So, you know that I had to break the cleanse rather abruptly
last night. One of the reasons I was doing the cleanse was in the hopes that it
would help to clear up my dishydrotic eczema. I am happy to report that, since
I began the cleanse, I have seen virtually no new blisters erupt. That means
that the existing blisters finally had a fighting chance to heal.
In order for them to heal, however, I had to dry them out
and stop the incessant itching. The vinegar soaks were helpful but less potent
than needed. The saltwater soak worked wonderfully to dry the blisters, but
within a few hours, the dryness and itching was unbearable. At that point, I
was desperate and proceeded to apply generous amounts of alcohol to the
lesions. Yeah, that was fun.
The alcohol worked as well, if not better than, the
saltwater soak for drying. It certainly hurt enough to make me forget about the
itching in any event. Still, in just a few hours, the incredible itching was
back. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of moisturizer I used, either. Cocoa
butter, Curel Intensive Healing, coconut oil, Carley’s Clear & Smooth
products: nothing seemed to help for more than 15 minutes at a time. Though, I
will say that Carely’s moisturizers were the most helpful—I love Carley’s!
Help is in the
Kitchen
I had come down to the last natural option I’d read about
but had dismissed because it just seemed like there was no way it would work:
baking soda. Supposedly, you could make a paste from baking soda and a small
amount of water, then cake this paste all over your problem areas for relief.
The mild abrasiveness is supposed to help the dead, dry skin come off, and the
pH of the solution is supposed to balance the skin somehow.
Again, I was desperate and out of options, so I tried it. It
felt amazing during application…very soothing and only a mild sting here and
there on the worst areas. It wasn’t until I rinsed the stuff off that the
burning began, which I found strange. But…immediately after my first
application of this stuff, I noticed my skin improving. It was more than just
an improvement in the blisters, too; it really did help the dead skin to slough
off.
I’ve continued applying the baking soda paste 3 times per
day and it’s working wonders on my dishydrosis. I still have some blisters, but
they are improving. My skin is pretty irritated in the worst areas and I still
have some swelling in my fingers, but it’s nothing like it was before. I am
actually beginning to see new, healthy skin forming where there was once
nothing but blisters and hard, dry, cracking, thick scales.
It’s really important to stay moisturized so the skin can
continue to heal. I’ve given up on everything except my Carley’s products and
coconut oil. I alternate applying them about every hour or two. Carley’s seems
to absorb better than the oil, but the oil is soothing and smells nice, so I
like using it.
I think the cleanse, even no longer than I was able to do
it, arrested whatever reaction it was that was making me flare up. This, in
turn, allowed the topical treatments to begin working toward healing. So if
nothing else good came from this, maybe I’ve gotten the eczema under control. I
just hope my having to eat so soon into this process won’t undo the progress. I’ll
have to be very careful about the types of foods I eat lest I aggravate the
condition again. And it goes without saying that I cannot go back to Coke again.
Still having a hard time with that one.
