Children with eczema don’t have a choice. They have to be Eczema Strong.
Eczema is relentless. It causes lack of sleep, constant pain and can make everyday tasks – like holding a pencil– very difficult. It impacts children’s learning and their ability to take part in activities alongside their peers. Eczema scratches away a little more joy from childhood every single day.
It takes enormous strength to keep on going and manage life with eczema – physically, mentally and emotionally. You have to be Eczema Strong! But it’s hard. Especially when you feel you’re the only child living this way. Young people with eczema are often left feeling exhausted, aching and alone.
You can help.
Make a gift to a child with eczema today to connect them to others who truly understand their pain, and read Scarlett’s and Eden’s stories below, sharing them far and wide.
Together, we can show the world what it really means to be Eczema Strong.
Bring back the joy to a child with eczema. Donate to Eczema Outreach Support and share their stories today.
Read our Eczema Strong stories here:
Eden’s story – as told by her mum
“Eczema has had a huge effect on Eden and our family – I don’t think we ever truly understood what a debilitating and cruel condition it is.
Simple everyday activities such as getting dressed or bathing can be quite a traumatic experience because even something as basic as running clean water can burn where she has continuously cut herself through the relentless scratching. Sleep and lack thereof can be challenging. Sitting on the carpeted floor can irritate her legs. Diet can have an impact, as can dusty surfaces and a build-up of hair.
Every day is a real juggle and thinking ahead constantly is exhausting. When Eden was 3, we decided to start her methotrexate journey. Having researched the medication and its pretty serious potential side effects, it was not something we took lightly at all. However, it was important that we try to give Eden a better quality of life – she was fed up, we were exhausted, and something needed to change. She has been on the medicine for a year now, and although there have been some mild side-effects, Eden seems a lot happier within herself, although her skin still isn’t great.
Eden still continues to experience regular flare-ups, and we do still have lots of tears and scratching, but generally, she’s a lot chirpier and smiley, which for us is a big win! Although eczema continues to be a big part of our lives and something we’ll need to navigate for a long while yet, it’s not all bad. We’ve joined Eczema Outreach Support, and it’s still so hard but now we know we’re not alone.
Eden is very tough, extremely resilient, and continues to amaze us every single day. She’s exceptionally inspirational and although she doesn’t know it yet, she motivates and drives us to keep going because if she can keep smiling through the constant pain she must be in, then we definitely can! Eczema parents – we’re raising true warriors!”
Eden is Eczema Strong. You can help young people like Eden by making a donation today. Let’s all be Eczema Strong.
Scarlett’s story – as told by her mum
“Scarlett has had to fight hard all her life. She spent her younger years in severe pain, constantly in and out of hospital, and never sleeping, which impacted her brothers and us. Our world revolved around her treatments. She tried everything going to help her. Eventually she went on to immunosuppressants. They helped, but it came with other challenges, and constant blood tests week-in week-out.
During Covid she was isolated completely because of her medicines. She is a brave girl and doesn’t moan but I know she can be self-conscious of her skin and wants to be covered up if she has a particularly bad skin day.
As she gets older she wants to pursue dance, but due to bouts of pain she feels she has to fight even harder, and push even more to get what she wants, due to the impacts of her skin.”
Like many young people, Scarlett has no choice, she has to be Eczema Strong. But since she joined Eczema Outreach Support, she has benefitted enormously from the tailored support of the EOS family workers. She has also attended lots of EOS events to meet other young people with eczema, and also had a school workshop about eczema, to help educate her friends. She now knows she doesn’t have to face this condition alone.
“We were in such a bad place before, and joining Eczema Outreach Support became a glimmer of light in a very dark tunnel.”
Scarlett is Eczema Strong. You can help children like Scarlett by making a donation today. Let’s all be Eczema Strong.
Harvey’s story – as told by his mum
“Harvey’s eczema journey started when he was 6 months old, his skin used to react when I put creams on. One day he absolutely screamed when I tried a new cream, his skin was burning and I knew we had to do something other than a new flipping cream. I felt so guilty as I didn’t know what to do.
I realise now that there are days when he probably shouldn’t have gone to nursery or school because his eczema was infected, but nobody told me that. I wanted him to with other children, not stuck as home with me. He’s such a sociable person.
