dont know how many of you noticed this in the past, but i have heaps of scars on my arms and legs right? righttttt?

some of them were from insect/ mozzy bites, some of them were from me being careless and scraping myself here and there and dont bother about it (coz i think putting a band aid over a cut or scrape is for pansies :p ) and it'll eventually scare coz i have very sensitive and bad skin.

the more recent scars however, are from this skin condition called.....eczema, aka atopic dermatitis. how the heck did i end up getting that? well, i have no idea. must be some weird concoction available in NZ air that's causing it? but really, i have no clue.

my skin starts itching real badly when i am cold or hot (usually cold) and when i'm stressed out. it usually starts around my ankles, and then everywhere else starts itching. the thing with this itch is, if you dont scratch it, it drives you crazy. if you scratch it, it drives you crazy too! so what am i to do?

i dont know.

i have a hydrocortisone cream which helps relief the itch, but it's not fixing eczema. i dont know if there's a cure to it, coz it's usually in little kids and it goes away when they turn 5, usually. but i'm 22. so will it go away or what?!

funny thing is, my dad's the only other person in my family who has it. it's not contagious btw, so please don't run away when you see me! when my dad went to see the doc, they had no idea what it was. they thought it was an allergy reaction to something, but his only appears on his back and body. so my mum changed the soap, and it didnt get better. back to the doctor he went, and they still dont know what it is!

..

i only realized it was eczema when i was reading karen cheng's blog coz her son has eczema and she mentioned some of the symptoms and then a lightbulb flashed at the top of my head. and that was when i realised my dad and i have eczema too. i did more readings on eczema and realised the only thing i can do to help with the condition is to keep moisturizing and to keep my finger nails short (which i dont!). another way is to put band aids over the itchy spots so i dont scratch them and end up scarring them.

*sigh* guess i'll be walking around with heaps of band aids for a while :p time to go stock up on 'em band aids! and yes, i'm a pansy for using band aids! LOL~