Kuniko’s story

When my itch was so intense that it seemed impossible to leave the house in the morning, I would do a handstand against the wall. Being upside down helped me enough to make it out the door.

The itch so intense and widespread, that creeps up and keeps pounding, making me contemplate slicing my skin to replace it with pain. Is this dizzying blow what people with migraines go through?

During the day, the itch is constant, tingling and untraceable. Is this what fibromyalgia feels like, but an itchy version? Trying to distract myself from the itch is exhausting. No wonder there is a connection between eczema and depression.

Because the itch intensifies at night, unless a hard, pointy object is placed under my back, I can’t fall asleep. I wake periodically, itchy and scratching.
If only the itch would go away. I could live with the rash—the dry and coarse skin that I hide behind long sleeves; the bleeding, burning, oozing and weeping skin.

Reprinted with permission from the National Eczema Association. To read the full personal account visit: https://nationaleczema.org/itching-for-relief/