I’m always telling kids and adults with eczema at the clinic to “moisturize your skin”, but when it’s hot and humid in the summer, everyone puts away their bottles and jars of moisturizer and emollients for the winter. So today I want to shout out to you who suffer from eczema: wear moisturizer in the summer too! Just after May, the long summer has begun, with waves of dragon boat rains and the recent start of the hot barbecue mode, in such a hot and humid season, eczema patients are unabated. I don’t know in this hot summer also lurked around the big enemy of eczema skin. The first enemy: sweating Sweating is the normal function of the skin, can regulate body temperature, increase the water content of the skin, but many eczema patients will find that the skin will appear when sweating “itchy” or “pins and needles” feeling, serious eczema in the sweaty parts will also be recurrence. Why is this so? Research has found that when sweating a lot, the composition of sweat will change, the pH value will rise (normal skin pH value of 4.5-5.5), so there is a certain degree of irritation of the skin. At the same time, some proteins in the sweat will combine with microbial components on the skin surface, stimulating the skin cells to produce itch-causing substances histamine, aggravating the itchy skin symptoms. The outermost stratum corneum of the skin of eczema patients is often incomplete, and sweat components are more likely to come into contact with intraepidermal cells, stimulating the skin to produce some inflammatory factors, inducing an inflammatory reaction of the skin. Countermeasures: 1, try to outdoor exercise in the early morning or evening, and carry a change of clean clothes, sweat in a timely manner after the replacement of wet clothes; 2, outdoor activities with a bottle of pure water and towels used to clean the skin sweat, with a wet towel or mild non-irritating wipes gently wipe the sweat, with the conditions of the shower in time to wash away the sweat; 3, after the shower or wet towel wiped in a timely manner to apply moisturizers, you can Choose a light and easy to absorb moisturizing milk or moisturizing lotion, especially dry skin patients can choose moisturizing cream; 4, in the elbow, popliteal and other easy to sweat parts of the eczema patients, you can use hormone cream in the affected area half an hour after the application of emollients, you can choose a light moisturizing milk or lotion (lotion), to avoid a thicker coating, you can use a small amount of multiple times. The second enemy: sunlight in the summer sunlight in the ultraviolet radiation intensity enhancement, in the outdoors, especially the beach activities are very easy to cause acute skin sunburn. Sunburned short-term performance for the skin redness and pain, a few days after the redness subsides and will appear dry skin peeling, this situation is not actually an allergic reaction, but the ultraviolet rays directly damage to the epidermal cells and damage to the skin barrier performance. Another situation is that if the whole summer is not sunscreen, we will see the skin gradually tanned, at the same time, we can not see, can be detected with the instrument of the destruction of the outer layer of the skin stratum corneum, the skin will appear to reduce the water content, more sensitive performance. Therefore, for eczema patients whose skin is already dry, an acute sunburn, or chronic ultraviolet damage caused by not paying attention to sunscreen, may cause skin sensitivity aggravation or even eczema flare-ups. Countermeasures: 1, eczema patients should also do a good job of daily sunscreen, in addition to umbrellas, wear a wide-brimmed sun hat, wear long-sleeved pants protection, you can also use sunscreen, recommended to choose the use of medical sunscreen products suitable for sensitive skin; 2, after a long period of outdoor activities, the exposure area in particular, to strengthen the application of moisturizing cream or moisturizing milk. The third enemy: air conditioning Summer in the airtight indoor use of air conditioning refrigeration, the temperature drops at the same time, the indoor air humidity will also be reduced, for example, under normal circumstances, the outdoor humidity of 90%, the indoor humidity is below 60%, the lower the temperature, the lower the humidity will also be. For normal people, indoor temperature of 26℃-29℃ and humidity of 40%-60% in summer will feel more comfortable. But for eczema patients, if the air-conditioned room feels more suitable temperature when the humidity has been reduced to less than 60%, at this time the skin to the environment will increase the loss of water, skin dryness will be aggravated. Countermeasure: There is only one, hydrate and moisturize! You can use pure water or distilled water spray, you can also use the living spring water spray, but after hydration must be coated with moisturizing cream in order to lock the moisture in the skin. Enemy #4: Summer Cleansing Skincare Products Since UV rays can damage the skin’s stratum corneum and aggravate dryness and sensitivity, sunscreen is a must. But certain ingredients in sunscreen products can easily cause skin irritation and sensitivity, which can cause eczema sufferers’ conditions to worsen. In summer, the skin sweats more oil, we clean the bath more often, clean the use of bath products may damage the skin lipid barrier, will also cause eczema aggravation. Countermeasures: summer bath shower still need to apply moisturizing milk or moisturizing lotion, skin especially dry patients can choose cream. The fifth enemy: swimming swimming is one of the best summer sports, but many eczema patients will appear after swimming skin dryness, itching or eczema flare-ups, this is mainly due to the alkaline pH of swimming pool water, as well as swimming pool water chlorine disinfectant will cause skin irritation. Countermeasures: 1, if because of eczema skin cracks or vesicles oozing, should avoid swimming; 2, into the pool before the whole body coated with enough thick enough emollient ointment or moisturizing cream, swimming after the end of the full rinse and apply emollient in a timely manner.