Eczma disappeared when I lived in Singapore for a few years when I was in my early teens. And that was it.
If you don’t know what eczma is…
It’s a condition where patches of skin become red and inflamed and itch. You get to the point where you’ve driven to distraction and need to scratch the affected parts. Inevitably this leads to scratches and splits in the skin and can lead to infections which can lead to loss of nails, at the very least.
Anyway, after Singapore my itchy skin seemed gone forever. And it remained that way all the way through various schools, university and jobs. Until I reached the grand old age of 50 and suddenly it returned with a vengance.
This time I didn’t get the itchy feeling behind my knees and down the insides of my legs.
Instead it was my fingers that bore the brunt of the itching. Then as I feverishly scratched it spread to the back of my left hand and then round onto both my palms.
As you can imagine it was dreafully uncomfortable and worse than looking horrible it gave me cracks all along the the backs of my fingers which made shaking hands with people an “interesting” experience!
Of course I tried all the things that doctors suggested, including emollient creams. However, they just seemed to make it worse.
Finally, in desperation I tried petroleum jelly and it worked like a charm. My fingers and hands are much, much better.
If I go out in the cold without gloves I still get cracked skin but as long as I remember to use the petroleum jelly I have relief from the itching and the sores from the palms and backs of my hands have all disappeared.
So if you’re suffering from this horrible condition try petroleum jelly (in the UK I buy vaseline). It works for me, maybe it’ll work for you.
