Friday 7 October 2011

How to Help Eczema Sufferers

Those that have friends/family/partners (let's call them the "aiders") who suffer from eczema watch the eczema sufferer with concern. Sometimes they slap our hands to stop us from scratching because they want to help. This does not help!

Why We Have Become Apathetic Sufferers
Everyone has a story of someone who has been cured by using some cream, taken some medicine, etc, etc, etc. I have tried Indian remedies, Chinese medicines and loads of Western medicines and I am sure my story has been repeated with many other eczema sufferers. So after a time when a friend, family, partner tells the eczema sufferer "why don't you try xyz remedy" the eczema sufferer can appear stupefied because we have tried so many things and sometimes made the eczema worst. It seems we (eczema sufferers) are like a dog with fleas.....we like a good scratch, but really we have become apathetic. Why? - because we read and are told by doctors that atopic eczema is not curable. The doctors will try to reduce the symptoms so that the skin can have a chance to heal, but it is up to us eczema sufferers to manage the symptoms.

We live in societies now where doctors will look up the medicines they should prescribe to us that will heal us, and the pharmaceutical companies of course need us to be sick in order to keep selling products to us. Okay so I am a little cynical, but I have used so many useless expensive prescriptions that never really relieved the symptoms. So the exceptional eczema sufferer will learn to manage the symptoms so that they are always on top of the problem.

As I told a friend, if you can't be bothered to change your lifestyle and you want to continue using "crap" then expect your skin's well being to continue to suffer. If you really care about your family and friends, then start loving yourself and start a blog or a diary so that you can begin to become aware of what factors are affecting you. The doctor's solutions tend to be short term solutions and I don't know of any chronic eczema sufferer who has been healed by a doctor's prescription.

OK so I've waffled on and you do care about an eczema sufferer. What can you do to help?

STOP NAGGING ME TO STOP SCRATCHING
Personally I dislike people nagging me to stop scratching. It actually made me focus on scratching more. Perhaps this is the voice of NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) . Tell a person/child not to do something and they will most likely do the action you've been negative about. If you really want to help the sufferer, give their hands and minds a distraction, such as to help you carry something, to write a letter to someone, try talking about something of interest, hold my hands to pray. Anything, but please do not tell any of us to stop scratching.

GIVE ME A HUG (except make sure you're not wearing a woolly jumper when you do so or wearing strong smelling perfumes)
Yes I like hugs because it often provides a "positive" emotion and it is difficult to scratch when you give a good hug.

GIVE ME ICY COLD THINGS
An eczema sufferer's skin becomes hot as we scratch. The hotter it becomes the more itchy the skin feels and can make us feel like we would like to gouge out our skin....and sadly and regrettable sometimes we do. An ice cold towel helps to relieve the heat a little but please take it away if we begin to use the towel to scratch our skin! Otherwise peas are pretty good.

A CLEAN ROOM WOULD BE MOST APPRECIATED
When I've been away my partner vacuums my bed and room, ensuring I have fresh sheets to sleep on and a clean room to walk into. Skin droppings create dust and dust mites get a good feed. Airing sheets out to remove the skin crumbs really does help an eczema sufferer to have a less itchy night.

At the end of the day, if an eczema sufferer really wants a long term solution they need to really want a long term solution and that means as M.J used to sing "If you want to make your world a better a place, take a look at yourself and make a change" (Man in the Mirror)

Good luck aiders :-)

4 comments:

Roriness said...

I just found you, you give me home. My hands are so bad I am ashamed and embarrassed.

Blessings!

Roriness

Abby Indge said...

So so true!

Amie said...

Great advice for people who live with people with eczema. I hate being told not to scratch. Seriously.

I also share the same opinion on doctors. Sufferers need to find there management strategy themselves as no doctor or pharma company will.

ida said...

hi,

when ever i start to scratch i will repeat in my head ' think of happy thoughts' , visually white clouds and beaches..it does make me feel calm a bit, try to reduce the irritaion

ida