Skin! Ecezma.

Did you know that our skin is the largest organ in our body?

I have to admit that I am one lucky gal - I have been blessed with good (face) skin for most of my life - but i also have my fair share of skin problems (mostly on the rest of the body!).

I know how terrible it is to have skin problems cos' it is downright uncomfortable or even painful!  So I'm going to share my skin issues with you - and if you have something similar - I hope you are able to figure out a solution - just as i have figured out mine!    Today's topic?  Eczema!

 

When I was young - I suffered from pretty bad eczema on my feet. It was dry and cracked so bad that my skin spilt apart and started to bleed - serious. no kidding. I resorted to walking only on my heels when my toes and upper half of my feet were bleeding - and then well....my heels started cracking and bleeding too.  It was a miserable and painful and I really didn't know what to do.  My mum bought me to the doctor, and they prescribe some medicated cream, but it didn't help much (not that i recalled) and something as simple as walking that most people can take for granted - hurt alot for me. 

[caption id="attachment_45" align="alignnone" width="598"] okay, i figured, a photo of a pretty feet is wayyyy better than one that is cracking/peeling and bleeding huh?[/caption]

Doctors do what they can to help diagnose your problem, but from experience I realise it is also up to ourselves to figure out what our triggers are and what works. most of the time - it is after much head scratching and trying out different methods that I found what was causing me pain, and from there - find some solutions.  

So if you are suffering from eczema, your triggers may not be the same as mine, but I hope in sharing - you might be able to start figuring out what is causing your pain.  

 

Essentially - my skin is sensitive to dirt.  and I didn't know I was subjecting my poor feet to loads of stress by walking barefooted in the house.  and when it couldn't take the stress from the dirt - it retaliated in the only way it knew how to - mild peeling at first, and then cracking and then bleeding...  

 

so what helped?   

 

1. Wearing Slippers. 

[caption id="attachment_46" align="alignnone" width="300"] yup, i wore these plain unassuming plastic slippers and they saved me from much pain![/caption]

 

Ha! so simple right!  But boy oh boy - i dunno why - but I only wore slippers after years of suffering.  Probably only when it hurt sooo much and became pretty unbearable that I somehow started wearing slippers - my skin improved and bleed less.  but they still bleed cos it was dry! so i started....

 

2. Moisturising my feet. 

 

another really simple and straight forward solution.  I used normal off-the-shelf moisturisers (hey! i was only 10+ so i just used whatever was in the house), and they helped alleviate the dryness - but still my feet were still awfully dry and a huge mess.  I was embarrassed if anyone ever had to see my feet cos' they were just in terrible form from all the cracking and skin peeling and bleeding. 

 

Then I found the PERFECT moisturiser!  okay - it was my mum :)  She (or we....i can't rem) was on holiday and bought Body Shop's HEMP FOOT PROTECTOR!    Initially when she bought the moisturiser - i was skeptical whether it would work cos' the cream is so liquidly!  I still remember thinking 'huh. so liquid ah.  absorb so fast - sure or not.  maybe like the other mositurizers - sure don't work one' (they changed the formulae over the years and it's thicker consistency now).  

and lo and behold - to my utter amazement, my skin on my feet improved TREMENDOUSLY within the week!  after daily usage and in a couple of months - my feet was transformed from a cracking, peeling, bleeding mess - to a normal looking feet.  it worked like a MIRACLE!  I'm not kidding nor exaggerating - the transformation was huge.  and for someone to have 'normal' feet after years of suffering is such an unbelievable relief!  I think by allowing the skin to retain its mositure - it helped in the healing of poor feet.  

 

so here it is - the first of my SUPER LOVE. I have been using it for 10 years already and I haven't not stopped - simply cos' it works for me.  It's not available in Singapore where I live - cos' it contains cannabis or something - so i get my stash from relatives who visit Australia. or well there is always online shopping!

 

[caption id="attachment_47" align="alignnone" width="870"] Body Shop Hemp Foot Protector! if you suffer from very dry skin - this is a miracle!  for being such a amazing product in my life - it deserves a HUGE photo space! yay!![/caption]