Brooke Ballbach's Eczema story
Read these other fellow eczema sufferers stories
I am a 53 years old and up until 7 years ago never had any real problems with my skin. I live in Roanoke Virginia which is in the SW corner of the State. I had plenty of all the normal allergies growing up such as (grass, animals etc) but nothing that was really bothersome. For example, when I cut the grass I usually would wear long pants and shirt and then immediately shower after that to get on the grass and other allergens off my skin. Other than that I was generally fine and had no real skin problems.
It was not until the Summer of 2001 (45 years old) that Eczema came on me and it took me quite a while to get the correct diagnosis then after that it took several years just to get a routine together to properly care for my skin. I too have tried everything under the sun to get this under control. My biggest problem is constantly coming down with skin infections. Just 2 weeks ago I spent a weekend in the hospital on an IV and am taking a strong steroid pill to hopefully get these infections under control. According to my doctors I had unusually high level of staph on my skin that was causing these infections. I now get in the habit of washing my hands more frequently and putting Bactroban Nasal cream in my nostrils to reduce spreading any infections on my skin. I am also going to try and soak in the bath tub once every week to ten days and soak in Bentadine to help reduce the staph on my skin which should help reduce the recurrence of these infections.
I am a quite active person I try to work out daily not matter what the condition my skin is in because I feel it is important to stay healthy and strong as possible. Beside, it gives me that “runners high” you always hear about and makes me feel really good. I have the luxury of working out of my house but I know what you mean sometime this problem can get you feeling like a recluse. My wife and two boys are very supportive of my condition and my main concern is not to ever lose touch with their love and affection.
The main things that help me now skinwise is to stay moisturized all the time. I use two products now, Hylira and just a plan old over the counter cream moisturizer that seems to be working for me. The only other thing that bothers me about this condition is over the years with all the scratching how it has darkened my skin tone. My dermatologist told me it could come back someday but it will not happen over night
I am trying to concentrate more on what I can to do to stay in control in dealing with eczema instead of worrying about it and let it control me. I know that is a tough assignment but as they say “things could be worst”
