My Journey - Part Two - Healing My Eczema and Allergies Naturally

Hello again! Following on from Part One, which you can read here, I wanted to talk more about my experience of healing my eczema naturally and reducing my allergy symptoms.

Since my early 20's I would get eczema on my arms and hands which I'd treat with steroids from the doctor. I would just get on with it as a lot of people I know had eczema - I thought that because something was common, it must be normal. I have also struggled with allergies for most of my life and I would suffer year round with hayfever and dust allergies. I would take doctor prescribed anti-histamines daily to help my symptoms and assumed I'd be on them forever.

In 2017, I had a stressful few months. My eczema had been under control for a while at that point, however the stress made it a lot worse. It developed on my face, which was so embarrassing and painful. Nothing I did was working and I had to go on antibiotics - which worked for my hands but not my face. I spoke to a friend who'd gone through the same thing and on her recommendation I changed the products I was using, moving to more natural skincare and hypoallergenic makeup which worked and my eczema cleared up after a few months.

I talk about my weight struggles in Part One, and when I gained weight again after my wedding, my eczema started to come back on my face. This was after almost 5 years of keeping it under control by using clean products. I hadn't changed my products, so what was going on?

Learning about the gut microbiome and it's connection to overall health, made me realise that my skin and allergy problems were connected to what I was eating and my gut health issues. This gave me a bigger 'why' than just aesthetics - yes I care about how my face looks but more than that, it's PAINFUL. Also if you haven't experienced bad hayfever type symptoms, you won't understand how it can make you feel really sick every day, it's more than just sneezing, you can become feverish, have bad headaches and a sore throat.

I went on a journey in 2023 of healing my gut (which I'll detail in Part Three) and, although it took over six months, my eczema has now cleared up again and I'm no longer taking anti-histamines! It's currently April and I've not take an anti-histamine in over seven months, which is crazy as a year ago I'd be suffering BAD at this point in the year. Healing your gut is definitely not a quick or easy solution but it is one that has a lot of benefits. These results provide great motivation for me to continue to reduce the chemicals that I put into and onto my body.

Some things I did / still do to heal my eczema and allergies:

Avoided the sauna when eczema was bad (sweat irritated my skin)
Removed ultra processed foods from my diet almost completely
Cut refined sugar out - when I eat too much now I can feel its effects on my skin and allergy response
Switched to cleaner products - I avoid ingredients lists with ethyl and methyl in
Used a UVB light for 30 seconds a day - only when eczema is flared up
Moisturised twice a day