Unhide Eczema - Eczema Awareness Month

Each year, as Eczema Awareness Month approaches, I feel a familiar pressure to come up with the "right" message. Something that captures what it means to live with eczema, or to care for someone who does.

Part of the challenge is that I'm not only trying to tell my own story. Through years of advocacy and conversations with individuals and families affected by eczema, I've been entrusted with pieces of countless stories. While every experience is unique, the themes are often remarkably similar. The challenge becomes finding a way to capture those experiences in a few short paragraphs when eczema has a way of touching nearly every aspect of daily life.

Eczema isn't simply dry skin, a rash, or an itch. It weaves itself into countless decisions and experiences, many of which go unnoticed by those around us.

From the moment we wake up until we finally fall asleep, we make hundreds, if not thousands, of decisions every day. What to wear. What to eat. Where to go. What deserves our attention first. For someone living with eczema, there are even more considerations.

Hair pulled back or worn down. Glasses or contact lenses. A pullover sweater or a button-up shirt.

To most people, these are simple choices. For someone living with eczema, they often depend on the condition of their skin that day. If eyelids are swollen or fingers are cracked and bleeding, putting in contact lenses may not be possible. On other days, the skin behind the ears may be raw and inflamed, making the pressure of eyeglass frames painful and leaving contact lenses as the more comfortable option.

Clothing choices often require similar calculations. Will a collar rub against irritated skin? Will a zipper, seam, or certain fabric cause further discomfort? Sometimes the decision isn't just about physical comfort. It's also about how much of your skin you're prepared to show that day. Long sleeves in warm weather, higher necklines, or extra layers may provide a way to avoid stares, questions, unsolicited advice, or the shame that can sometimes accompany visible symptoms.

These are choices many people make without a second thought. For someone with eczema, they can require careful consideration and precious energy before the day has even begun.

Some parts of eczema are easy to unhide.

During a flare on my face, swollen eyes, inflamed skin, and visible flakes announce themselves before I say a word. People can see those symptoms. They may even recognize that I'm struggling.

What is much harder to unhide are the parts that remain invisible.

It's the hours spent awake during the night, scratching an itch that feels impossible to ignore. It's the exhaustion that follows when the alarm goes off after another restless night. It's helping your children start their day when you're already running on empty.

It's the phone call from a teacher or principal about a child who seems distracted, is struggling to complete assignments, or can't stop scratching. What they don't see is the night that came before. The trips back and forth between bedrooms. The tears. The frustration. The bloodstained sheets left behind by skin scratched raw in a desperate search for relief.

There are social considerations, too. I've experienced them myself, and I've heard versions of the same story from many others in the eczema community.

Sometimes people push through activities they know may worsen their symptoms because they don't want their condition to affect those around them. They say yes to the pool party, the beach day, or the family outing, knowing it may come with hours or even days of discomfort afterward. They endure the irritation because they don't want loved ones to miss out. The guilt may be avoided, but often at a physical cost.

And that is part of why I struggle each year to write a message about eczema awareness.

How do you summarize something that influences sleep, school, work, relationships, family life, social activities, and seemingly endless daily decisions? How do you capture a condition that is present not only during flares, but in the countless calculations, adjustments, and compromises that happen behind the scenes every single day?

The reality is that while October may be Eczema Awareness Month, those living with eczema, caring for someone with eczema, or supporting a loved one through eczema experience its effects 365 days a year.

Perhaps the goal isn't to fully understand every aspect of the condition from a single post. Perhaps it's simply to remember that people are often carrying far more than we can see.

So, in the spirit of helping to unhide eczema, the next time you notice dry hands, an inflamed face, or someone scratching absentmindedly, pause before making assumptions. Approach them with a little more curiosity, a little more patience, and a little more compassion.

Because behind what you can see is often a story far more complex than a few paragraphs could ever capture.