Photos

Beware, these photos are quite gruesome at times…

When I made the decision to quit the steroids and detox my body to heal myself of eczema, I didn’t really consider documenting my progress. It was hard enough for me to look in the mirror much less take photos of myself. The only reason why I started to take photos was to email them to my health coach with an explanation about what was going on with my body just to make sure that it was normal to be experiencing what I was experiencing. In hindsight, I wish that I actually had taken more photos of more areas of my body. The most constant areas under attack were my legs and feet, hence why there are so many photos of them. The rest of my body did undergo the whole oozing and flakiness, but not to the extreme degree that my feet went through. My face became swollen at times, oozy in some areas, then got dry and flakey. I had experienced some discolouration on my face and neck as well, but the healing time for those areas were the first areas that I saw quick relief in. My arms and torso also became oozy then dry and flakey, but again NOTHING like my legs and feet.

It is said that the body must detox and heal itself from the inside out, then from the top to the bottom, through the extremities. I take it that is why my feet are the last to heal, as well as still finding my hands to be thick and in need of repair (through the extremities). I also believe that my feet have been the worst throughout this process because of the steroid injections that I had in them (as well as my hands) a few years back.

Further along into my journey I would find my torso, face and upper arms to be in the best skin health I had experienced in a long time. I finally had smooth, soft skin in those areas and knew it was only a matter of time for the rest of my body to catch up! I can’t wait till the day that this is all over… I look forward to digging my toes in the sand, doing cartwheels on the grass in a park, running, skipping, jumping lol and wearing cute shoes again!!! I will definitely be posting a photo of my feet, nicely healed with a fresh pedicure haha!

Hering’s Law of Cure:

In the 19th century a Hungarian homeopathic physician named Constantine Hering made a discovery that is now known as Hering’s Law of Cure. He stated, “All cure comes from within out, from the head down, and in reverse order as the symptoms have appeared in the body” (pg. 162 Anderson, Richard. (1988). Cleanse and Purify Thyself). In other words, healing starts from the inside of the body and works outward and from the top of the head and works downward, occurring in the reverse order in which sickness afflicted the body. This means that your body will heal the internal organs first; liver, kidneys…etc., before your skin is healed. In addition, if you have eczema on your face and upper parts of your body, that will heal first before eczema on your legs and feet can heal.

Steroid/Emollient Use: Desonide – on face, Triamcinolone – all over my body with wet wrapping at times (more concentrated), Steroid Injections – hands & feet, compound steroid mixes with Lubriderm, I think I tried Elidel and Protopic at a point in time, and some weird Tar cream, along with heavy Aquaphor usage for years, Vaseline, Eucerin cream, different Aveeno lotions (these last 4 OTC emollients have many unnatural and chemical ingredients in them).

It is truly amazing to see the transformations that my skin goes through from day to day. It just shows how awesome our bodies is at healing and restoring itself. It will take time, but it will heal!

**I started my withdrawal process in March 2012. June is the beginning of my documentation…

JUNE 2012

June 20, 2012 – Ugh! The WORST my feet ever got… oozy, bloody, huge flakes, swollen and impossible to walk on or stand. Those topical and injected steroids did a number on my body, but ESPECIALLY my feet! 😦

June 20, 2012 – Anytime throughout this journey I felt I couldn’t press on, I would go back to these photos and remind myself of what I’ve accomplished!

June 20, 2012 – It’s insane how gruesome my feet got, I’m so very thankful that I won’t ever have to experience this intensity again!

June 21, 2012 – Skin is oily from coconut oil, which in hindsight I should’ve not used, I should’ve just kept the open sores to dry.

AUGUST 2012

August 29, 2012 – Flaking has gone down considerably, thick “elephant” type skin is left.

August 29, 2012 – Thick “elephant” type skin on wrists.

*During the fall and winter my skin was pretty calm, it was going through a break from the withdrawal. I was still itchy at times, not as bad as in the very beginning of my withdrawal and I didn’t experience any oozing or open wounds. During this time I was able to leave the house and be productive with little to no pain.

FEBRUARY 2013

February 5, 2013 – Skin has smoothed out, but has some bumps and thickening.

February 5, 2013 – Bumpiness also on legs.

February 5, 2013 – Some thickness and bumpiness on wrists, smooth fingers.

February 5, 2013 – Still thick & dark around eyes, itchy and dark around mouth.