Since then, we have been on a journey that has gone up and down – sometimes positive, then we hit a stumbling block. Countless GPs, hospital visits, infections, dermatologists, skin-prick tests, phototherapy and a thousand different creams that everyone swears by but just don’t work for Harvey. It’s also become more evident in recent months that he is allergic to dogs, we stayed in a hotel room that had previously had a dog in it without us knowing. His breathing was affected and his eczema flared, not great when you’re not at home.
We always have to make sure he always has enough bath emollient which we seem to go through in buckets, and he has to have a 20 minute bath each day, which has increased our water bill. He’s 12 and sometimes just doesn’t want to have a bath. Same with applying his creams and ointments, it’s horrible to have to remind him to take his antihistamine everyday, and make sure he’s put the right cream on, and that he has enough of it on.
For the past six months we’ve been washing his clothes and bedding differently, giving them an extra rinse, not drying them outside because of the pollen. I don’t know if these things are making a difference but at least I feel like I’m doing something to help.
Harvey is a very active child and wants to go to lots of places and do lots of things, but we have to take into account what the place will be like: will it be really dusty? Will he be able to take his own bedding? I feel like such a grump when I have to say: ‘Have a great time, but don’t forget to put your cream on!’. We offer to put it on for him but that upsets him, he says he feels like he’s not doing it right if we have to do it for him. These seem like simple things but when he’s on a school or Scout trip, he just wants to be the same as everyone else. So he does as much as he can and we deal with the consequences afterwards.”
Harvey is Eczema Strong. You can help young people like Harevy by making a donation today. Let’s all be Eczema Strong.
Eden’s story
“I’ve had eczema throughout my whole life alongside severe food allergies to nuts and fish. It settled down when I was in secondary school, and I didn’t have flares very often. Only when I was stressed or had tried new products. My eczema returned quite badly when I developed Long COVID when I was 18.
Being a young person is definitely not easy, but navigating growing up with multiple health conditions makes it even more challenging. I’ve often felt really isolated from my peers because they just haven’t understood how my eczema affects me. Just how unpredictable it is and how hard it can be to manage, especially when in a flare up! It’s also meant that I’ve missed quite a lot of school due to medical appointments, and I have missed out on social opportunities with my friends and family.
Eczema causes me a lot of pain. I’m not able to do things that other people might take for granted, being able to hold a pen and move without discomfort. It can be really exhausting having to plan treatments, advocate for yourself at appointments as well as just trying to have a ‘normal’ 21 year old life. It is definitely not easy!”
Eden knows all too well how hard life is with eczema. Her experiences led her to join Eczema Outreach Support’s Youth Panel, sharing ideas, creating new projects and having a big voice in shaping the way that EOS supports young people with eczema. It’s also given her the opportunity to make friends with other young people with eczema, and get support from people who truly understand what eczema is like.
“Eczema creates impactful opportunities to share my voice,” says Eden. “It has helped me make a difference.”
Eden is Eczema Strong. You can help young people like Eden by making a donation today. Let’s all be Eczema Strong.
(The image used is for representation only. Image used under license from Adobe Stock)
Arthur’s story
“Arthur has had eczema and has been under the consultant since he was 4 months old. He is continuously sore and itchy, really playing with not just his physical health but also his mental health. Some days he can’t go to school because he flares up and swells leaving him super poorly.
Home life can be super difficult as there’s constant creaming, bathing, hospital trips and being poorly. Now in big school Arthur finds finding friendships really difficult because some children can be horrible to him: “Don’t go near Arthur you’ll catch what he has!”. However, Arthur has such a powerful personality he doesn’t let the eczema control him.
Arthur also has a developmental delay which can be tough when he has to go for blood tests or catch-up appointments, as he doesn’t quite understand what is going on even though he has a real good understanding about his skin. Watching Arthur suffer daily is horrible as all we can do is comfort and cream him.”
However, regardless of all of the above, Arthur really is a superhero. Nothing will get him down, and when it does, he gets back up and will keep going.
Arthur is Eczema Strong. You can help children like Arthur by making a donation today. Let’s all be Eczema Strong.
Bring back the joy to young people who are Eczema Strong. Donate to Eczema Outreach Support and share their stories today.
