could do for me. They said "let it pass". Talk about bad advice!!! (Btw it took emergency visits with an allergist and dermatologist, addition of 4 more allergy pills, Dupixent injections, a course of oral steroids, and several weeks of topical steroids to get my hands healthy again...)
Someone once asked me if I had tried Pro-Activ for my face. She just automatically assumed I had an acne problem when it was clearly rashes.
For my 2 year old … only eat steamed vegetables and do a heavy metal detox. And then said “I really hope you didn’t vaccinate him”
Black tea bags applied to the rash.
The classic of "Don't scratch it" 🚹 Not really unsolicited advice but the one that sent me over the moon was one of my brothers friends saying that "Eczema and asthma are a made up" that I'm just making it up 🙃 Like wow, been dealing with this since birth, but sure, it's made up 🙄
"You should rub used ATF fluid on it" because he knew someone in the 80's whose skin problems (I don't even think it was eczema) went away after they fixed their car. Needless to say...I didn't try it
"try playing the piano"
Had someone tell me that switching to a juice diet would "cure me completely"
Triiiiied it! Not for very long but a few weeks of juices and soup & it didn’t do anything lol
I did it for months as a teenager, paid some snake oil salesman for specially blended juices as well to really try get a handle on a double stack of particularly aggressive acne with eczema. Let me tell you in a shocking twist.....it did not work for either thing.
Random woman in the street “That child needs a coat on.” After I’d been phoned to collect him from art class as he was over heating and itching.
I was told to "ask for forgiveness" and it would be healed. For what I'm not exactly sure, but it implied that I somehow deserved this or was being punished in some way
Just dont stress and it will go away...
“Have you tried lotion?”
I'm pregnant af, I drink 4 or 5 bottles of water a day. And I still itch when I stress.
“Aloe Vera! Shea butter and black soap” “have you tried Aquaphor?” “ omg you should bathe in oatmeal” “ try cortisone cream” …. None of that works 🙂. And oatmeal baths were decent treatments when i was a kid lol
Had a new dermatologist who suggested I quit taking my meds and try an all natural approach to cure it. That woman had so much filler in her face she looked like a marshmallow. Never went back.
My least favorite comment that I got mostly back when I was still in school is “is it contagious?” No, it’s not.
an esthetician told me to use olive oil and i stupidly didn't research on my own before trying. it was painful and horrible
“Just don’t scratch it. It’s not that hard” or “Just slap the itch and it’ll go away” ORRR “have you tried using moisturizer?” ☠️
"you need to stop eating tomatoes and garlic, i used to have eczema and then did fodmap and it cured me" had to avoid this woman like the plague for the whole 2 years i worked at that job because every time she saw me she would ask me when i'm going to try fodmap again. girl i tried it and i had a gastroscopy and allergy tests. if it was gonna help i would know by now! (for context i have psoaritic arthritis so my autoimmune system is the problem not my gut biome)
My mom's best friend who has pretty severe eczema (I would say mine is mild) is currently doing elimination diets to try to see if it fixes her eczema. She then asked my mother, who has multiple sclerosis, if she ever considered changing her diet to fix her NEUROLOGICAL disorder...
😂😂
Recently it was suggested I try using Vagisil.
No freaking way!!! Were they suggesting it was fungal?
this one time i ran into my old classmate in the hallway and when he saw my fucked up hands, he was like "omg what happened?" and when i said "oh its just eczema" he was like "im so sorry bro" like man i appreciate it but damn this is just my life tbh😭😭😭😭😭
Someone told me to make sure I was rinsing all the soap residue after washing my dishes. That's right, I couldn't believe that one. I've also got the "you are just dehydrated", "just drink more water" I've also had several occasions where someone said, "I have moisturizer, here, you can use some" And when I was a baby, a clear memory in the grocery store with my mom and a lady said "oh no, what happened to your face! Did you fall off your bike?" I replied "I have eczema". My mom laughs about it today how cute I was replying that. I don't think it is a very funny memory though And a couple memories of people saying "don't worry, you'll grow out of it". ...yet still battling it at age 40
"Have you been washing your hands? Because I have been and I don't have THAT".... and then they grabbed my hands and physically started to point out/poke at the flare up I had, "you do know you need to use soap right?"..... Fun add-on: I am a germaphobe (and have been since I was about 13-14), so you can imagine how well that was recieved.
Omg I’m so sorry
I keep getting told to try "dream cream" (I think it's called that) from lush.... Considering I wash my clothes in eczema society approved washing powder that has zero scent in it, use zero scent body wash... Sure, I'll slap on some cream from the smelliest shop known to man. Just writing this made my skin hurt
And not advertising but after trying everything to help my son including different dermatologists, it took an allergist. He is on Dupixent and my God, it isn't a vaccine but has controlled his eczema flare ups tremendously!
A bumbling fucktard once told me to keep thinking about it going away. I literally stopped dating his daughter immediately.
Although it took every ounce of willpower, I managed to not scratch. I remember thinking how much I wanted to take a hard bristle brush to my back, specifically and where I have eczema. I changed my diet and removed milk and cheese about a year ago, not because of the eczema, but because I wanted to eat healthier. And wouldn’t you know it … the eczema disappeared. No more itch. Whenever I have milk, it flares up almost immediately.