I suddenly have eczema?
I’m 19 and I think I have recently developed eczema out of nowhere. I have lived in a very dry climate my whole life and never had any problems before. The only other person in my family who has eczema is my mother and she usually gets it behind her ears after eating eggs.
I started showing symptoms in late October when I started having similar problems like my mom. My ears were so dry, flaky, and itchy to the point I scratched my skin open on both sides. At first this was only directly around my ears, but now it is traveling up into my hairline and I’m pulling my hair out in my sleep for relief.
Another recent development (about 4/5 days ago) is it has now spread to both my arms, inner thighs, under my eyes/on my eyelids, and in between/under my breasts. It’s impossible now to comfortably wear any clothes. I feel very insecure about my skin now. I have made an appointment to see my doctor to figure out what is the best way to treat this because everything has spread so fast in a little amount of time.
My question is what can I do in the meantime to minimize my suffering?
Here is what I’m currently doing already:
I used to take scolding hot shower, but now I take middle of the road not too hot not too cold showers.
After getting out of the shower I dry myself quickly and put on some lotion to all the affected areas except for my ears as they sting all the time from constantly being scratched opened
My mom heard that red light therapy is something used to help out people with eczema. So I’m now using the comfy temp red light wrap 2 times a day.
Is there anything else I could do to make things better? Is there something I should stop doing? TIA everyone!