*Spring time hit and I started to go through the withdrawal process again. I became itchier and started to develop more scaliness and oozy spots that turned into crusted scabs. I thought that the reason why the process was starting again was because of the high pollen count and it being allergy season effecting my skin. I wasn’t experiencing any irritated nasal symptoms or itchy eyes like how I would in the past, just skin issues. It also could have been that some people have breaks in between their topical steroid withdrawal process, which allows their bodies to rest and get strong enough during the break to battle it out all over again. I would realize that although it was happening again, it wasn’t as intense as it was the year before.

APRIL 2013

April 16, 2013 – Slightly oozy spots turn into crusted scabs.

April 16, 2013 – Break outs on legs and feet, scaling and crusted bumps.

MAY 2013

May 1, 2013 – Notice the scaling on my legs.

May 7, 2013 – Thick “elephant skin” behind my knees.

May 7, 2013 – Thickened skin, and somewhat swollen hands.

May 23, 2013 – Raised patches, starting to get oozy and crusty.

May 23, 2013 – Slight oozing and crusting.

May 24, 2013 – Broke out in a few hives on my face out of nowhere… went away after a few hrs.

May 31, 2013 – No oozing, but thickened skin.

May 31, 2013 – Zoomed in scaling on my leg.

JUNE 2013

June 1, 2013 – Zoomed in wrinkling and thickness.

June 1, 2013 – Zoomed in flaking and scaling.

June 6, 2013 – Dry flakes have come off, pink skin underneath.

June 9, 2013 – More oozing, skin has a yellow tinge because I used a coco oil and ground turmeric powder mix.

JULY 2013

July 8, 2013 – Huge flakes and dry skin.

July 25, 2013 – Smooth ankle from dry skin falling off.

July 25, 2013 – Super dry, patchy discolouration and scaling on legs.

*The month of August had me on my feet a lot. I was packing up, getting ready to move from North Carolina to New York City at the end of the month and as much as I tried to rest my feet they started revolting on me. The emotional stress and physical stress that my body was going through didn’t help my healing process at all.

AUGUST 2013

August 29, 2013 – Super oozy and cracked.

August 30, 2013 – Started moisture withdrawal.

SEPTEMBER 2013

September 9, 2013 – Super dry, but I felt that the moisture withdrawal helped. Saturating my skin with coconut oil wasn’t allowing the scabs to dry & heal.

September 9, 2013 – Cracking & bleeding along edges.

September 20, 2013 – Thick, dry, crusted shell of skin ready to come off.

September 25, 2013 – My face and from the knees up were so clear during this time. It’s so crazy to be experiencing such hell on my feet, but super clear, non flaring skin everywhere else (definitely wasn’t complaining about that!). There is still some thickening on my eyelids, and you can see the different skin tones from my neck and chest to the skin tone in my face.

OCTOBER 2013

October 6, 2013 – Dry like the Sahara Desert, but flaking is a good thing!

October 6, 2013 – Inner side of my heel.

October 6, 2013 – Yes, a super silly photo of myself… but I just wanted to show how wonderfully clear my facial skin was here. 🙂

October 8, 2013 – Huge dry flakes ready to fall off.

October 13, 2013 – A lil mini milestone, I ended my homebound streak, leaving the house and going out to brunch with my besties! 🙂

October 14, 2013 – Notice how the huge flakes on the inner part of my heels have fallen off.

October 15, 2013 – Finally a break!! Some relief!! Hallelujah!!

October 15, 2013 – Just left with thickened “elephant skin”.

NOVEMBER 2013

November 15, 2013 – My feet, in shoes!! haha! I finally got to take my walk around Central Park and enjoy the changing autumn leaves!

November 19, 2013 – Thick dry spot, a huge improvement from the huge flakes that were falling off last month.

*The winter was another wonderful break of no oozing, huge flaking and irritation. I was still itchy during this time, but more so on my legs and feet. The break allowed me to work and be really productive without pain and irritation. I feel that these breaks during the fall/winter allow my body to store up energy to battle out another healing process come spring/summer.

FEBRUARY 2014

February 4, 2014 - Super bumpy and definitely itchy at times. — February 4, 2014 – Super bumpy and definitely itchy at times.

