I’ve had eczema since I was a kid. It was so bad at one point that I was actually sent home in the middle of the day because they thought the rash that had enveloped the entire backside of my legs might be contagious. (Eczema is not contagious, by the way.)
I still get eczema and I’ve developed a bit of psoriasis on my elbows as well (thanks for the genes dad…)
In some ways, dry skin is a blessing – I get like one pimple a year. On the flip side, my skin can be so dry that it cracks, gets irritated, gets itchy, gets flaky, etc.
Not only is my skin dry, but my eyes are dry as well. I keep switching to the latest and greatest contact lenses for dry eyes (have been using Biofinity for the last year.) Today, my optometrist tells me that my eyes are so dry and they have become irritated by my lenses to the point that I have ulcerations on my cornea.
Excellent… (Not.)
I asked her what I should do to fix it and she recommended that I start taking Omega 3 vitamins.
Omega 3 vitamins are also what is recommended for eczema/psoriasis.
I hopped over to the Target across the street from my office to fill my prescription eye drops for my eye infection/ulceration. Why not get some flaxseed oil? Sure, why not.
I went back to my desk at work and swallowed the pills, not expecting much since this was day 1, hour zero.
I don’t know if it’s placebo or not, but within a few hours, I could feel my skin feel a lot less dry. The corners of my mouth feel less cracked. My elbows look less inflamed and the back of my thighs no longer itched like there was no tomorrow. A few more hours passed and my elbows have almost cleared up completely and the progress on the back of my legs is jaw-dropping. I had spent the last few weeks rubbing lotion feverishly into my legs to try and calm down the red, itchy mess. All I had to do was take some flaxseed oil capsules!
One note though, I think I took too much flaxseed and now my stomach isn’t completely happy with me… I hear it will go away in time. Until then, I think I need to scale back how much I take.