I really thought it was just a severe case of baby acne, until it wouldn’t go away.
The red itchy rash on my baby got worse and worse.
A trip to the doctor, landed us with a diagnosis of eczema:
Eczema is a chronic inflammatory skin condition, characterized by dry skin, with patches that are red and intensely itchy.¹
These patches of eczema may ooze, become scaly, crusted, or hardened. Symptoms can range from mild to severe and it can impact quality of life. Eczema can present itself anywhere on the skin and often occurs on the bends of the arms and backs of the knees.¹
My son, Marcello, was diagnosed with eczema when he was three months old. As with many babies, his eczema appeared on his face, elbows, and knees. As he got older, it appeared more on the joints behind the knees and inside the elbows.² And so our journey of managing the evil E as we unaffectionately call it began very early on.
November is Eczema Awareness Month and the more people, especially, family, teachers, coaches, etc. who understand what it is like to live with eczema, the better it is for us.
Eczema is not a death sentence by any means but it 100% affects our everyday life. The extreme itchiness deeply impacted our sleep: EVERYONE’S sleep. The lack of sleep made managing the disease even more frustrating. We live in a cycle of “flare ups” which is a constant struggle to treat.¹
Other not so fun facts about eczema according to the Eczema Society of Canada Patient Insights Report: it can contribute to depression for the child and caregiver, missed days at school and overall anxiety for EVERYONE in the family.³
But I don’t want to end this on a doom and gloom note, living with eczema has allowed us to be more compassionate, more empathetic and more open to ideas and suggestions of treatment. Most types of eczema require a combination of treatments and medications, and your doctor can help choose the ones that will work the best to control your condition.²
We also found that learning our triggers and controlling certain factors in our environment helped to minimize flare-ups.¹ We dealt with triggers a lot – you can learn more about yours here.
If you or someone you know is struggling, you can visit www.eczemahelp.ca to learn more.
Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Pfizer Canada. The views and opinions expressed in this blog, however, are purely my own.
¹ Eczema Society of Canada (2019). What is Eczema? https://eczemahelp.ca/about-eczema/
² Canadian Dermatology Association (2019). Eczema. Available at: https://dermatology.ca/public-patients/skin/eczema/
³ Eczema Society of Canada (2017). Atopic Dermatitis: Patient Insights Report. https://eczemahelp.ca/wp- content/uploads/2019/02/ESC_Insights-Report_Nov-2017-1.pdf
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