MAY 2014

*May began the end of the break and started another flare session. I do remember having anxiety about the weather getting warmer and feeling self conscious about having my skin exposed. This added stress definitely wasn’t good for my skin. By the end of May I was taking off days from work because of the pain that I was in, and eventually had to take a leave of absence. It became difficult and uncomfortable to put on socks and shoes and really get around. The whole summer wasn’t completely terrible, there were a few good days here and there where my feet and legs were calm enough to get out and run errands or have a little bit of fun. Even on those days I had to know my limits and pray that I wouldn’t be paying for it the next day.

May 7, 2014 – Bumps are starting to come back and raised patches.

May 13, 2014 – Super scaly and dry, yellow spots are where there was slight oozing that started to crust.

May 24, 2014 – Slight swelling, thickening on eyelids, uncomfy and itchy. I remember it being uncomfortable to open my mouth wide and turn my head from slight oozing and crusting.

May 30, 2014 – So dry and flakey my skin looks white here.

JUNE 2014

JULY 2014

July 9, 2014 – The dry as a desert and raised patchiness continues…

AUGUST 2014

*So there’s A LOT of documentation for this month. I had moved, again… not that far, like 20 min away but still the stress of packing and cleaning took another toll on my feet. I was on them a lot more again, and didn’t get to rest them as much as I would’ve loved. The move happened on the 15th, and the days leading up to the move had me on my feet non stop, leaving me with achy, swollen feet by the end of the day. There was also something that I shouldn’t have done that I feel brought on such an intense break out. The day before the move I had felt confident enough in the state of my feet to shower without the shower cast boots (I had been keeping them dry since May, using the boots to protect the oozy, flakey wounds). I used the same soap I always use (African black soap) and moisturized with the same stuff I always use (coco oil and shea butter). I thought all was well, but the next few days I noticed that it may have been a premature decision to wet my feet. They started slightly oozing again and becoming irritated. Soon enough it was full blown, leaving me housebound and with extreme discomfort in even walking around. It got so bad that I would just slide around ON TOP of my slippers instead of actually putting my foot in it. I just didn’t want anything rubbing up against the open wounds and tugging at the huge flakes, prematurely pulling them off. It’s amazing to see the transformations that my skin goes through from day to day.

August 23, 2014 around 4am – I probably couldn’t sleep at this time and figured I’d document what my feet were doing…

August 23, 2014 around 4am – Oozing underneath scaliness.

August 23, 2014 around 4am – I would remember when it would ooze and crack like this every step I would take would feel like my skin was tearing apart.

August 23, 2014 evening – Some swelling going on, and the some of the oozing from earlier has started to dry and crust.

August 24, 2014 – This dry crusting feels like a heavy shell on top of my feet and makes it super uncomfortable to bend.

August 25, 2014 – You can see that there is minimal irritation on my legs here, just itchiness.

August 25, 2014 – Some of that thick shell of dead skin has fallen off, which always makes my feet feel like a weight has been lifted and makes it more possible to bend and move comfortably.

August 26, 2014 – It’s nice to see smoother skin once the flaky shell has fallen off.

August 26, 2014 – Huge flake starting to lift up, ready to fall off, unfortunately there is oozing underneath so I let it dry completely and let it fall off on its own. No picking!!

August 27, 2014 – Happy birthday to me! Sadly I was housebound dealing with this mess, but still felt special from the love from those who wished me well 🙂

August 27, 2014 – Thankfully no intense swelling.

August 28, 2014 – At this point I was very cautious of not letting anything accidently snag off the flakes. Even sleeping with the sheets not covering my feet so it wouldn’t pull at it.

August 28, 2014 – Super dry, huge flakes just waiting to fall off, and me trying with all my might to not pull it off lol.

August 29, 2014 – Left foot seemed to be not as intense as the right for some reason.

August 29, 2014 – Yea, that’s the biggest flake I’ve ever seen on my body! Insane.

August 29, 2014 – Huge crack, dry ooze and some blood inside.

SEPTEMBER 2014

September 13, 2014 – Scaling starting to fall off, and you can see some smoothing out on the top of my feet.

September 20, 2014 – A few painful clear fluid filled blisters popped up on the bottom of both feet and by my toes.

September 22, 2014 – Thighs discoloured patchy spots.

September 22, 2014 – Knees not as thick with that “elephant” type skin as in the past.

September 22, 2014 – Elbows not as thick with that “elephant” type skin as in the past.

September 22, 2014 – Hands still a work in progress.

