It has been a rough 2020 for us, with our Eczema flaring up more often during the lockdown caused by the pandemic Coronavirus. Many of us have flocked onto social media to voice our discomfort, trying to find answers to our problems.
What is the Cause?
The answer to the question everybody wants to know, what is the cause of my flare ups again? We need to take in consideration how much has changed in our daily routine. Before we start considering what may of been the trigger for our lock-down flare ups, we should write a before and after list.
Before and After List
The first thing we should we do is write down what we used to do in our daily routine before the lockdown. This should be detailed, as the more information you have to work with, the more chance of finding a solution. We should consider every aspect of our lives. Here are a few things that we can note down:
- Our diet
- Physical exercise/activity
- What products we use on our body
- Products used around the house
For our after list, we should note the changes of what we wrote in the before page/column. We should also note down the following:
- New products introduced because of lockdown
- Any changes in our usage/dosage of products
Compare the two lists. You should notice that a lot of things have changed, meaning that the cause of your flare ups can be a number of reasons. We must recognise that at this current time, our skin just cannot cope with all these sudden changes over a prolonged time. It was used to a set routine that we need to get back to.
Hand Sanitizers
Since the spike of cases around the world, the demand for cleaning products are at an all time high. Hand sanitizers and soaps were the first two cleaning products to be sold out in shops because of the transmission of diseases through hands. We use our hands all the time and we simply don’t know what we are truly touching.
All Eczema sufferers know that we need to be very careful when trying out new products. We all stocked up on any hand sanitizer we can get our hands on and didn’t take note of what is actually in the bottle.
Harmful Hand Sanitizers
An example of why we should be checking hand sanitizer ingredients before applying them onto our skin is Dial Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer.
It has a number of alarming ingredients. Diazolidinylurea can function as an antimicrobial preservative that actively kills and inhibits the growth of unwanted microorganisms which may be harmful. It has the safety hazard of causing allergic skin reactions and has potential health concerns for dermatitis and eczema users.
Another harmful ingredient in the product is another antimicrobial preservative called methylparaben. It is is an interesting ingredient as it is now banned in Palau due to the damages it can cause to coral reefs. If it can cause long lasting damages to the aquatic wildlife, the question is, what kind of damage can do to our skin? It has the safety hazards of skin irritation and potential health concerns for dermatitis.
Home Environment
With the deep concern of how easily the virus can spread, it has caused an uproar in excessive cleaning. Eczema is not compatible with cleaning products. Coming in contact with these products will cause irritation. Use gloves and ensure you don’t overdo it.
Although on the other end of the spectrum, we might not be cleaning enough! Since we are staying in one environment, we need to make sure that our surroundings are clean. We need to consider what is being contained in your living quarters. For myself, cleaning the house top to bottom gives me great satisfaction and puts my mind at ease. A healthy mind will lead to healthy skin!
Over Hand Washing
We have all been recommended to wash our hands more (I hope you have been doing so). In our household we probably wash our hands more than ever before. Eczema users know that we need non fragrant soap with the most natural ingredients possible. Though there is a deeper trigger.
Continually washing our hands constantly can reactivate dormant eczema. Our skin has natural barriers and oils which over washing with soaps strips off. Breaking down the barriers can result in more water loss through the outer layers of the skin. Dryness and cracking with the possible risk of infection are caused through excessive washing.
Humidity
Skin thrives off humidity. If you haven’t got a good flow of air, then you must consider getting a humidifier. Eczema can suffer in dry environments so you must consider if you need a humidifier to increase the moisture in the air, especially if you are not getting enough natural air circulation.
Over Applying Creams
One of the BIGGEST problems we have when at home and fighting flare ups. We can’t do the things we want to do, so we apply more cream. DO NOT go over the recommended dosages for any kind of creams. Keep a consistent skincare routine.
To read more about the risks of over applying steroid creams, you can read our article here.
What can we do?
We need to try and get back to the routine before the pandemic as quickly as possible. Recognise the changes and sudden urge to splash products on yourself. Take time to analyse the products you are using by checking their ingredients.
If you need to analyse products, I highly suggest using 1Source.com as they decode and analyse products for you by simply searching their database on their website or scanning the bar code through their app!