realizebeauty.com – allergies

Identity Crisis – Goodbye Itchy Girl

For those of you who have read ‘and then I got sick’ you will know that I’m currently working through a number of allergy/ eczema/ health issues and have embarked upon a journey to wellness with the help of a naturopath, a hypnotherapist, a change in diet and my own iron will-power and determination.

Just to remind you that I’m journaling this (in between my normal articles once I get a little more on top of things) because it is a) about the skin and therefore relevant to the blog and b) because by writing I learn stuff. Thanks for reading along.

So, this is how the first trip to the hypnotherapist went.

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‘Just call me itchy girl’ I said. ‘I have been itching since I was a baby, got diagnosed with eczema pretty early on and spent a lot of time during my childhood and up to now really talking about my, treating and trying to manage my condition’.

I’ve been to this clinic before when suffering from the stresses of getting a business up and running and everything else I’d clenched my teeth to pieces and thought that hypno would be a good way to rid myself of the habit. Needless to say that journey was a longer and more winding than I had anticipated but as it had a happy ending I thought why not drag itchy girl out of the closet and see what she can do for her.

‘Let me ask you a question’ she started. ‘Do you think that your eczema can ever get better? Can it be cured?”……….

Therapists have a knack of putting you on the spot. Of saying in one sentence what you have been struggling to say or feel for […]

Help! Excess Baggage…..

To say that I have been tired this week is an understatement BUT the show must go on and in the midst of my wallowing in self pity (oh where is the chocolate fairy when you need her) I got inspired. Now I could blame it on being in my mid thirties, blame the kids or blame my obsession with typing on computer screens long past bedtime but no. There must be a more analytical reason why I have shopping bags under my eyes. Time to do some research!

The skin under the eye is pretty thin – a lot thinner than say, the skin on your nose and that doesn’t help. The thin skin allows the blood underneath to show up more than it does in other places and this is one reason why it can look a bit bruised. The reason that it looks worse when you are tired, stressed or otherwise compromised is that your skin- the largest organ of the body – looses some of its glow when you do. Dehydration, poor nutrition, sickness and lack of sleep can turn even the youngest of skin sallow so take care of it (me included). The reason why bags tend to get worse with age (and why some people suffer more than others) is partly how you care for your skin and partly genetic. Yet again, if your parents suffered from eye baggyitis then you most likely will too. As we age the skin’s scaffolding thins out making it sag and this saggyness causes the illusion of shadows adding to the baggy eye look.

Finally, there may be an allergy or sickness contributing to your problem. Anyone who’s had a bout of hay fever […]