My story

I've been dealing with the worst outbreak of eczema I have had in 15 years. The last time it was this bad, I was an exchange student living in Switzerland. At that time, I had to deal with dermatologists in a foreign language, which was stressful in and of itself. We tried everything, including a misting machine (similar to putting our face above a cool mist humidifier) and light therapy (I got a great tan out of it). Eventually it went away, and for years afterward, I was able to manage the comparatively minor outbreaks of eczema. My problem spot is on my face, above and below my lips.

I remember doing my first round of allergy tests while in Switzerland and the number one thing that came up for me was an allery to benzylchomium chloride, a preservative used in eye drops and many other things.

A second, though less severe outbreak happened about 6 years ago and so I started another round of allergy tests. This time, the #1 culprit was tree pollens. All kinds of trees, particularly California trees like cypress and juniper. I decided against the shots since my outbreak wasn't so bad.

This time, my outbreak is even more puzzling. Somehow, I developed acne on TOP of the eczema. I went to a dermatologist who had no idea what that was, but told me she could give me steroids for the eczema, but that would exacerbate the acne. Or she could give me acne medicine, but that would exacerbate the eczema. Great! Although I have the prescriptions for these medecines in my purse, I decided to hold off on it and try olive oil instead. So far so good. What I've learned is when the eczema is hardened, I don't feel any itch at all. All the hardened skin is actually protecting what is underneath from any allergens, so even though it looks HORRIBLE, I feel ok. I was putting tons and tons of Eucerin cream, but i actually think that might have been what caused the acne. Plus, I starated to feel the itch when I put the cream on. Olive oil hasn't done that - no itch. I used it on my hands and non-eczema parts of my face too and they are now so soft.