Many of you will already know, or at least know of, Ruth Holroyd who runs the What allergy? blog. Ruth has more allergies and intolerances than all of our hot breakfasts put together and writes both movingly and amusingly about living with them.
One of the symptoms of her many intolerances is eczema and, although not as frightening as a severe asthma attack or anaphylaxis, both of which she has suffered on more than one occasion, living with the ‘all-consuming incessant itch of eczema’ can sometimes almost seem worse. Those of us whose experiences stretch no further than a few mosquito bites have very little conception of what the eczema itch is like – the late Jennifer Worth talked about having ‘a million ants crawling all over your body’. Ruth says: ‘think of a mosquito bite and mutliply it by ten. No twenty times. No, it’s more like fifty times as itchy’ – and you just HAVE to scratch even though doing so causes massive damage to the skin – a true self harming.
For her really illuminating blog – and for her 10 top tips to prevent yourself scratching, click here.