September 22, 2014 – Look at how clear my upper arm is!!! The skin is so soft and smooth, normal colouring, my natural oils are all intact in this area (as well as my torso, neck and face) and I’m never itchy in these spots.

September 22, 2014 – Bottom half of my arms, still discoloured and thickened (thankfully not as much as before) but getting better!

September 24, 2014 – Finally some clearing up from all that rough scaling.

September 26, 2014 – Unfortunately the clear skin was short lived because I attacked my feet one night with a scratching fit :(.

September 28, 2014 – Ugh, bloody, cracked spots.

OCTOBER 2014

October 4, 2014 (around 1pm) – Unfortunately picked at my feet the night before, looks smooth and clean, but when I don’t let the crust naturally fall off it starts to ooze and bleed later on.

October 4, 2014 (8 pm) – about 7 hrs later and certain spots have started to ooze and bleed.

October 4, 2014 – Zoomed in pic of the skin on my thigh. Super smooth and eventoned!! Sooo different from the texture on other areas.

October 4, 2014 – Zoomed in pic of my leg (not as bumpy as in the past). Notice the different texture from this to the skin on my thigh.

October 8, 2014 – Facial skin pretty good, just around my mouth is irritated (itchy, dry & red). It’s shiny because I put coco oil on it. Still some darkening around my eyes.

October 8, 2014 – Reading in the sun, you can notice some thickening and discolouration.

October 8, 2014 – Fingers pretty smooth and not irritated, yay!!

October 10, 2014 – Clearing up well, just dry, crumbly crusting going on.

October 16, 2014 – Looks relatively clear, pinkish in colour, but in a few days another round of a mini flare will occur…

October 18, 2014 – (9 pm) You can see the progression in just a few hours.

October 18, 2014 – (9 pm) Bloody, crusty area.

October 21, 2014 – Small cut under my lip on the left side that drove me crazy.

October 21, 2014 – Super annoying dry irritation around my mouth.

October 21, 2014 – Around my mouth has been a trouble area for sometime, but this dryness was being extra stubborn. It’s probably taking its time to heal because I would constantly use Desonide (steroid ointment) on it. UGH!

October 21, 2014 – Turmeric paste of a dash of ground organic turmeric and a spoonful of organic virgin coco oil. Mix and use on dry, scaly areas (I wouldn’t recommend putting on oozy, wet areas, those need to stay dry so it can scab over). Super healing, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory & antibacterial, just beware it stains like crazy! 😉

October 21, 2014 – Turmeric Face!! Slathered coco & turmeric paste, beware of staining!

October 22, 2014 – My paste is healing up my irritated mouth nicely! A few flakes waiting to fall off.

October 22, 2014 – That yellowy spot is just a dab of the turmeric paste.

October 22, 2014 – The skin is such a weird colour underneath – like this purply/red/pink hue. Can’t wait for it to heal up and even out!

October 23, 2014 – Clearing up nicely! No more flakes, just some bumpiness!

October 25, 2014 – This paste works!! Still slightly red, but no more flaking, cracking or irritation!

October 28, 2014 – I mainly used the turmeric paste, but also took breaks and just moisturized with coco oil.

November 2014

It’s pretty crazy that this is November and I’m still dealing with the end of this flare. Around this time last year I was doing a lot better, no oozing, flaking swelling etc. I was out and about and living my life. I’m still homebound because it just hurts too much to be on my feet for any length of time. I had a few doctors appointments, which I was forced to leave and even then it was a mission. I had to wear my Adidas sandals (I have 2 pairs, one for outside one for in), but have a paper towel wrapped around my feet and gingerly slip it into the sandal. The paper towel was to help with any rubbing that would occur (and oozing) from the strap up against my skin. Even this had me in aching pain after a few hours of being out. At home, I get around by sliding on top of the sandal, so I don’t have to deal with the strap covering my foot and rubbing up against it. I guess I just chalk it up and figure that I haven’t had a break like in the past because this is the home stretch of my withdrawal process. Some people get breaks, it could be a few weeks or in my case months, and some people just go straight through with no breaks at all. Everyone’s body is unique. If this is the case, that I’m not experiencing a break right now and that it really is the end, then Hallelujah lol! I’m just taking it day by day, and trying to not let whatever new stage my foot decides to be in that day bother me. I’m experiencing such smoothness and moisture retention in my skin everywhere else, that I know it’s only a matter of time until my feet are finally done and in the same state as the rest of my body. Patience is indeed a virtue!

