the skin i'm in

Skin is a soft outer covering of an animal, in particular a vertebrate. It performs the following functions:

1.Protection: an anatomical barrier from pathogens and damage between the internal and external environment in bodily defense; Langerhans cells in the skin are part of the adaptive immune system.[3][4]


2.Sensation: contains a variety of nerve endings that jump to heat and cold, touch, pressure, vibration, and tissue injury; see somatosensory system and haptic perception.

3.Heat regulation: increase perfusion and heatloss, while constricted vessels greatly reduce cutaneous blood flow and conserve heat. Erector pili muscles are significant in animals.

4.Control of evaporation: the skin provides a relatively dry and semi-impermeable barrier to fluid loss.[4]

5.Storage and synthesis: acts as a storage center for lipids and water

6.Absorption: Oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide can diffuse into the epidermis in small amounts, some animals uses their skin for their sole respiration organ (contrary to popular belief, however, humans do not absorb oxygen through the skin).[5]

7.Water resistance: The skin acts as a water resistant barrier so essential nutrients aren't washed out of the body.

Or at least, that's what wikipedia has to say on the matter. I'm writing this blog to complain about skin, more specifically, my skin.
 
I have what you dermatologists term sensitive skin. This doesn't mean that it's sensitive to the touch or something like that, but rather that it is sensitive to the environment. This is mostly due to the fact that I have a skin condition called eczema. For anyone who doesn't know what eczema is, allow me to enlighten you: eczema, also know as topical dermatitis,is an itchy rash which forms on the skin in red patches. It can be brought on by changes in environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity. It can also be triggered by allergies (food and seasonal) or periods of stress. all sufferers are born with this condition and it can be passed down hereditarily.
 
i've had eczema my whole life. as a child, there wasn't a winter that went by without me suffering some kind of flare up. the areas affected were usually around my wrists, ankles, behind my knees and the crooks of my arms. as i got older, my eczema became more like dry patchs on my torso, legs and arms. by the time i reached college, i was experiencing full blown bouts that lasted the entire winter months. i particularly remember one winter before coming to taiwan where my upper lip and right eye had eczema around them while i'll patiently waited for a dermatologist appointment. i went a whole winter with a badly chapped upper lip and darkened eye...you have no idea how tired i was of being asked if i was either growing a mustache or had gotten into a fight.

there isn't any cure for eczema. it is something i had to deal with and will continue to deal with for the remainder of my life. of course, this isn't a debilitating disease like many others, but it is something i have to deal with almost every day of my life. i've tried a range of treatments, from naturopathic to strong medical treatments. the naturopathic treatments tend to be tedious and expensive, as well as gradually ineffective. the medical treatments provide tremendous results, but can have some serious side effects, such as skin cancer.

since coming to taiwan, i haven't really had any episodes. this is due to the the humid climate and moderate amounts of sunshine that encourage vitamin d and folic acid. no matter what tho, i have chapped lips about 40% of the time and still feel itchy most days. i've pretty much given up on any kind of chapstick as eventually, it either irritates the skin or my lips become so dependent on the moisture that they stop producing moisture on their own. on average, i pretty much have about 7-10 days a month where my lips are normal, not peeling, inflamed, split or itchy and red.

during my last trip to canada, i experienced a full on attack. it started out being itchy and dry (which i expected given the cold, dry weather) but by new year's eve day escalated to a point where i had no choice but to visit the emergency room and get a prescription for cream that would help things. (at a cost of $94 a tube) within a day of using the cream, the eczema pretty much went away.

sometimes, all i really want is to completely change the skin i'm in. if a skin transplant were possible, i think i would spend just about any amount of money to have it done.

in the meantime, i just have to make do with what i have and get things under control.