Eczema on the face

[BrucieTee]

Hi everyone.

I've suffered with excema for years and I'm 18 right now. My body is controlled at this point thanks for Aveeno oatmeal baths and that keeps it moisturized enough and soothes the itching. However, the strange thing is my face right now.

At first, my eyes were red and irritated which was infected so I got eyedrops and now they aren't. However, the redness around the eyes hasn't gone away completely and at some points it's worse. For example, the night before this post, it was getting a lot better but my scalp was really itchy. So, my parents suggested massaging my scalp in salt water to clean up the bacteria that was making it itch. It DID help, however now my upper lip, around my eyes, and my forehead are really red and only my forehead is itchy a bit. The other red parts sting/hurt. I don't know whats going on and this is really frustrating because I have finals next week and its hard to concentrate like this. Please, can someone help me?

I use various topical steroids. I use desonide for my face because it's lighter than triamcinolone. I also take antihistamines before I go to bed. And I use either vaseline or eucerin creme depending on the spot.

~Bruce

[figgymyson]

I can't really offer any advice as to what it is or the cause, however I too have have suffered from dermatitis on my face for a while now. Using steroid creams, even low strength hyrdocortisone on you face is a controversial one. I have used these in the past but feel more comfortable using elidel or protopic on my facial area, especially for a more prolonged period of time. I have also found them more effective. These are often a second line treatment but proved a life saver for me as I was unable to control my condition sufficiently without them. If things don't improve you might need to see a dermatologist to get a prescription.

[ironchef]

Hi,

I had a hot, red, itchy rash on my face last spring. It seemed to start in one little spot then spread over the rest of my face. At the same time however, I had a yeast infection. When I did a yeast cleanse for about 2 weeks, the rash on my face went away. Although your symptoms are only on your face, it might be related to yeast?? Try staying away from food with flour, sugars, alcohol, milk, cheese for a while and take a probiotic. It helped me....maybe it will help you?

Vaseline makes a hot, itchy rash worse!!!! Don't use a strong steroid cream on your face...it'll thin the skin making it wrinkly way too soon. You're young...don't ruin your face. If you must use a weak cream like a hydrocortisone until it subsides. You may have to treat this from the inside out.....

[HarryS]

Hey everyone, i've had eczema since i was a baby and am now 21. A few years ago it did flare up all over my body resulting in a hospital stay for myself for a week. Since then i have used various steriod creams as it has persisted on my face. At the moment it has clamed down however with all of the steriod cream use the skin in my face has really become un-even in skin tone and very very red on my forehead and cheeks in particular, other parts of my body have got better in regards of the discolouring however there are no signs of it improving on my face.

Just wondering if anyone knows of any creams or anything else that people have found that help with this.

[figgymyson]

Sounds to me like you may have steroid induced rosacea which can occur through prolonged steroid use (mainly stronger seroids) on the face. What strength of steroids were you using and how often. I have a friend who experienced similar and was prescribed Protopic. It took a few months for the redness to disappear but it eventually went. I also use Protopic on my face for my eczema which I have found more effective and without the potential side effects of Steroids.

Rich

[annp]

Hi
I use protopic on my face 0.1% this is the only thing that works for me, I have been told by skin specialist
that it does has side effects in years to come i.e. could cause skin cancer, I use it about 3 times a week the rest I use cetraben its an emollient cream. Regards Ann

[AnnaB]

Hi

I am using Elidel and Protopic on my children. Have been terrified to use it. It has taken a year to pluck up the courage. But now I wish we'd used it sooner. To see my kids pain free faces is fantastic. The benefits outway the risks. They cannot say that the cases of cancer in research would not of happened anyway. Quality of life now has to be better than a life of pain on hold.

[Helen51520]

Hi I'm 20 years old and have pretty much eczema all over my body in various places. I'm dealing with all that fairly well though, using emollients etc, I keep it under control but my face... still being fairly young my teenage skin is still with me (late developer) so I get bad spots, blackheads, the works, plus dry skin, but I can't seem to use any cleansing products whatsoever, I just come out in a rash, end up with more dry skin, flaking, etc so I don't know what to do! I end up having to use anti-histamines for the rest of the month just to bring the redness down! My face is just getting dirtier lol

I would really appreciate anything anyone can recommend, any cleansing/toner products that are good and effective without making me want to rip my face off!!!!

Thank You xx

[blackorchid22]

I usually use Cetaphil or Dermalogica Ultracalming Cleanser, but if my face is extra irritated, I use sterile wound wash (you can find it in the first aid section of a drugstore or pharmacy). I apply it to my face with some cotton as if it was toner. It doesn't sting and also helps remove some of the flaky skin.

[blackorchid22]

Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum. I am in my late 20's and have suffered from eczema throughout my life. It has gotten particularly bad in the last few months. I know a big part of of it can be attributed to stress and I've tried many different things to manage my stress. It has gotten to the point, however, that my eczema on my face is so bad, that I cannot go to work. I work as a sales professional and meet with customers face to face, so I am obviously very self-conscious of my eczema because I know everyone can see it. I haven't been able to put 100% into my work because my eczema and allergies are just dragging me down. Most of the time I don't want to leave the house because of how my face looks. I spend a significant amount of time everyday trying to calm my skin down and trying to cover up my rashes. Yesterday, while at work, my face started to break out and flake. It was so embarrassing. I was so self-conscious I didn't go to work today because I was afraid it might happen again. However, today my skin is looking the best it has in the past several weeks. I think it is healing....for now. I think what really helped was my new skin product discovery (also, I am always on the look out for products that won't irritate my skin!!): Clinique Comfort on Call skin protectant. It took a few days, but I am starting to see results. My face is less red and my rashes are going away. The only problem was that my skin flaked very badly for the first few days. I guess that was the skin regenerating and healing itself.

Just wanted to share that with everyone. I was starting to feel hopeless and depressed. I just want my eczema on my face to go away so I can live my life.