Sweater Weather

It's getting cold out! You know what that means! Sweater weather! Time for all of the winter things. On one hand, I love it. I love wearing boots, and living with eczema, I've grown accustomed to wearing long sleeves (just about all year) so that's never been an issue for me! Although I love a good swim or nice beach, I can't say I despise the winter either.

Not as worried about eczema flare ups

This year, I am grateful to not be as worried about my eczema as much as I have been in the past. My Crohn's disease medication has done an extremely good job with managing my other conditions as well. For that, I could not be more excited. I'm pretty confident my condition won't flare up on it's own, but with sweater weather and long sleeves, comes the inevitable aggravation of it all.

Winter eczema irritation

Heavy jackets cause me to sweat extremely easily. They also chafe against my skin and aggravate the eczema patches on my arms. Certain long sleeve shirts also annoy me. The material isn't the best or sometimes even the dye will cause my skin to become inflamed and aggravated.

Here are a few things I've found helpful when dealing with sweater weather:

Know what you like and stick to it:

I learned this trick when I wore a pair of pants that I received a ton of compliments in. I looked up the brand and size and ordered a few more pairs online. This is something that also saved the skin on my legs because the pants were made of an amazing material that was not only extremely comfortable but also hit my legs just right and caused no aggravation at all. During the sweater weather months, it's extremely important to find what works. Your body needs to be covered to stay warm and avoid getting sick, but you need to make sure you're getting that warmth from threads that won't cause your condition to flare. If you find a brand or material that works for you, jot it down and try to stick with it. It will save you so much discomfort and worry in the future.

Be conscious of layers:

Layers are a great way to stay warm, but remember, you don't want to wear so much that you begin to sweat or the bottom layer of clothing begins to stick to your skin. I'm not sure how many people have an issue with this, but it's always been a huge issue for me. My clothes sticking to my skin literally drives me and my eczema insane to say the least!

Hydrate:

Hydration is especially important during this time of the year. It's extremely easy to have dry and cracked skin during this season. Even for those of us who are not living with eczema. Take care of your skin now, so you won't have to work as hard in the future. Find hydrating products you love, a few of my fave brands at the moment are: Dove, Shea Moisture and Aussie if you have an itchy/dry scalp!