To ask for help re eczema on face?

[snapdragongirl]

I am currently suffering with eczema on my face, mainly around the creases either side of my mouth, but also tiny patches to the sides of my eyes. In the past I've only really suffered with stress eczema (years ago) but after going through a really awful and stressful time over the past year or so, it flared up badly on the back of my neck and although the stress has lessened recently, I still get the back of the neck flare ups but also now on my face, which I am more bothered by as it's so visible. It gets really dry and flakey and can be quite red too.

I've been trying La Roche Posay Cicaplast balm, on a recommendation from a friend. It doesn't seem to be helping much though. I know you're not supposed to use hydrocortisone on your face but I have resorted to using it very thinly every so often as it's the only thing that seems to help. But I don't want to keep doing this, and I wondered - does anyone have any top tips for facial eczema please? I'd love to find something natural that helps to soothe the redness and combat the dry flaking skin. It's making me feel so ugly at the moment.

Go and see your dr. They can give you hydrocortisone to use on your face but they will generally want you to start with a much weaker formulation that what you’d put on other parts of your body where the skin is thicker.
Be extremely careful not to get steroid cream in your eyes. It can damage them.

Hi, I had exactly the same and found the only thing that worked was washing my face in plain water with an 'Erase your Face' cloth and then using Cetaphil moisturising cream for very dry, sensitive skin, multiple times a day at first and now twice a day. It has a green lid and has really sorted my skin out.

I have this, late onset, and after dermatology consultant appt have been told to use diprobase for washing and moisturising, noting else. Tedious but is working.

Poor your, it's so awful to have a dry, crusty face. Sometimes I get seborrheic dermatitis on my face. Feels similar to eczema but need different treatment.
I clean my face and put a zinc cream on at night which really helps.
If you can afford to go to a private dermatologist then it's well worth it. It was £120 for the whole consultation, and I've avoided steroids on my face.

Ask for a B12 blood test.

@snapdragongirl , Protopic was the only thing which fixed my facial eczema. See your GP.

I would second going to the GP and getting a topical steroid specifically designed for the face. Is the eczema on your eyelid or just near it? I had terrible eyelid eczema one summer and had to use a special ointment called Protopic to treat it, again prescribed by the doctor.

In terms of moisturiser, I try to go for something lighter on my face than I use on the rest of the body. When flaring its Diprobase , Epaderm cream or Epimax. I also have to wash using emulsifying ointment only - no soap or face wash. New towel to carefully pat dry for every use - can’t risk any bacteria getting in it or it will get infected. Once my skin barrier is compromised, anything else just irritates it further so nothing with fragrance especially for me - and certainly no active ingredients. Also no makeup or SPF - I have to just avoid the sun unfortunately.

When not flaring, I use a Cerave face wash and facial moisturiser, followed by La Roche Posay SPF.

another thought - I have to take daily antihistamines at this time of year or my eczema can flare.

Might be worth a try to see if they make any difference

Thank you so much for these replies. I didn't expect anything, and it's really nice to hear all your tips and suggestions. I think I will go and see the GP in the first instance. Didn't even think it could be something else and maybe not eczema. But seems wise to get professional advice and go from there.

Could B12 deficiency be causing this?

I've had eczema for years. When I started getting it on my face I switched to using Eucerin skincare products only and that really helped clear everything up.

My GP prescribed a protopic cream which can be used on the face. Tried hydrocortisone first, but it kept coming back, and you can't really used it long term, especially on the face. The protopic cleared it up completely.

There is a link between eczema at the corners of your mouth and vitamin B and iron deficiencies. Ask your GP to test you for these. Vitamin D supplements help eczema too.

Had it for decades and afraid I do use a little hydrocortisone or eumavate sometimes when particularly inflamed, red or itchy. Tendency to get hives too, cant use anything with artificial perfumes in. Not had any detrimental affects as far as I can tell, mid 60s and not wrinkly. Best thing I've found for daily moisturising is made by Lavera organic, in a round tin like shoe polish and called all round cream. One of my sons has it badly and swears by Palmers fragrance free cocoa butter.

