Not So Fun in the Sun

As June comes to an end, summer is just beginning! Summer is officially here, in all it's heated, sunny glory. With the drastic changes in weather, come changes in activities, hours in the day, daily itineraries and time spent outside.

Summer activities

For my household and I, like most, these changes include far more outside enjoyment time. Fun in the sun is a daily goal in our household. My daughter, husband, and I have a blast enjoying hours of park fun, water sprinkler/pool fun, and playing outside at our house, her grandparents' homes, and other family members and friends homes. All these outside fun time brings us closer together as a family while creating amazing memories.

Eczema gets in the way

But all our fun doesn't always come without some not so fun consequences. Unfortunately for my daughter and I, her consequence is often itchy, irritable, unforgiving atopic dermatitis flare-ups.

Playing outside

One of my daughter's favorite summer pastimes is playing in the yard. In the south, playing in the yard is a very typical, seemingly harmless activity. But, for someone like my daughter, it is anything but!

Outdoor eczema triggers

The grass is amongst the greatest of her AD enemies. Without proper proactive and reactive prevention, the price she pays for even a few moments of fun in the itchy grass is a heavy one. A few moments in the grass can result in days of itchy, irritated flare up, which in turn may result in scars that last much longer once the itching has ceased.

Pool problems with eczema

Another one of my daughter's favorite fun in the sun activities is playing in the pool. My daughter loves water! Pool activities and pool toys such as pool balls and floating toys are so much fun for her. But much like grass, her pool time fun comes at a high price. Chlorine is not her friend! Chlorine causes extreme dryness and irritation in her scalp which requires days of hair treatments to improve.

Warm sun

Like most children, my daughter also loves to feel the warm sun on her skin. But for her, even this can cause severe flare-ups. The sun shining on her beautiful face always seems fun at first, but often, too much sun for too long results in red irritating sunspots which sometimes causes her atopic dermatitis to become inflamed and irritated.

Sweat and eczema

Her face is one of the most sensitive and most easily bothered as unlike other body parts it is never covered or protected by her clothing. The warm sun frequently causes her to sweat, especially when running, playing, and being extremely active. When she sweats too much for too long she gets AD flare-ups. This occurs particularly in areas were her skin folds meet such as inside of where her joints are (on the backside of her elbow and knee) as well as her neck.

With all the aforementioned elements working against her fun in the sun is not always so fun! Thus is the life of an AD baby and her mommy at times.