Surviving The Summer Heat With Eczema

Summer: The season of feeling like I’m living in an oven that never turns off. In this weather, I am ever surrounded by heat that won’t quit, inducing relentless itching with every sweat drop that drips down every crevice of my sensitive skin.

How do I make summer bearable with eczema?

Summer is one of the most triggering seasons for my eczema because of all this inescapable heat and humidity. Over the years, I have developed some strategies for how to counter these climatic inconveniences and make this season more bearable for me and my skin, especially when I go outside to run errands, enjoy nature or socialize.

Tip #1

My first tip is to bring an electric fan or traditional hand fan on the go. One of the worst experiences I have with my skin during the summer is when I am going out to run errands or driving and I am stuck in traffic, at a stop light, or in a long line and have to deal with the heat and muskiness of crowds in enclosed spaces.

How am I killing 2 birds with 1 stone?

When I bring an electric or regular fan, I'm not only cooling down but holding and moving the fan also gives my hands something else to do besides scratching. I just channel the itching to fanning myself and I kill two birds with one stone. These days, you can also get those mini electric fans that you can just plug into your phone's input plug where you would plug in your power cord and the battery on your phone will automatically turn on the fan and cool you down. This is so efficient, convenient, and easy to carry with you.

Tip #2

I love bringing a cooling, refreshing spray throughout the day to help me relax and lower itching. You can check out my recipe blog titled Stupid Easy Anti-Itch Spray for a DIY recipe on how to make your own cooling spray. Rosewater is another ingredient you can use as a cooling spray, especially if you tend to have drier skin. I will typically spray this lightly on my face, chest and any other areas that are itching and exposed to the sun. I find that doing this helps me to keep my skin hydrated but also not too moist and will dry out with the sun over time.

Tip #3

My next tip is to drink mint tea. Any type of mint will do whether it is peppermint, spearmint, wintermint, etc. I find this herb to be very cool in temperature and refreshing in flavor. Once I drink this herbal tea, I find myself feeling soothed and relaxed and my body temperature seems to also cool down as a result. This, in turn, helps my mind to relax more and feel less anxious about the heat and sweating or itching.

Tip #4

Wear light-reflective colors. I find this tip to be super useful in the summer because, while I love going to the beach and enjoying the sunny weather and blue skies, exposing my skin to a lot of direct sunlight can easily make me develop a heat rash. Heat rashes in my experience become swollen and very itchy.

How does this help with sun protection?

Another dilemma I have in the summer is finding a sensitive skin sunblock that does not make me itch. Sunblock and sunscreen are products that are hard for me to come by without it having some kind of ingredient in the formula that will irritate my skin. So my next best defense is to cover up my entire body in light-reflective clothing: like different shades of white, beige, light gray and pastels. This way I can get full coverage of my skin as well as a little bit of a protection from the lighter colors reflecting back the sunlight instead of that sunlight's heat getting absorbed and trapped in my clothing which is right on my skin, which I find happens when I wear darker shades of fabric.

What are your tips for summer?

The next time you go to a hot, humid place or it is summertime in your location, hopefully one of these tips will help you to avoid suffering an itchy fate.

Let me know if you try any of these in the comments below. Good Luck!