Pro topic tacrolimus 1%

Just been to the doctors, she said all I can do is moisturise. Wouldn't give anything like protopoc as she said I don't need it. I have make up on (I never go out without makeup as I look horrendous without it!) so it is concealing the issue to some extent. But you can still see the scaliness and dryness, although it is typically most flaky/dry towards the end of the day when it looks like half my face is peeling off!

Asked about iron/B12 deficiency and she laughed and said eczema isn't linked to vitamin deficiencies, it is an atopic skin condition. So she won't send me for any tests. Just kept saying you need to moisturise 6 times a day. I asked I should use any particular moisturiser or avoid any and she said "just whatever suits you". Well clearly what I'm using currently isn't helping with the eczema!

Feel a bit like crying as feel like she thought I was wasting her time going in and thought I was a bit pathetic and making a fuss over nothing. And I'm left with no real help or advice to help with the eczema.

I've been trying La Roche Posay Cicaplast balm, on a recommendation from a friend

I found it pretty useless too but Paw Paw cream is something else, absolutely amazing stuff and cheap as chips.

have you tried Elidel cream?

Cetraben has made the difference for me! It's eczema on my hands but the difference is unreal!

Honestly,Try the Paw Paw cream. I've been having skin cancer treatment and it's resulted in really scaly dry skin . I tried every cream under the sun but Paw Paw was like magic.

OP my GP said exactly the same thing with my psoriasis. I broke out very badly in lockdown immediately after the vaccine. I had it on my face and all over my body. I've had psoriasis since childhood. In desperation I called my GP to ask for help and was exactly the same, just moisturise. The ignorance and indifference was pretty devastating.
I called again and asked to speak to the other GP. He listened to me, I asked for a dermatology appointment because I couldn't face covering myself in pointless creams again. He referred me to, it took a year but I got the appointment and I was prescribed medication I take orally and within 16 weeks I was clear, apart from the odd patch.
It's literally changed my life. The difference between the GP and dermatologist was like night and day. Ignorance is one thing but the indifference, not having a basic understanding of the impacts of a skin condition.
If I were you OP, go back and try again. They may have some that would work for you.

I would try and find out whether there is a GP with a special interest in dermatology at your practice - the one at mine is amazing and definitely more knowledgeable and more willing to explore options than the other GPs.

How often are you moisturising at the moment? When my eczema flares, 6 times a day sounds about right for what I would needed. Even more if the weather conditions are triggering me or if I’m in air conditioning all day.

I highly recommend borage oil. Its very high in the type of fats (cant remember the proper name!) that eczema prone skin is lacking. I developed it on my face for the first time in my early 30s and it was around my eyes and eyebrows and neck, and was super reluctant to use hydrocortisone due to the potential to damage the skin further, but i had most success with borage oil. I'd gently cleanse, and apply borage oil followed by an occlusive (something like vaseline would do) to seal it in. Id repply regularly throughout the day and make sure those areas were never too dry to the touch. Might also be worth looking into a good fish oil supplement too. Good luck!

Thanks so much all of you. I felt so down after my appointment, it was so obvious she thought I was making a fuss over nothing and just wanted to get me out of there after telling me to moisturise.

I feel equipped with some great recommendations and advice on here, might try the paw paw cream first and go from there. I only moisturise twice a day at the moment so will start doing it more regularly too.

I also wondered if diet can help at all?

Lots of people recommend zoe bee green cream - my skin prefers one of the other flavours but really does help with dry skin

You can purchase steroid cream online but I wouldn't recommend it - I 'abused' it when I was younger and everytime I stopped my face would flare up, turned out it was steroid burn which was diagnoses by a dermatologist, once I went 'cold turkey' and my skin peeled off then my skin was pretty clear underneath

Have a look at the practice info about the team and see if any of the GPs have Dip Derm after their names. Then ask for that GP specially as they have additional dermatology qualifications.