Being an eczema survivor when travelling

This post is to all those poor survivors of dry skin conditions, specifically eczema. Don't let it stop you from doing what you love, trust me I know it's far from easy.

So I've had eczema since I was a baby, my mum has done everything she can to help it make it go away over the years from changing my diet, countless doctor appointments, God knows how many creams and ointments, and herbal remedies. The short of it is that the little changes only lessen the flare-up, and the only times it's fully gone away have been due to complete lifestyle changes including a change of living location.

This post isn't a rant and moan about how bad it is to suffer from eczema because that's a given, it's about my journey on discovering what makes it go away and how I cope when I'm living in places that make it worse.

As a seasonaire I've found over the last few years that changing locations can be really difficult at first. It means a change of air (histamines), temperature, winds, water, foods, type of exercise I can do, all of which affect my eczema.

So here are my top eczema survival tips:

1. STAY HYDRATED

I can't stress this enough. It is so important. What you put in your body will affect it. Eczema is a way of your body reacting to toxins. It is a dry skin condition, if your internal body is dehydrated, your skin will be. Staying hydrated means drinking lots of WATER. Not coffee, not tea, not fruit juice, not alcohol but water because it has no sugar, no salt, no caffeine, and all the local minerals you need for your body to stay healthy. Keep a reusable bottle on you and be conscious of how many times you've filled it up each day. I try to drink at least a pint of water every morning to replenish the water I haven't consumed in the night while sleeping.

2. EAT WELL

Similar to the above, in my experience, the best eczema diets have been very high in water content. Loads of fruit and veg, tomatoes, lettuce, oranges, watermelon are all great.Try to limit the levels of sugar and salt in your diet, less carbs is a good idea. I'm a sucker for a good chocolate bar or ice cream and I don't let my eczema stop me from enjoying these delights but I do notice a difference when I lower my consumption of them. Do your best and try to find better craving replacements! When I was living in Mallorca for instance, watermelon was my not-so-guilty pleasure instead of chocolate. When living in a cold ski resort in the middle of winter, however, this becomes much more difficult and I find myself needing to eat vegetable soups, broths, curries, and paella-type dishes to keep lower carb.

You're probably thinking, these are just general healthy living advice, and well yeah they are, but they affect my eczema more than the average person's health.

3. EXERCISE

Exercise is really important for those of us who have dry skin conditions but it isn't always as easy as going for a run. For people with eczema, exercise can dry out the skin through the loss of fluids, and the sodium in sweat can further dehydrate the skin as well as sting and irritate it. For many people with eczema, exercise can trigger frenzied scratching as the skin surface temperature soars. But it doesn't have to be this way.

How do you avoid overheating, irritation and flare-ups when you’re just trying to work up a sweat?

- Drink plenty of water before and during exercise to replace the water lost through sweating.

- Choose your clothing wisely. It’s important to choose the right clothing to minimize skin irritation as the body heats up. Synthetic moisture “wicking” clothing options draw sweat into the garments, but they may feel rough and irritate eczema. Loose-fitting 100 percent cotton clothing might buck the trend for body-hugging sports clothing, but they are likely to more comfortable.

- Keep cool.

- Moisturise before and after

- Say no to the sizzling hot shower/ bath and bring your own shower lotions to the gym

Why is exercise so good? It heals the body and mind, from controlling weight to maintaining fitness, reducing stress, and releasing endorphins, all of which outweigh the time and care needed to prepare. It's clear! Eczema needs you to exercise, just take the time to figure out which way is the right way for you! Personally, I find skiing is fantastic for it so long as I don't allow myself to get too sweaty since I'll be in that itchy sweatiness all day if I do. I love hiking, and swimming in the sea is the ultimate summer eczema workout, the salt and minerals in the water do wonders for your skin, with the right sun cream, the vitamin D is fantastic too and it's so fresh and enjoyable. Home or gym workouts can also be really fun regular exercise and is a great place to start if my eczema has had a bad flare-up because I can stop and I can use a fresh wet flannel etc to help me.

4. YOUR WASH ROUTINE

Like is said above, never sizzle yourself in the shower and bring your own lotions when you're using a bathroom away from home.

