People have been asking me what’s my skin care routine like every day? In Singapore, my eczema is directly related to the weather. If it’s a hot and humid day, my skin will flare up. On rainy days, it’s much calmer. Regardless of the weather, here’s what I do (in the following order).
1) Quick shower in room temperature water
Light soap will do so that I don’t dry out my skin. I like to use my clove soap at this stage. No vigorous scrubbing!
2) Apply cream to very dry skin areas
Now to tackle the problem areas. For very dry areas, I apply my QV cream since it’s thicker to coat and protect it.
3) Apply lotion to the rest of my body
General moisturizing now. Liberally apply your moisturizer (I use QV lotion) everywhere. Choose a light moisturizer so it absorbs easily.
4) Focus on bumps, weeping, scaly, flaky areas
Now the tough part. For areas that are weeping, red, or blotchy, I use a topical steroid called Elomet. I have both the cream and ointment versions. The ointment works better for me since it stays on longer, and forms a thicker barrier on my skin. Unlike the cream, which seems to absorb and disappear. The way I apply it is to use a cotton bud. Apply a thin film, and don’t spread it around too much.
5) Treat infected areas
If you unconsciously scratched during the night, that area may now be weeping heavily or have a yellow discharge. Thankfully those areas are less common for me nowadays. If it does occur, I then apply some antibiotic cream. I use Fucidin. As above, apply with a new cotton bud.
6) Cover up problem areas
In order to keep my clothes from rubbing itchy areas (such as my waist line or shoulder straps), I sometimes put a small plaster/ over them, after I’ve applied my steroid cream/ointment. The plaster I use is Primapore dressing strip. I’ve tried regular plasters, but they are really hard to remove at the end of the day, and leave a sticky residue, forcing me to scrub it out (and making the itch worse). I even put them on exposed areas such as my legs and arms. Co-workers sometimes think I just suffered a bicycle accident, because of all the plasters :)
7) Keeping my skin calm when I’m at work
Now that I’m all done, I just need to keep my skin moisturized while I’m out at work or during the weekend. When I arrive at work, I put some moisturizer on my exposed arms and legs. I only do this after I arrive at work because having too much moisturizer on when travelling to work makes me feel uncomfortable, especially if taking the MRT or bus. The moisturizer I use is either QV cream or Palmers Skin Therapy Oil.
8 ) In case an area gets itchy
I’ve found that a dose of Aloe Vera Gelly seems to cool these areas and stop me from scratching it. This sometimes happens near my elbows (where I’m resting my arms to work at my laptop).
When I get back home, it’s time to repeat the process.
So there you have it; my rituals (as of now). I will substitute certain things as I discover new products, but right now, this routine seems to keep my skin calm.
Who said what