Last week I wrote about using a mix of 5 drops of lavender oil with 100 ml Aloe Vera.
I am really impressed with how this mix has reduced the itching and swelling. When I have an itch, it definitely soothes it and reduces. This has to be done at the first signs of itching, otherwise if have got myself into a massive scratch, then there is nothing on earth that will stop that itch other than me cutting out the affected flesh!!!
It used to have a slight burning effect. But now the skin has healed, it has much more of a soothing effect. In fact speaking of healing, the skin has been healing rapidly. Do a web search on the properties of Lavender Oil.
This is one that I would say try and tell me how you get on. So I know I said I don't believe in a miracle cure, I believe this mix has been great to reduce the itching so that my skin can heal.
I have also reverted back to eating lots of salad and oily fish which also helps to keep things calm. Anyhow you'll know in a year what I think of this mix.
Let me know if you do try this.
Thursday, 20 October 2016
Friday, 14 October 2016
Urticaria! By Jove I think I've got it
Today on the BBC, a friend showed me an article about Aquagenic Urticaria. Suddenly the light bulbs were flashing. My doc had decided the second skin condition was perhaps infectious eczema as it didn't look like ring worm nor psoriasis. The anti-biotics did not help sort this out. Although it did help sort out a poorly stomach! The anti-fungal tablet and fungal cream certainly sorted out the fungal infection (phew)
But this second skin condition was different. I thought it was a stronger fungal infection but now it is clear that the condition is Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU). It sounds correct from the images. It's so nice to be able to give the condition a proper name.
This skin condition is welts on parts of the face, stinging at times, itching at other times and visually not very appealing when there are welts and skin drying and dropping off. This same skin condition is also on my body, having suddenly appeared when I had gone for a run. I thought it was my clothing that caused that outbreak.
However Italy had a healing effect on the CSU! Also I found the Malaysian cream was only helping to soothe the irritation as it had a nice menthol effect on the skin. I stopped applying the cream and can only think the the sun and water were actually helping to heal my skin. I was eating salad everyday and the skin healing progressed incredibly rapidly.
Lavendar Oil and Aloe Vera
The CSU had now been reduced to a smaller area on my face and was lesser on the body. As I scratched away at the smaller area, my friend put a little bit of neat lavendar oil (yes it says you are not supposed to put it on neat) followed by some aloe vera. The oil had a slight burning sensation but it felt good and those smaller areas dried up and the itching became less intense. Lavendar oil is supposed to have a healing effect + is supposed to help with cell regeneration (lots of great qualities if you look it up).
So I have now mixed up a concoction of Lavendar Oil and Aloe Vera and it certainly is having a more calming effect on the CSU. I'll try it on the inner arm and neck eczema to see if it makes a difference. Sorry I can't tell you provide exact proportions....but my guess is about 5 drops of Lavendar Oil in about 100g of Aloe Vera.
Back Home
So coming back home everything flared back up: the eczema and the CSU. Welts started appearing on my face and body. I am now only washing the areas that need to be washed. The face and body is not touching any water. The eczema was flaring up at night....my fault I should have washed my bedding after 2 weeks of not using it. Now with clean bedding, the eczema has been much calmer. The Lavendar Oil/Aloe Vera mixture has dried up the welts and they are not as angry looking, though have become crusty. Hopefully will start to see some healing over the next few days.
Ahh the joys of sensitive skin.
Hope you find the Lavendar Oil + Aloe Vera mix helps your skin. I'll report back at the end of next week.
But this second skin condition was different. I thought it was a stronger fungal infection but now it is clear that the condition is Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU). It sounds correct from the images. It's so nice to be able to give the condition a proper name.
This skin condition is welts on parts of the face, stinging at times, itching at other times and visually not very appealing when there are welts and skin drying and dropping off. This same skin condition is also on my body, having suddenly appeared when I had gone for a run. I thought it was my clothing that caused that outbreak.
However Italy had a healing effect on the CSU! Also I found the Malaysian cream was only helping to soothe the irritation as it had a nice menthol effect on the skin. I stopped applying the cream and can only think the the sun and water were actually helping to heal my skin. I was eating salad everyday and the skin healing progressed incredibly rapidly.
Lavendar Oil and Aloe Vera
The CSU had now been reduced to a smaller area on my face and was lesser on the body. As I scratched away at the smaller area, my friend put a little bit of neat lavendar oil (yes it says you are not supposed to put it on neat) followed by some aloe vera. The oil had a slight burning sensation but it felt good and those smaller areas dried up and the itching became less intense. Lavendar oil is supposed to have a healing effect + is supposed to help with cell regeneration (lots of great qualities if you look it up).
