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A male incredulously looks at his hands showing signs of eczema.

Eczema is Slowly Crawling onto My Hands

For as long as I can remember, I have had eczema appear in all the typical places; neck, face, scalp, behind the knees, inside the elbows, ear lobes, and behind the ears. I would say that since the second part of the pandemic, I started to notice a change in my skin. Some of you may remember I wrote about this in a previous article titled, Was My Body Trying to Tell Me Something.

Changes in my skin

When I wrote this, I thought I had contracted Coronavirus because not only was I feeling constantly exhausted, but my skin was not really behaving like it typically did. Which was to get very dry, flaky, and cracked. The skin was tearing far more easily, and I had developed large lesions in areas I did not usually get eczema in, like my calves, thighs, and back. My wrists were extremely sore, unusually so.

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Eczema moving from my wrists to my hands

I know I was in denial because I noticed my eczema slowly creeping from my wrists up onto my hands. It's almost as if my mind did not want to accept it because my thinking was it would go away when I get a bit better, and I might just be imagining it's far worse than it really is. It actually makes me a little upset to think I was hoping I was imagining it and hoping that it would just disappear. That's the psychological grip eczema has on us, right there. It is always busy gnawing away at us physically and mentally speaking. I recently discovered here on AtopicDermatitis.net that this is referred to as 'psychodermatology.' I had never heard this phraseology before. 

What would you do differently?

I suppose my question is to anyone who has suffered from stubborn atopic dermatitis on their hands...what would you do differently? If you had the knowledge you have now with how to treat your hand eczema best. I really do not want it to spread to my fingers. I play musical instruments, guitar, and keyboards. I would go completely crazy if I found it difficult to do these things, especially if my eczema got any worse. I certainly know my routine has not changed. I am not using a different soap or detergent. All my soaps and creams are perfume-free, so I really am at odds with what could be causing this.

Still racking my brains after all these years

I cannot know for sure, but I feel that had we not gone through this pandemic, I do not think I would be sitting here typing about my new hand eczema. I have had atopic dermatitis for over forty years, and it is only now crawling onto my hands! It is so strange. I will continue to wash and moisturize my skin as per usual and hope that it will reduce. I am tired of thinking right now. It's getting the better of me.

“Hope itself is like a star – not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity.” - Charles Haddon Spurgeon

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