Hello,
The medications that you're using are impeding your skin's ability to heal. They are symptom suppressers, as opposed to skin healers. A good option for your consideration is Borage Dry Skin Therapy by Shikai. It's a natural unscented lotion that contains borage oil, a natural source of gamma Linolenic Acid which increases the skin's ability to retain moisture and serves as a modulator of the inflammatory response. It also contains aloe vera gel which helps restore tissue integrity, along with providing anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. The lotion comes in pediatric and adult formulas; and, it can be purchased at Whole Foods market (a national health food chain). To summarize this point, the medications that you've been using suppress the immune response; and in so doing, interferes with the skin's natural healing process.
Since you were diagnosed with contact dermatitis, it would also be good for you to find out what particular allergen or irritant caused the breakout so that you can rid it from your environment. Here are some possible culprits: Makeup or bacteria in the makeup applicator, metals, wool fibers from a cap or scarf, harsh soaps/cleansers, or even contact with chemicals on your fingers (from something touched) that may have been transmitted to the eye area when rubbing.
My experience with eczema comes from years of watching my mother suffer from a small breakout that increased to larger breakouts with years of suffering; due to her prescribed medical treatments of steroid/cortizone creams that made her condition worse, and her suffering, longterm. The plus side to that is that because of her experience, we knew what to avoid in the treatment of my nieces when they suffered severe eczema breakouts in their infancy. We brought them immediate, longterm healing without the use of medications and by our own 3 step common sense approach. We attacked the breakout in these three areas: internal, external, and foreign. For the internal (restoring health to the immune system), we concentrated on a good
healthy Diet consisting of water, fruit, and vegetable. For the external (rehydrating the dehydrated skin), we concentrated on finding a natural vitamin enriched lotion that would work with the skin's natural healing process. For the foreign (identifying the allergen/irritant), we found the cause of breakout and rid it from the girls environment.
In order to successfully heal the skin of eczema breakout, you will have to attack it in these three areas. The skin is your bodies largest organ and it is a visible organ. For this reason, it has to be addressed internally and externally. Allergens enter the body through the skin, eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Because an allergen/irritant came in contact with the skin or either entered the body and found its way into the blood stream and prompted the breakout, the need to attack the foreign (the third step) becomes necessary as well. To leave out one part of the process, results in frustration and persistent breakout.
Why are the three steps so important in healing the skin of eczema?
The immune system is the bodies defender against harmful allergens/irritants and is important in the healing process. To restore health to the immune system, a good diet of water, fruit, and vegetable is key. Water, along with rehydrating the skin and being a good mineral source, flushes harmful toxins from the blood stream. Fruit and vegetables, along with being good sources of the vitamins and nutrients needed for the body, also absorb the toxins in the body and prompt their proper elimination through normal bowel flows. A healthy immune system is the best defense against eczema breakout. Suppression of the immune system results in the bodies struggle to heal itself. The body sees the synthetic medications as foreign allergens, which results in temporary relief of the symptom as the immune works to fight off what it considers to be another allergen. Respecting what nourishment the body needs in order to function properly will produce a healthy immune system (resistant to the harmful allergens/irritants). This is why treating the internal is imperative in the eczema healing process.
The skin consists of an outer layer (epidermis) and an inner layer (dermis). The moisture barrier on the outer layer of the skin serves as the skin's defense against harmful allergens/irritants. In eczema sufferers, the skin is dehydrated; thus making the sufferer vulnerable to breakout due to the absence of the moisture barrier. Basically, it's naked to the elements. This is why treating the external, along with the internal is so important. This is also why it is important to use natural skin care products that provide the vitamin and nourisment recognizable to the body as friend, not foe.
Finding the source of the eczema flareup (the instigator) is important for the obvious reason. Getting rid of the promoter of the flareup, will get rid of the flareup. This is the importance of addressing the foreign.
My mother's doctors never addressed any of these issues. They simply diagnosed and prescribed treatment for suppression, which has led to years of suffering. My nieces have enjoyed over 4 and 3 years of healing from severe (total body) eczema breakout due to our simple common sense wisdom described above. The most amazing thing to me was how easy and quickly my nieces received their healing from eczema breakout without the use of medications. The best part about the healing is that we found that what made sense naturally actually worked; however and unfortunately, it dissappointed us to find out that the medical community has chosen profit over good health when it comes to eczema sufferers due to their lack of compassion for the suffering it actually brings (itching, depression).
How much of this information did your doctor go over with you? It's a rhetorical question. Unfortunately and in too many cases, I don't like the answer to that question. Knowledge is power. You do not have to remain depressed about your condition, because the hope for healing is very real and is very much attainable.
aunty