If you follow me on Facebook…

then you know I’ve been itching since last week and can’t see my doctor until tomorrow afternoon. I’m not sure how it happened, but something triggered a sizable eczema outbreak. (Remember what I said about the need for cotton undies not too long ago at Pursed Lips?)

It started on my hands, just a dot here and there, ala topical dermatitis. At first, I thought I had managed to get a bit too much sun. (Yes, I’m photosensitive too.) But I couldn’t peg when I’d been in the sun enough to trigger a rash. And then it began appearing in places where I hadn’t sunned myself. (No, not where the sun don’t shine. My torso, which hasn’t seen the sun yet this summer.)

Its spreading pattern was different than a photodermatitis rash. The spots on my face were a touch too weepy and elevated. The spots on my right arm grew into distinct patches.

Eczema. Yuck.

I was born with the condition and spent my first year in bandages. I’ve had two huge systemic outbreaks in my life where large patches covered my body and I needed a course of prednisone to overcome it. While this outbreak isn’t yet that extreme, it might become so if I don’t get treatment.

So I wait. I shower enough to keep my skin free of sweat but not so much that my skin dries. I rub cortisone cream on spots when they flare. I try to stay out of the heat and sun. And I faithfully continue to wear cotton clothing, something I’ve habituated thanks to a lifetime of skin problems.

Still, tomorrow can’t come soon enough!