November 3, 2014 – Still clear and smooth around my mouth, that turmeric paste worked!

November 3, 2014 – My face is insanely smooth, just need the skin tone to even out in spots.

November 10, 2014 – Ugh, the thickness!!

November 11, 2014 – This thick crusty shell of skin drives me nuts!!!

November 11, 2014 – Right outer ankle. Super bumpy and thickened skin.

November 11, 2014 – Fairly smooth legs! I only feel itchy sometimes on the bottom half of my legs!

November 11, 2014 – Inner left arm smoothing out nicely (right is the same).

November 11, 2014 – Still more smoothing out to be done.

November 11, 2014 – Fingers the smoothest they’ve ever been with no cracking or irritation! (right is the same).

November 14, 2014 – No more thick elephant skin on my knees! Still some smoothing to go.

November 14, 2014 – It’s amazing how smooth in texture my thighs are compared to other areas.

November 16, 2014 – Trying the turmeric paste to heal up those pesky blisters on the bottom of my left foot.

November 18, 2014 – Trying out the turmeric paste on dry areas of my feet.

November 18, 2014 – Blister on left foot full of clear liquid.

November 19, 2014 – Decided to put a thin layer of the turmeric paste on the whole foot.

November 22, 2014 – Looks like the paste worked!

November 23, 2014 – The paste seems to be drying it out, and keeping the inflammation & swelling down.

November 23, 2014 – This paste is helping, now just to be disciplined and not pick off the hard, crusted dead skin!!

November 23, 2014 – Leg before I put moisturizer on it, not as intensely dry and flaky as in the past.

December 2014

December 10, 2014 – 11am – I applied a thin amount of my turmeric coconut oil mix and added more throughout the day.

December 10, 2014 – 8pm – By the nighttime you can see that this powerful mix started to “draw out” the broken skin and bring it through another healing crisis.

December 10, 2014 – 8pm- Skin is super yellow because of the mix, at this point I was wondering if this was a good idea to have done this because I was experiencing oozing in spots, some pain and huge flakes.

December 14, 2014 – The turmeric coconut oil mix definitely helped in clearing it up!

December 14, 2014 – Huge, crusty, hard flakes.

December 16, 2014 – SUPER annoying oozing and crusty blisters on the bottom of my left foot.

December 19, 2014 – Turmeric and coconut oil mix on the bottom of my left foot.

December 25, 2014 – Slightly raw in spots with dry crumbly flakes.

December 25, 2014 – Blistered spot is starting to heal up!!

January 2015

A new year, let’s do it!!! I’m not going to lie, 2014 had it’s ups and downs, and unfortunately for the latter part of the year I was down (as you can see from the photos). I’m super hopeful for this year, and that the issues with my feet will finally be cleared up completely. It’s insane to think that the rest of my body is super clear, smoothing out, barely itchy, the discolouration is evening out and my natural oils are coming back! Just a little bit of thickness left in my hands and they can get slightly itchy at times as well, but other than that it’s just my feet still left to restore! They haven’t been oozing as intensely as previous months Thank God, and they seem to be drying and flaking a lot more which is a great sign! I’ve been continuing my healthy plant based, whole food pretty much vegan diet and my supplements (probiotics, enzymes, wild blue green algae and a vitamin D supplement), the only new things that I’ve been adding is taking a spoonful of apple cider vinegar in a glass of water about 15-20 min before my “linner” and drinking golden turmeric milk at night before bed (about an hour or so after my green drink). I feel that these additions have helped a lot as I keep on keepin’ on in this healing process. Since my feet are in a bit better shape I’ve also added jumping on a rebounder. This helps to stimulate the lymph system and aids in healing. I’m slowly working my way up to at least 20-30 min a day so I can work up a good sweat and release those toxins. I do experiencing some itching and slight burning while jumping but after I’m done with my workout it’s completely gone. Although it’s low impact, because I’m not pounding on the hard ground, I think it’s just the feet getting used to the exercise and possibly has something to do with the nerves that were damaged from the steroid use. Either way, I’ve been needing to get into some exercise, and I’m glad that I’m at a better place with my feet that I am able to do so. Looking forward to a great year, and I’m praying by spring time (hopefully before then!!) I’ll be out and about again!!