So I have now mixed up a concoction of Lavendar Oil and Aloe Vera and it certainly is having a more calming effect on the CSU. I'll try it on the inner arm and neck eczema to see if it makes a difference. Sorry I can't tell you provide exact proportions....but my guess is about 5 drops of Lavendar Oil in about 100g of Aloe Vera.
Back Home
So coming back home everything flared back up: the eczema and the CSU. Welts started appearing on my face and body. I am now only washing the areas that need to be washed. The face and body is not touching any water. The eczema was flaring up at night....my fault I should have washed my bedding after 2 weeks of not using it. Now with clean bedding, the eczema has been much calmer. The Lavendar Oil/Aloe Vera mixture has dried up the welts and they are not as angry looking, though have become crusty. Hopefully will start to see some healing over the next few days.
Ahh the joys of sensitive skin.
Hope you find the Lavendar Oil + Aloe Vera mix helps your skin. I'll report back at the end of next week.
Friday, 30 September 2016
Miracle Cure?
Nah - just changes to make in oneself.
So my face....my torn up scraggy face. GP just said it's eczema and that I should put a concoction of a very mild fungal hydrocortisone (Daktacorta) on my face. Gosh it was so tempting. But I kept away from it. The only place I used it was on the fungal part of the body which blasted that black stuff off!
But on my face? Sure hydrocortisone will burn the crap skin away, but it sure won't cure it. It will jump back on and I'll just have more sensitive skin.
Anyway this week have returned to Italy to work. Sunday, my skin is a horrid mess. It is itchy, dry and flaking. I plaster my face continuously with cream. I've had to do this several times this year. Monday, colleagues comment on the skin on the face as it looks red and the swollen skin on one eye looks like someone could have slapped me!
I am constantly slapping cream on my skin during the day and applying a non-parafin cream from Malaysia that a friend gave me to try during the night. Also with the lack of distractions, I am sleeping early.
After the second night of good sleep, it feels like a miracle. Sleep is such a great cure, especially when I suffer from bouts of severe sleep deprivation. The skin is healing rapidly. By Thursday the face skin looks pretty normal and those same colleagues that noticed the bad skin, have noticed the changed skin. In addition the rest of the eczema skin (neck and inner arms) have also been healing but not as radically as the skin on my face.
So what changed?
- Environment
- Water
- Diet
- Sleep
- More sun
- Application of a non-parafin cream
Will see when I return to the UK in a week's time if this cure holds!
So my face....my torn up scraggy face. GP just said it's eczema and that I should put a concoction of a very mild fungal hydrocortisone (Daktacorta) on my face. Gosh it was so tempting. But I kept away from it. The only place I used it was on the fungal part of the body which blasted that black stuff off!
But on my face? Sure hydrocortisone will burn the crap skin away, but it sure won't cure it. It will jump back on and I'll just have more sensitive skin.
Anyway this week have returned to Italy to work. Sunday, my skin is a horrid mess. It is itchy, dry and flaking. I plaster my face continuously with cream. I've had to do this several times this year. Monday, colleagues comment on the skin on the face as it looks red and the swollen skin on one eye looks like someone could have slapped me!
I am constantly slapping cream on my skin during the day and applying a non-parafin cream from Malaysia that a friend gave me to try during the night. Also with the lack of distractions, I am sleeping early.
After the second night of good sleep, it feels like a miracle. Sleep is such a great cure, especially when I suffer from bouts of severe sleep deprivation. The skin is healing rapidly. By Thursday the face skin looks pretty normal and those same colleagues that noticed the bad skin, have noticed the changed skin. In addition the rest of the eczema skin (neck and inner arms) have also been healing but not as radically as the skin on my face.
So what changed?
- Environment
- Water
- Diet
- Sleep
- More sun
- Application of a non-parafin cream
Will see when I return to the UK in a week's time if this cure holds!
Wednesday, 27 July 2016
Salads and Frost Bite
Diet
The leafy greens in my veggie patch are flourishing which is awesome
- Rocket
- Mustard leaves
- Pak choi
- Watercress
- etc
Cucumbers and tomatoes are also fruiting :)
So for the last 2 weeks I have enjoyed fresh salad everyday with different items:
- Blasamic Vinegar and Olive oil
- And sometimes mozarella / makeral / avocado or what ever else I feel like adding.
I have also cut out sugar/processed foods most of the time (people keep giving me cakes/ice cream/biscuits). After all sugar tends to cause inflammation in the body. I realise now that the January rash may have been caused by the Christmas bingeing. Hmm will see if I can eradicate the rashes from my body and abort eating the normal Christmas feasting.
