Meet Lynette, our newest blog ambassador. She’s 32, runs a successful wedding shop in Cannock, and has suffered with eczema all her life. Today, she shares some thoughts on how eczema has been affecting her everyday life for as long as she can remember:
At the age of 32, eczema has become a part of who I am. Although I have tried not to let it define me, I have to say that at times, it has ruled my life. It has dictated what I have worn, affected my moods, and most of all made me feel ugly and depressed. Some might say I should have got used to it by now, and just accepted it, but I haven’t.
I spent my school years having to leave class to go and moisturise, I was lucky I suppose that it was hidden beneath my clothes, out of sight from everyone. But as I got into my later teens I would have “flare ups” and my G.C.S.E & A Level exams were torture as it definitely became worse with stress, sitting through a 3 hour English Literature exam is no fun when you are itching like mad, let me tell you.
This “condition” has made some of the happiest times in life, turn it into to the worst. Take my wedding day for instance, the day every girl dreams of, the fairytale. Mine was more like a nightmare. Wedding dress shopping became hell. Most of the bridal shop owners would ask if I was planning to have something to cover my neck and chest as all the redness wouldn’t look to good on photos. I hated trying on dresses, feeling the way that I did, and I have to say my wedding dress was just something I settled for as I couldn’t stand the comments any longer.
The birth of our little boy a year later was in itself the best moment in my life. My pregnancy had been wonderful, and my skin had looked the best it ever had. But the pictures of us taken in the hospital and in the weeks after stay well hidden, the trauma of the difficult birth caused the worse flare up I have ever had, that lasted longer than it ever has done before. Looking at photos in the months after made me so sad, I cried because I felt that I ruined our first family pictures because of the state of my horrible skin.
At times, I have been my own worst enemy. The doctors would prescribe me steroid cream to use in bad flare up cases, but I didn’t use them. The warnings on the labels of long term use put me off. I didn’t always use the oillatums in the shower, as they didn’t make me feel ‘clean’. I knew that there was a root cause to my eczema, one that for 30 years the doctors and I had not been able to identify and I made it my mission to find out why? I couldn’t just accept that this was the way my skin was going to be forever…
We’ll be hearing more from Lynette over the next few months as she continues to try to pinpoint her eczema triggers, and she’ll also be reviewing some of our organic products and letting you know how she gets on.
If you can identify with any of Lynette’s feelings and/or experiences, and you’d like to chat with other people in the same boat, head over to our eczema forum. It’s full of advice, support and plenty of other people who know what you’re going through.
Stay tuned for Lynett’s next blog soon.
Leave a comment