On Traveling with Eczema

For most, packing for a trip is a simple matter. You throw in your favorite shampoo and makeup along with clothing. But for me, I pack items to keep me from having an eczema flare up. For the last five years, I’ve dealt with dry, flaky and inflamed skin every few months in places like my lips, hands and face.

I first noticed it during winter in Australia but chalked it up to the cold. The next year, the dryness on the bottom of my lip got worse and spread. In fact, I visited a pharmacy in Munich that gave me a cream for it, but it didn’t make it go away. It cleared up eventually but came back months later.

After half a dozen visits to the dermatologist and countless creams that didn’t do anything, I finally had an actual diagnosis. Eczema is characterized by redness, inflammation, dryness and small bumps on the surface of the skin. Since then, it’s steadily gotten worse, spreading under my eyes and onto my cheeks.

Some days my skin is totally clear, without any indication of it, and others there are rough patches. But on my fair skin, these patches are bright and splotchy, like a big target on my face. It’s frustrating, to say the least, and keeps me from feeling as confident as I’d like to.

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My very worst experience with my eczema was this past year. I was on a ten-day press trip through Louisiana where I ate lots of food that wasn’t a part of my diet and slept little. I had also just had surgery a few weeks prior and wasn’t on my best game.

I felt my skin drying up, so one night, I put lotion on my face before going to bed. When I awoke, my skin was inflamed, swollen to the point of pain, with sores covering it. I’ve never experienced pain like it or felt so exposed. I did my best to cover it up with makeup, but there was little to be done.

I had to spend the next four days traveling with a group, fielding questions and taking unsolicited advice on how to treat it. When I finally got home, I got a cortisone shot to treat it and was prescribed yet another medicated lotion. Thankfully, this one was effective.

Now I know what makes my flare-ups occur more often. I can’t use some products, even ones that claim to be “all natural,” like Burt’s Bees and Lush, as well as sleep masks and many types of soap and makeup. I wear little of it when I can help it unless it’s covering up rashes.

I also try to be careful with dry air, like in buildings and on airplanes, and keep my stress under control. These are other triggers for not only eczema but other health issues. I also cut dairy out of my diet three years ago.

These days, I pack a number of things to keep my eczema under control when I travel. I pack my medicated lotion, complete with the prescription label, and can carry the full sized bottle through security. I also have witch hazel, which cools down inflammation, and face wash to take off my makeup.

Hydrocortisone and antihistamines are also an important part of my medical kit. A freeze pack also helps my skin feel better, which I can put in the mini-fridge at my hotel.

My friend Anna suffers from psoriasis so we had that in common when we first met. Both conditions produce visible rashes that often make people ask questions. While most people in the United States have heard of eczema, that isn’t always the case overseas.

I still regularly have people ask what happened to my face. Neither is transferrable or contagious. You shouldn’t worry about sitting next to someone with these rashes or being in the pool with them. Don’t make assumptions and don’t ask rude questions about why your face looks like that.

Traveling with something like eczema can be difficult, especially in the midst of a flare up, but it doesn’t keep me from going!

Do you have eczema? Does it change the way you travel?