Decided it’s my time to share my SKIN STORY for #EczemaAwarenessMonth🥁
HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD ECZEMA?
I’ve had Eczema for as long as I can remember, it’s always been there and I’ve always been the kid who would run through a field, climb a tree or splash in a puddle and break out in hives.
Some of my earliest memories are of me screaming as I got into an oat bath or of my mum pinning me down to apply my prescription creams. Oh, and me rolling butt naked all over a fur rug… turns out I was allergic.
Throughout the years, I always felt like I had to hide my skin as I felt conscious of it, the long sleeves in summer, the foundation on my legs in PE, and the missed nights out, it’s safe to say eczema has always been a massive trigger of anxiety for me.
I’ll never forget when I was a lifeguard at university. I sat on a poolside in 36c+ heat with leggings and long sleeves underneath my lifeguard uniform as I felt embarrassed of others seeing my flared skin.
SHARE A STORY
Speaking of being a lifeguard, let’s take it all the way back to February 2013 – I was 16 and on my Lifeguard training course. It had been an extremely cold winter and was still cold in February, this combination of cold weather, going in and out of a humid poolside environment and me not knowing how to care for a flare other than steroids had resulted in one of the worst hand flares I have ever had.
My skin was extremely dry, cracked, tight and damn right painful which all came to a head on my test day for the course. For the test, you have to perform CPR, demonstrate casualty lifts and basically, USE YOUR GOD DAMN HANDS. I will never forget mid-exam my hands splitting whilst doing CPR and my hands becoming a pool of blood from all the small little slits where my skin was physically ripping from how dry they were. Instead of stopping I powered through, my examiner was amazing and told me multiple times I could stop if needed but I was determined to push through.
Looking back I am super proud of myself for not stopping even then BUT in hindsight, the poolside environment really ain’t it for us ITCHY BITCHEZ…
#FocusOnEczema
UPDATE: I just want to add that I now suffer from mainly hand eczema and have been having quite a lot of severe allergy face flares, so I am now going down the allergy route! stay tuned for more updates on my personal @Mackies_Moments
Itch N Bitch 