Anissa
Anissa has had eczema since she was a baby. She has tried different moisturisers and steroid creams to treat her skin. She thinks that doctors should provide more information and support to young people who have had eczema since childhood.
Anissa was diagnosed with having eczema as a baby. She has seen various doctors in her lifetime as well as seeing a dermatologist on one occasion when she was a young child. Anissa used to think that she would always be in pain with her skin covered in sores and bleeding. However, as a teenager, she began managing her eczema better and this has only improved further into adulthood. She now manages her skin very tightly by applying her creams throughout the day and showering every other day. She says that she will apply moisturisers as soon as the thought pops into her head and, if her eczema is flaring, she will sometimes wash in the creams. She knows that changes in temperature, pet fur and stress are all triggers for her eczema. For instance, she found the process of applying to university, starting her degree and taking tests in class to be stressful, and comments that her emotions are often reflected in my skin.
Anissa has tried lots of creams, including steroids, to treat her eczema. Anissa’s parents used to help her when she was little with eczema treatments, including applying wet wraps. Anissa’s experiences with healthcare professionals for eczema have not been very good and she feels that doctors have only been interested when she is at the stage of having an infection. She thinks this may be because the doctors have viewed eczema as a mild condition concerned only with appearance rather than being physically painful and difficult to live with. Anissa feels that healthcare professionals tended to direct information about her eczema to her parents when she was a child and that they have assumed since that the information has been relayed clearly to her so that she understands. She feels that she has never been properly informed about her condition by a medical professional. As a result, she tends to look online for information.
Anissa’s eczema used to affect only parts of her body with folds which tended to sweat more, such as inside the elbow, behind the knee and on her neck. Eczema affected other parts of her body as she got older, such as her chest and breasts. She also noticed eczema on her scalp for the first time about two years ago. She visited her GP who gave her an ointment for her scalp with very vague instructions on how to use it and Anissa found it extremely painful to apply. Anissa says that she doesn’t feel confident when speaking to doctors because she does not feel informed about her condition. She also finds that GPs rarely give her more than a few minutes in an appointment and they tend to just prescribe the medications previously listed on her records. Anissa says that she has experienced the doctors giving out steroids too quickly to her when they should also be educating about prevention of flare-ups and infections as well as providing moisturisers.
The impact of eczema on Anissa’s confidence is something that she has struggled with. She was very shy at school and used to miss out on social activities due to embarrassment. Anissa thinks that the appearance of the skin has a big part in other people’s judgements and that being deemed to have flawed’ skin is particularly difficult for women. She has had previous romantic partners and friends who have not really understood about how eczema affects her physically and emotionally. Anissa has since become more confident about her body image. There are some aspects associated with eczema, such as the paler scar patches in contrast to tanned skin in summer, which Anissa used to dislike but now enjoys because they are unusual like a leopard. Anissa has talked to doctors about the difficulties of wearing make-up, which can make her skin sore and blotchy, but they’ve only instructed her not to wear it rather than give other help she would appreciate such as signposting to suitable products. She has tried make-up for sensitive skin before but found that it was not suitable and sometimes actually made her eczema worse. She now tries to use gentler make-up, such as tinted Vaseline rather than lipstick or eye pencils rather than eye shadows.
Anissa thinks that it’s important for young people to know that their eczema will get better providing they learn to manage it well. She says that GPs should offer more support to their patients by giving more information, offering different moisturisers to choose from, monitoring flare ups more closely and helping add the use of medications into their patients everyday routines. Although not something Anissa has done herself for eczema, she thinks that keeping a diary of eczema treatments and their effectiveness could be useful for both the person affected and their healthcare providers.