The skin is feeling less itchy after 2 weeks of salads :)
Frostbite Reflections
Recently I've rediscovered Aloe Vera...... In 2014, I had grade 2-3 frostbite on one finger from playing in -50 degrees Celsius. I had minor frostbite on the rest of the fingers. The one bad finger suffered more than the rest as it had been broken the year. At St George's hospital in London, my frostbitten finger was treated like a rock star with the consultants. They all wanted photos of it! And the hand specialist from St George's wanted to chop the finger off!
I contacted a professor up in the Midlands (Professor Imray) who had an interest in frost bite (he's a climber and spent time in Chamonix) and he recommended applying aloe vera.
I religiously put that stuff on day and night. 6 weeks after the incident the hand specialist from St George's still wanted to chop the finger off despite there being no infection (I had to return to see him on a follow up appointment) and pressed hard to see if there was any life. I was pretty mad with him and changed my consultant.
12 weeks later I had a shiney new finger (the black outer dead skin fell off). I attributed that to the aloe vera that helped the healing and bathing the finger in salt water baths when the black outer layer became cracked.. I applied salt water at the end of the day to disinfect any bacteria from my normal day to day activities.
Back to July 2016
So I had a pretty bad scratching session one night, ripped apart my skin on the inside of my elbow. The creams of course were stinging when I applied it to the skin. Then I remembered the healing power of aloe vera. After enduring 1/2 day of stinging with constant applications of aloe vera, the skin appears to be rapidly healing again, better than when I was just applying "the mosturising creams".
Anyway been doing this for 2 days and there is a better improvement versus the mosturising creams by themselves. Let's see how this goes for 10 weeks.
The leafy greens in my veggie patch are flourishing which is awesome
- Rocket
- Mustard leaves
- Pak choi
- Watercress
- etc
Cucumbers and tomatoes are also fruiting :)
So for the last 2 weeks I have enjoyed fresh salad everyday with different items:
- Blasamic Vinegar and Olive oil
- And sometimes mozarella / makeral / avocado or what ever else I feel like adding.
I have also cut out sugar/processed foods most of the time (people keep giving me cakes/ice cream/biscuits). After all sugar tends to cause inflammation in the body. I realise now that the January rash may have been caused by the Christmas bingeing. Hmm will see if I can eradicate the rashes from my body and abort eating the normal Christmas feasting.
The skin is feeling less itchy after 2 weeks of salads :)
Frostbite Reflections
Recently I've rediscovered Aloe Vera...... In 2014, I had grade 2-3 frostbite on one finger from playing in -50 degrees Celsius. I had minor frostbite on the rest of the fingers. The one bad finger suffered more than the rest as it had been broken the year. At St George's hospital in London, my frostbitten finger was treated like a rock star with the consultants. They all wanted photos of it! And the hand specialist from St George's wanted to chop the finger off!
I contacted a professor up in the Midlands (Professor Imray) who had an interest in frost bite (he's a climber and spent time in Chamonix) and he recommended applying aloe vera.
I religiously put that stuff on day and night. 6 weeks after the incident the hand specialist from St George's still wanted to chop the finger off despite there being no infection (I had to return to see him on a follow up appointment) and pressed hard to see if there was any life. I was pretty mad with him and changed my consultant.
12 weeks later I had a shiney new finger (the black outer dead skin fell off). I attributed that to the aloe vera that helped the healing and bathing the finger in salt water baths when the black outer layer became cracked.. I applied salt water at the end of the day to disinfect any bacteria from my normal day to day activities.
Back to July 2016
So I had a pretty bad scratching session one night, ripped apart my skin on the inside of my elbow. The creams of course were stinging when I applied it to the skin. Then I remembered the healing power of aloe vera. After enduring 1/2 day of stinging with constant applications of aloe vera, the skin appears to be rapidly healing again, better than when I was just applying "the mosturising creams".
Anyway been doing this for 2 days and there is a better improvement versus the mosturising creams by themselves. Let's see how this goes for 10 weeks.
Wednesday, 20 July 2016
The Miracle Cure
For those people who have been sending me miracle cures.....I have
tried a lot of miracle cures and really am dis-illusioned. The testimonials that I read are short term cures. I have had a lot of short term cures. So when I read the following reviews for a miracle product, I think great but has anyone provided a review a year later.
As for babies, there is infantile eczema which is short term and doesn't mean anything to an old girl like me.
For me, eczema is a symptom of an imbalance in my body. It is for me to hunt the imbalance and thus find a holistic long term cure.
I have rid my body of eczema and had clear skin for months. I have had some success with diet. But I lack discipline to continue it long term.
Anyway have decreased junk foods like biscuits and crisps. Let's see if I can continue that into winter!
As for babies, there is infantile eczema which is short term and doesn't mean anything to an old girl like me.
For me, eczema is a symptom of an imbalance in my body. It is for me to hunt the imbalance and thus find a holistic long term cure.
I have rid my body of eczema and had clear skin for months. I have had some success with diet. But I lack discipline to continue it long term.
