For the past weeks my aureola's are itchy and nipples sensitive. And as I noticed those little typical flakes, it became apparent to me that it's eczema. I went to my physician who has confirmed it is. I put Vaseline on it to keep the skin fatty, as is recommended. It helps, but it won't go away completely. I have a prescribed corticosteroid cream (triamcinolon) for my knees, elbows, hands and wherever else eczema may appear. Took some experimenting to find the best cream for my skin a few years ago. And every time the Vaseline won't work, this helps the best (though not always).
Here comes the tricky part; my physician says putting the corticosteroid cream on the areola isn't a good idea, as it causes discoloration of the skin. Which is true, it's apparent on my knees. And since the aureola-skin is more sensitive and colored in itself...
So it is preferable to use other random creams to improve the condition. I have sometimes used teatree cream, which in the past has worked, so I'm going to try that. If it does not go away in a few weeks, I do have to use the corticosteroid cream. I really hope I don't have to. It's not like I take much pride in my aureola's, but I'm not looking forward to white, brown and red spotted aureola's either...
My questions are:
Has anyone ever experienced this?
What cream did you use?
Or perhaps a different kind of prescribed cream?
(maybe I can point my physician in a direction he hasn't thought about :))
We humans do molt occasionally! The skin of the nipples is quite subject to flaking and may react to the soap you ae using or, even, the detergent in which you wash your bras. Your issue is not unusual and I suspect virtually all of us have the problem some time.
Simply use a good emollient (moisturizer) a few times each day - a dab in your palm pressed against the nipple and then rub it in a bit. Or have a friend apply it, with his fingertips!
Flaky is part of it. It also is red and a bit swollen, like very tiny blisters, as if the skin gets a bit thicker and harder like a thin shell. The swelling is mostly gone now, after vaselining it for about a week or 2.
I have had eczema on other parts of my body, just never had it on my breasts. On my knees it turned chronic as it wasn't treated well at first (never completely goes away; it gets worse and less). I wouldn't want that to happen again. It is the time of year that I get the clogged sinuses and all, along with dry skin and this type of rash. So I had figured that the allergies/sensitivities would be the cause. It just appears to have chosen an inconvenient place this year.
I'll keep up with moisturizing creams and hope for the best.
I had a patch of scaling, flaking, and itching skin on each side of my scalp behind each ear. The condition became so bad that I had "dandruff" on the shoulders of my shirts, and terrible persistent itching. We finally took matters into our own hands and purchased a jar of derma e brand "Psorzema Cre'me", available in the U.S.A. Other countries may have the same or similar creams.
This is a blend of herbal extracts and skin vitamins that provide relief of the above symptoms. Neem, Burdock, Vitamins A & E, and Bearberry, are among the ingredients.
This product has cleared up my condition.
-doc
the doctor that you saw were they a dermatologist or your primary doctor? RR i looked up eczema pictures and they are similar to psoriasis which is what i have. the doctors first stated what brandye said and check to see if my skin problem was caused by detergent or some kind of allergy. it wasn't and what started as a spot behind my ear is now spots on my head. i try t gel soap but no success. now the spots have progressed to my elbows, knees, legs, and belly. at this point i scratch myself so much the skin opens and bleeds. i was prescribed a corticosteroid cream as well but it only works partially. it keeps the skin moist and prevents the body from producing so much skin but doesn't get rid of the spots.
so finally we try ultra violet light therapy, basically a hospital grade tanning bed but upright. they prescribe the dosage according to your skin type. after a few treatments 3 times per week i get some minor sun burns but they don't last longer than a day and eventually my body didn't get them anymore. my skin started to react to the treatment and stopped producing excess skin so no more itching. finally after slowly increasing the dosage of UV light and 12 weeks go by you cant even tell i had a mild case of psoriasis.:D
i hope you don't have this RR because it is an auto-immune disease and isn't curable only treatable. now i go for treatment only 2 times a month just for up keep because it came back after not going for a month. if you do have it RR this treatment worked great and i hope it is available where you live.
Thanx for the tip, DD2. I don't think they sell it here, but I may have found an alternative. It's called Cardiflor, will let you know in a couple of days :)
Big916, he's my primary physician. We have a system of gatekeepers. If he thinks he can't treat me properly, he'll refer me to a dermatologist. I could request him to do so.
This condition of my skin typically comes and goes, if properly treated. When I'm feeling ill, it will get worse. Or when my allergies are bugging me, my body typically not only responses through a runny nose and difficulties in my airways, but also through my skin. A few years back, it was actually a far worse rash, in which the skin also became puffy; that really hurt and even caused scars on my arms. So I consider myself lucky nowadays.
I can relate to the experience of doctors trying to figure out what the rash is. The chronic eczema on my knees is a legacy from those days in which there were several ideas on what was going on with my skin. I had to try different creams and that didn't do it much good. I also have it chronically on my feet; my doc and I first thought it was simple callus. I use a panthenol-urea cream on it now; but that's too aggressive for most other parts of my skin. In my groin-area and above my buttocks the rash reappears regularly; it's more red than flaky and easily turns to wet damaged skin. My doc first thought it was a yeast infection, but it appeared it's not. I usually treat that with teatree cream now. It's very hard to impossible to get rid off it on skin that is constantly suffering from friction and heat. The good thing is that I can't infect anyone with these types of rash :)
So; most of the time I have things under control. Other people don't even notice, apart from my bf who's too close to not notice ;) I'm just confronted with a particular area right now that's new to me and needs a little different approach...
ok yeah just throwing a possibility out there. you have your spots if a lot of places i had mine. hope you find something that works.
Just to check; is psoriasis also a condition that comes and goes and relates to allergies?
no what they told me is that it is an auto-immune disease(where your body attacks itself) and doctors dont know why all of those diseases happen so there is no cure. my psoriasis will come back if not treated for a while. the only thing that the nurses have said is that the cold weather can make it worse but that was not the case for me. but no it is not caused by an allergic reaction.
Ok, thanx :)
Auto-immune diseases are nasty, I know!
Just wanted to check in on this; the Cardiflor Forte worked wonders! It's all gone! :)
I think they only sell it here in Holland, site is only in Dutch; [url=http://www.vsm.nl/cardiflor-forte]Cardiflor Forte | VSM VSM is a company that sells all kinds of medication with herbs, some homeopathic. They have a beautiful garden where they grow the herbs themselves.
Translating the info on the package, apart from the notes between brackets ;):
[INDENT]Cardiflor contains two active ingredients:
[INDENT]1) Glycerine has a hydrating effect through
[INDENT]a) stimulating absorption of water through the skin to the deeper layers (iow: moisterizing).
b) preventing the skin from losing it's moisture to the air (iow: evaporating, I guess).[/INDENT]
2) Cardiospermum halicacabum stabilizes the cell membranes and decreases inflammation within the layers of the skin (which is typical for eczema)[/INDENT]
Cardiflor Forte is double concentrated cream.[/INDENT]
O, and I tried to come by DD2's recommendation but they double the price for shipping (even from GB!:eek:). Seems to me they are royally overpricing their shipping rates...
happy to hear it cleared up RR