Alice
Alice was 7 when her GP confirmed eczema. She has tried various emollients with limited success as well as steroid creams for worse flare ups. Moisturising with non-prescription lotions is a key way in which Alice now manages her eczema.
Alice was diagnosed with eczema by her GP at the age of 7. It was around this time that she also had a skin-prick test and learnt that she has a number of allergies; for example, dust and pollen, which cause her to sneeze and itch. She does not feel that eczema has ever really been explained to her in great depth and she was uncertain about the links between eczema, allergies and asthma. Alice feels that many of the healthcare professionals that she has seen have not been overly concerned with her eczema, unless it is particularly visible and close to her face/head. She has tried a number of prescribed emollients which have not made much of a difference and finds that only steroid creams help with particularly bad flare ups. The cost of prescriptions mean that Alice tends to manage her eczema by applying branded, non-medicated and readily-available moisturisers several times a day.
The itchiness of her skin caused some issues for Alice and her family when she was a child, such as preventing her from playing outside and raising concerns at school when she refused to wear warmer clothes like jumpers. Some of these experiences from having eczema as a child have continued to influence her activities and feelings now. This is especially so for some parts of her skin such as her forearms and upper chest. For example, she still dislikes wearing clothes with long sleeves, preferring to wear layers instead, and she avoids woolly fabrics as well as constrictive necklaces. Alice was also concerned that her eczema might damage the colouring of her tattoos and she takes extra care when dyeing her hair to avoid worsening an eczema patch on her neck.
Alice did not initially think that her eczema has much of an impact on her life, especially when compared to her other health concerns. However, she reflected on this during the interview and was surprised by the ways that eczema does actually feature in her life quite a lot. Although Alice thought that more information at the time of diagnosis would have been helpful, she feels that she currently manages her eczema quite well as a result of having had it for so many years.