Anyway have decreased junk foods like biscuits and crisps. Let's see if I can continue that into winter!
Doc Review
The good news first:
Having gone the pill popping route and put some Daktacort on the fungal infected skin, the fungal infected skin is of course much improved as well as a candida infection which I think was cleared by the anti-fungal tablets. Additionally the stomach has been a lot better since taking the anti-biotics.
When I first looked at the state of my tongue, it had a thick coating of cruddiness. I also was suffering from a cold. Since taking the tablets, it is now a fine coating of cruddiness.
A week of sleep put energy back into my being woo hoo!
...and now the nerk news:
The Febrauary rash had temporarily improved after taking the tablets but since then went back to how it was. The January rash also has not improved, although whilst on the tablets, there was a temporary reprieve of itchiness. Am feeding the body back with probiotics
Sleep has returned to being poor again and thus a cycle happens with the rashes worsening.
The doc recommended I put the Daktacort it on my face, neck and arms. At this moment in time I will hold off that option. Perhaps I am masochistic but I now believe everything can be sorted long term with food and proper sleep.
Summer is here and there is an abundant amount of summer produce we are enjoying. I love my organic fresh greens. They taste so much better than the shop bought. Had to count angels 3 times last night to fall back to sleep.
Have a positive day
Having gone the pill popping route and put some Daktacort on the fungal infected skin, the fungal infected skin is of course much improved as well as a candida infection which I think was cleared by the anti-fungal tablets. Additionally the stomach has been a lot better since taking the anti-biotics.
When I first looked at the state of my tongue, it had a thick coating of cruddiness. I also was suffering from a cold. Since taking the tablets, it is now a fine coating of cruddiness.
A week of sleep put energy back into my being woo hoo!
...and now the nerk news:
The Febrauary rash had temporarily improved after taking the tablets but since then went back to how it was. The January rash also has not improved, although whilst on the tablets, there was a temporary reprieve of itchiness. Am feeding the body back with probiotics
Sleep has returned to being poor again and thus a cycle happens with the rashes worsening.
The doc recommended I put the Daktacort it on my face, neck and arms. At this moment in time I will hold off that option. Perhaps I am masochistic but I now believe everything can be sorted long term with food and proper sleep.
Summer is here and there is an abundant amount of summer produce we are enjoying. I love my organic fresh greens. They taste so much better than the shop bought. Had to count angels 3 times last night to fall back to sleep.
Have a positive day
Sunday, 10 July 2016
A Fight on My Hands
So off all tablets now.
Have developed a mild rash on the back at the end of day 6 on antibiotics but completed a course. Concerned this is an allergic response to penicillin. This is the 3rd time I have taken antibiotics in my life.
The March rash is more in check. Well I have been burning it off with a fungal cream and tablets. Let's hope that continues. The bonus is the IBS seems to have cleared up.
Can't believe the skin around the eyes are slightly swollen and whites are back to looking irritated. Probably due to the itchiness in the eyes. The face has returned to itchiness. Obviously if you change nothing else, symptoms return. The January rash (normal eczema) has also returned to itch mode!
Okay I have had my temporary madness and desperation of returning to vile medications (I am human!).....I will look at it as cleaning out the entire system - the bad and good stuff.
Time to fight this all off with an improved diet. (yes I let my diet slip in November 2015) and let's see if I can rebuild all my good bacteria back with strong dosages of probiotics. And hoping the foods will take care of rebuilding my immunity.
Looking forward to eating home grown vegetable:
- Rocket, lettuce, mustard leaves
- Tomatoes
- Beans
- Courgettes
Loads of berries in the garden now :)
Have developed a mild rash on the back at the end of day 6 on antibiotics but completed a course. Concerned this is an allergic response to penicillin. This is the 3rd time I have taken antibiotics in my life.
The March rash is more in check. Well I have been burning it off with a fungal cream and tablets. Let's hope that continues. The bonus is the IBS seems to have cleared up.
Can't believe the skin around the eyes are slightly swollen and whites are back to looking irritated. Probably due to the itchiness in the eyes. The face has returned to itchiness. Obviously if you change nothing else, symptoms return. The January rash (normal eczema) has also returned to itch mode!
Okay I have had my temporary madness and desperation of returning to vile medications (I am human!).....I will look at it as cleaning out the entire system - the bad and good stuff.
Time to fight this all off with an improved diet. (yes I let my diet slip in November 2015) and let's see if I can rebuild all my good bacteria back with strong dosages of probiotics. And hoping the foods will take care of rebuilding my immunity.
Looking forward to eating home grown vegetable:
- Rocket, lettuce, mustard leaves
- Tomatoes
- Beans
- Courgettes
Loads of berries in the garden now :)
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