Great Tips for Atopic Eczema

Living with my Eczema

Preface
Atopic Eczema is a hereditary skin disorder
associated with dry and itchy skin condition. Itching, pain,
embarrassing and demotivating are synonymous with atopic
eczema. The root cause of atopic eczema is not well
understood. Several forms of treatments are available with
topical steroid being the epitome of eczema treatment. In
general, the treatment consists of avoiding any known
triggers, treating dry skin, alleviating itch, suppressing
inflammation and reducing pent-up stress.
Atopic eczema has been affecting me for more than
ten years. Now, my condition has significantly improved
after a series of treatments and my skin is back to normal.
This is a story about my journey with atopic eczema.
Confessing the truth of how embarrassed and how difficult
living with the incurable skin disorder has made telling this
story difficult. In addition, I would like to share some useful
information and practical tips to treat, control and prevent
eczema from flaring. These are based on my real-life
experience, online articles as well as advice and guidance
from skin specialist, dermatologist and allergist.
Eric Ong

Page 2


Contents
My Journey ............................................................................4
What is Atopic Eczema? ...... Error! Bookmark not defined.
My Treatment .......................................................................11
Antihistamines .................................................................13
Topical Steroids ...............................................................14
Moisturizer .......................................................................15
Allergy Test ......................................................................16
Sublingual Immunotherapy ..............................................17
Traditional Chinese Herbs................................................17
Useful Tips ...........................................................................18
Managing Stress ...............................................................19
Controlling Itch ................................................................19
Preventive Measures ........................................................20
Relaxation ........................................................................20

Eric Ong

Page 3


My Journey
Are you feeling itchy now? To be honest, I am
habitually scratching my body while writing this. Indeed, it
is itchy, unpleasant and embarrassing. Although my eczema
has subsided for some time after a series of treatments and
preventions, there is still a possibility that it will flare again.
Unfortunately, I have to live with it for the rest of my life. I
am one of the 20% of patients worldwide who succumbs to
atopic dermatitis. Most of the atopic eczema conditions
improve by the time children reach adolescence. Unluckily, I
did not outgrow it. My eczema persists into my adulthood
and it still flares periodically. I am 25 years old. Feeling
disconcerted and self-conscious of my skin condition, it is
difficult for me meeting friends. Controlling eczema from
spreading and deteriorating is tough and tiring as well.
When I was in primary school, I was just like others
with smooth healthy skin, and was active and energetic. No
sign of eczema or any skin disorder appeared until the year I
entered secondary school, Form 1. Out of the blue, my inner
side of my elbow and knee started to get itchy uncontrollably.
The moment I rubbed those affected parts, small prickly red
Eric Ong

Page 4

bumps appeared. They were so irritating that I kept rubbing
and pinching them. The small bumps turned reddish and
were spreading to back of my hands and fingers. The more I
rubbed them, the itchier they were, creating red patches. I
strived hard to cover those parts by wearing long sleeves and
bending my arms to avoid people seeing those rashes. The
affected parts became very dry after a few weeks later and
they looked pale and wrinkly. Eventually
……………………………………………………….

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Eric Ong

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20 years of experience
treating my atopic eczema

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…………………………………
Rashes enveloped my whole body with some even
oozing and weeping as a result of excessive scratching.
Itching was intense, especially at night which led to
insomnia.

Coupled

with

my

stressful

engineering

assignments and projects, my eczema got worse. I would
have my hands scratching almost every part of my body
trying to figure out solutions to my engineering problems.
Itching has tremendously distracted my attention to
concentrate in my studies. I would try to avoid siting at my
desk too long doing assignments, watching movies or even
playing games. Instead, I would force myself to have a walk
outside the house and engage in chitchat with my neighbors
and friends or even stroll in shopping malls. Involving in
social activities would be the only way to make me more
conscious of my scratching act and would deter me from
touching my skin. In winter, as weather turned dry and cold,
moisturizing alone would not help reduce my scratching.