DON'T use soap. Soap is not necessary for washing your skin and keeping you smelling nice, there are so may other products on the market now for sensitive skin that have soap alternatives in them to help keep up the lipid levels in your skin. Avene does a great range of cleansing oils, lotions, and liquids to remove the day's dirt and prepare your face for fresh moisturiser. If you're struggling to find your favourite gentle shower lotions in your budget, head to the baby isle. Scientists have been developing gentle non-soap washes for babies for decades, you're bound to find something.

Also, STAY clean! Keep your fingernails short because that bacteria gets under there when you can't resist the urge to scratch that itch. Wash your hands regularly because that bacteria will transfer to your dry patches and aggravate them even more. That also means keeping your house clean, and fresh clothes because dust and dirt aren't good for eczema either.

5. CREAMS

Moisturising is an ESSENTIAL part of my life, even when my eczema appears to have said "bye". Finding the right cream to keep your face from looking like a red tomato or a pealing zombie is really tough and one cream may work for one person and feel like fire to another.

Steroids- to use or not to use? I used to think they were the only way to help my major flare-ups but now I've found a lot more of it is listening to my body and more natural creams actually work better in the long run. I haven't actually used a steroid cream since 2014 when my eczema got to a serious 10/10 in Ecuador due to the humidity etc. By all means, speak to a dermatologist and find one that you can have on standby for those tricky flare-ups.

Many people love Sudocrem, it's great for when you fear your eczema will become pussy, or infected and scabby, just be sure to use it at night or when at home so you don't scare people in the street with your white face! Sudocrem can be excellent if you have any cuts from your eczema too.

Another hugely popular one, recommended by so many of my doctors is the E45 range, and while it is good for those flare-ups, it isn't natural and their rescue creams do contain paraffin so use them sparingly for a couple of weeks to get you back on track to using your regular natural creams.

When it comes to your daily creams I absolutely love the french range 'Avene'. They do creams for all kinds of skin conditions and their thermal water sprays are the perfect addition to your moisturizing routine. My favorite one for my face is their simple ultra hydration face mask (comes packaged like a cream) and for my body, the XeraCalm lipid-replenishing cream/balm never fails. Not once have I ever felt it sting or irritate my skin.

6. Other things you put on your skin too. MAKE-UP.

Within this, be aware of what you use on your skin, stop wearing perfume, choose a sensitive/eczema-specific deodorant.

It isn't just women who suffer from eczema, but for those who do, we want to be able to dress up and wear make-up for those socials to feel great. So choosing the right one is crucial to not only feeling good but looking good too and this usually comes at a higher price. When your skin is doing worse wear less, a little mascara, blusher, and a great moisturizer and you'll be looking 100 times better than caking your face in a foundation in an attempt to cover the red bits. Personally, I don't wear a lot of make-up at all, mascara is about it the majority of the time because a sun-kissed healthy skin face makes me feel much better than waking up to a red blotchy dry and irritated face from the make-up I worse the night before. Plus if you're in a helmet and face mask all day you don't exactly want to be wearing make-up all day. You're all beautiful girls! Health comes first!

7. ANTIHISTAMINES

If you know that being in the countryside around trees, grass, flowers, animals and the like aggravate your eczema, find the right antihistamine to combat this and remember to take it daily!

8. HORMONES

Many of us take a contraceptive hormone in some form to stop us from getting pregnant and even if you don't you'll notice your eczema may fluctuate with the change in hormones in your body throughout the month. For some people, (I haven't quite figured out whether I fit into this category yet) the contraceptive hormones help/ aggravate their eczema, perhaps see if yours does!

9. FINANCES

Choose your skin over your wallet, the cheaper creams will not help you out in the long run as you'll be buying so many of them before you give up finding one that helps. Invest in a good cream and you'll be able to keep your eczema at bay easier needing the creams less!

10. STRESS

All of the above help me to feel less stress and in turn, I believe that this also helps my eczema. Therefore if you have a favourite way to de-stress, I highly recommend bumping it up on your priority list. I find daily walks and 30 minutes of my favourite tunes always help to relieve my stressors.

The Ski Nomad