………………………………………………
…………….
Eric Ong

Page 7




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I came back to Malaysia after my university
graduation last year and my skin has just returned to normal
recently. I was recommended by an allergy specialist to do
immunotherapy to combat dust mite allergy for three years.
However, I stopped doing it as it was expensive and I did not
see any significant improvement after nine months of
therapy. My skin recovers fast under Malaysia damp tropical
environment. My skin is moist and hydrated naturally. Also,
I try reducing my stress level and apply moisturizer every
day after shower and before sleep. Now, my skin has turned
healthy and itching has stopped for a few months already.
My experience has given me the motivation to write
this and share with you my journey living with eczema.
Additionally, I would like to share in the following sections
some useful information and practical tips to treat, control
and prevent eczema from flaring.

Something you should know about
Atopic Eczema
Since I am not a doctor or dermatologist, I will
explain the skin condition in layman’s terms based on many
Eric Ong

Page 9

years of online research. Eczema is a general term to
describe an allergic skin condition which is dry and itchy
with obvious rashes characterized by a few symptoms such
as redness, flaking, cracking, oozing and crusting. It is
grouped into a few categories with two most common ones:
atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis. Atopic dermatitis is
the one that I suffer from and is hereditary and runs in family
members whose members also have asthma, rhinitis, hay
fever or other allergy conditions. In comparison, contact
dermatitis is triggered by allergen and irritants. Contact
dermatitis will be a more commonly thought as allergy in
general.
Skin is the biggest organ in our body. Controlling the
itch and managing the flare-up are challenging. Atopic
eczema sufferer’s skin has a genetic defect in the skin’s
protective outer layer allowing irritants, microbes and
allergens to penetrate the skin causing itch and adverse
reactions. Scratching damages the skin tissue underneath,
leading to contamination and injury. With prolonged
scratching and rubbing………………………………………

Eric Ong

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

Eczema is a general term to describe an allergic skin
condition which is dry and itchy with obvious rashes
characterized by a few symptoms such as redness,
flaking, cracking, oozing and crusting.



Atopic eczema is the one that I suffer from and is
hereditary and runs in family members whose
members also have asthma, rhinitis, hay fever or
other allergy conditions.



Atopic eczema sufferer’s skin has a genetic defect in
the skin’s protective outer layer allowing irritants,
microbes and allergens to penetrate the skin causing
itch and adverse reactions. Scratching damages the
skin tissue underneath, leading to contamination and
injury.



There is NO cure for eczema. It is a recurring and
cyclical condition.



Food allergy does not relate directly to atopic eczema
but is often mistakenly thought to be the root cause of
atopic eczema. However, people with atopic eczema
might have food allergy as well. Food allergens can
sometimes cause eczema to worsen.

Eric Ong

Page 12



Atopic eczema normally affects about 10 percent of
children in the world and most of them outgrow it. A
small percentage continues to suffer from eczema
into adulthood, including me.



The skin outer layer can retain water seeping up from
deeper layers of the skin and moisture is retained by a
surface of natural oil (sebum). Atopic eczema patient
has a deficiency in this process. Natural oil produced
is not enough to hold in moisture on the skin, leading
to very dry skin.

My Treatment
The actual triggering cause of atopic eczema is not
well understood. My treatment consists of avoiding any
known triggers, treating dry skin and reducing inflammation.
Also, I benefit a lot from a psychological approach whereby
my mind is trained to control itch and stop the habitual
scratching action.

Antihistamines
The most common medicine I was prescribed is
antihistamine. To my knowledge, antihistamines have
Eric Ong

Page 13

evolved from more classical first generation ones to the nonsedating second generation ones. Antihistamines or more
specifically H1-receptor antagonists…………………….

……………………..The sedative effect makes me sleep
better. It helps reduce my itching and make me feel relieved
at night. During the day, I take the non-sedative one – Zyrtec.
Zyrtec is used mainly to relieve sneezing, runny nose and
allergic conditions. It contains active ingredient Cetirizine
which is known to be more selective for peripheral H1receptors, reducing sedation.

Topical Steroids
Secondly, topical corticosteroid is another topical
medicine I have been utilizing only during severe flare-up. It
is a steroid and undoubtedly it will have adverse effect to our
body if applied and used for long term purpose. It is best to
opt for the form of ointment instead of cream as ointment
indirectly moisturizes the affected part. Corticosteroids
wil…………………………………………………………

Eric Ong

Page 14


Moisturizer
Moisturizer is the sole item that I have been using
continuously. Even if eczema does not flare, moisturizing the
skin is still the most important thing to do every day. If dry
skin improves, I will not stop using moisturizer, instead, I
will just apply a thin layer of moisturizer all over my body
every time after shower. I have used many different types of
moisturizers………………….

In summer or hot weather that will make oneself sweat, I
will pick lighter aqueous cream while in winter or cold
weather, emollient will be used. Greasy ointment all over the
body is unbearable. I will apply greasier ones on exposed
areas and light ones on areas covered with clothes. A recent
study by Scientists at Bath University showed………………
As an alternative and briefly mentioned earlier, fatty cream
and non-ionic creams are recommended. The healthE fatty
cream is specially…………….

Eric Ong

Page 15


Allergy Test
As suggested by an allergist, I went to perform a
blood serum allergy test to serve as a guide to identify the
underlying triggering allergens to better control and manage
any future flare-up. In an allergic condition, the immune
system overreacts to allergen by producing an antibody
called Immunoglobulin E. I obtained a shocking………….

Laboratory testing for allergy measures specific IgE
(sIgE) to allergens in serum. The results are reported as both
quantitative (kU/L concentration) and semi-quantitative
(class 0 – 6) values. I read about an article few weeks ago
saying that positive result to any particular allergen only
indicates sensitization


Eric Ong

Page 16


Sublingual Immunotherapy
You might notice in my serum allergy test that the
IgE concentration to dust mite allergen is very high. This is
something that I think would be one of the causes my
eczema persisted during my university study years in New
Zealand with all my shredded peeled dead skin on my bed
being the food source of house dust mites. Dust mites……….


Traditional Chinese Herbs
Another approach that I tried to control my eczema is
to consume traditional Chinese medicine. There are many
types of Chinese herbs that are prepared to treat eczema in
general. It does not treat atopic eczema directly; instead, it
will help relieve any typical skin disorder. I had a type of
herbal drink that contained Flos Lonicerae (金銀花) and…….


Eric Ong

Page 17


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My Useful Tips
Managing Stress
When there is flare-up, the first thing that we should
do is………………………………………………………..


Controlling Itch
The more we scratch the more sensitive our skin is,
further stimulating the sense of non-stop itching and
prickling. Sufficient sleep is required for skin to recover as
soon as possible. Whenever there is persistent tendency to
scratch the affected parts, try distracting yourself by doing
other things which will keep the hands and fingers busy.
Strolling at the garden………………………………..


Eric Ong

Page 19


I recently found to be useful during flare-up – Pinetarsol. It
will temporarily ease the itch. A very good soap called:

Preventive Measures
Since eczema is not curable, there are many
preventive measures that can be adopted to stop flare-up
reoccurrence. Moisturize the entire body every day after
shower will help soothe the skin. I would recommend taking
supplements such as Vitamin C, Flaxseed oil and Fish oil
which contain beneficial oils to replenish the skin. Drink
more water as the recovered skin needs water to repair itself.
We have reduced levels of lipids (oils) in the stratum
corneum of our

Relaxation
Relaxing meditation and listening to music are
favorable as well……………………….

Eric Ong

Page 20

You are not alone. They are millions of people suffering
from eczema. Eczema flare-up is not a big deal. Think of it
as a natural way of getting the skin to replenish and repair
itself, leading to healthier and smoother skin. New layer of
skin is reborn to protect us even further. Be patient, be
confident and do not feel embarrassed. Your skin will
eventually heal itself 

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