08022014: Does shaving helps the skin shed?

Hello! Back from (Chinese New Year) CNY holidays~

So during CNY we wear new pretty and new clothes, naturally as a lady I would love to wear skirts and dresses, not to mention Cheongsam (traditional Chinese dress)!

I don't have really hairy body, meaning I rarely shave because it's unnecessary, plus I wear long jeans or leggings most of the time. 

Once in a while when I want to wear dress or skirt I will shave/wax my legs and one thing I found out, everytime after I did that, my skin is super smooth!

I told my Mum about it and she said maybe because I cleared the hair follicles and makes the skin shedding easier. But of course I can't shave everyday, not only it is time consuming but it actually grows kinda slow. No point of shaving if there is nothing right? So after a week or 2 after shaving, it goes back to square one. Rough and cracked skin.

So just wanna share on how different it looks like before and after shaving.

These were taken under the same lighting of my room.

The "Before" is before I shave my legs, hair is fine so not quite visible but you can still slightly see.

"After" is a day after I got them shaved! 

The "After" photo probably looks brighter because of angle and because my skin is brighter!! :)

There is a patch of darker pigmented area as you can see at the center.

I had been scrubbing this part like mad, lightened a bit but I think it is some stubborn dead skin >_<

So after I shaved, I went out visiting in my favourite skater mini skirt!

But there was still slight insecurity, I avoid bright places just so I can hide my skin a lil.

But still, if you have an emergency, try shaving and slab on lots of hydrating lotion.

You might get smooth skin for at least 3 days!

Sufficient for me, at least, to wear skirts and dresses out~

24012014: IV in tropical countries

I guess because we live in a humid tropical country many wouldn't have thought that people here could be affected by Ichthyosis Vulgaris as well. Of course without the dry winter, it is much better here. However just like during summer, the whole year of sun caused side effects as well. 

Due to the sun, the skin sweat, though not as much as normal-skin people, it causes itchiness and rashes. The heat burns the skin, causing redness and peeling. I read that many think their skin got better after they go under the sun for a while, but here in Malaysia, I don't think going under the sun will be a good idea.

The sun doesn't come with a chilly breeze, just stingy extremely hot sun which might cause skin cancer, unnecessary tans or any other skin disorders.

In fact I have found some people with Ichthyosis Vulgaris in Malaysia! It is of course not an active topic, we don't even have proper care for it and doctors don't even know what is wrong with us. After I wrote a post on my personal blog, one of my friend read it and told me "ooooh now I know what is wrong with me, now I know the name of my skin disorder". Then I was looking for Ichthyosis Vulgaris creams selling in Malaysia and bumped into a girl through a forum who has Ichthyosis Vulgaris, but apparently there are only two of us with such disorder in the forum because no one replied haha~

So there, besides my Dad and my brother who has Ichthyosis Vulgaris, I just found 2 other Malaysians having Ichthyosis Vulgaris. Not so bad, I had always been sad because I am the only girl affected in the family, and you know how important is the skin to a female. Thus I believe there are many other like me even in Indonesia, Thailand or Singapore, just that our conditions might defer from these living in seasonal countries.

Of course we feel grateful but we still feel different and uncomfortable. I hope we can open up and learn that this genetic disorder is not any of our mistakes but it is God probably trying to make us unique.

22012014: handling eczema

Since I have developed some mild Eczema due to my Ichthyosis Vulgaris, I tried all kinds of cream to reduce the rashes, dryness and itchiness. Some provided by the doctors, even skin specialists, caused more itchiness and spreading rashes. I found this cream the most effective for me, and it is very cheap, only RM5 for the 10g and I think RM8 for the 20g tube. The 10g tube can last me for a month during normal breakout because it only takes a few days to reduce the redness and itch.

It is called "Econazine" cream, I am not sure how I found out about it since I had been using it for over 5 years now. Probably just a day when I had Eczema and my parents dropped me at some pharmacy and the pharmacist just introduced me to this cream. 

This is how the Econazine creams look like. They have the 10g and 20g tubes, I usually bring the 10g for traveling and get a few 20g to keep at home. As written, the cream is actually for antifungal and anti-inflammatory use. It is also written for infective eczema, which is probably my case because this works wonders! 

This is able to reduce my Eczema in over a night. I applied before bed and when I'm awake, tadaaa the redness reduced so much. To fully cure the eczema, I have to apply twice a day for at least 3 days (small affected area). If I apply this quickly when the symptoms come, it wouldn't develop to something worst.

For those having Eczema, there is no harm trying this cream, it is only RM5 after all...that is like 1.5USD?? It is however a controlled medicine so make sure you get it from a licensed pharmacy or clinic :)

Good news! I ordered AHA Lotion from Dermal Therapy but it will take around 3 weeks to arrive in Malaysia boohooo~ Anyways, I am excited and will do a pictorial review once it arrives! I heard many  positive stories about how effective it is for Ichthyosis Vulgaris and also normal dry skin.

19012014: soap and lotion

This is my first post for my "Coping with Ichthyosis" diary. I am diagnosed (by myself because non of the doctors I went to knew what was wrong, read My Story) with Ichthyosis Vulgaris.

Because of this (exposing myself) I might never find a boyfriend and get married Lol joking I had 3 ex boyfriends (so don't worry so much about your appearances, none of them mind!) but would prefer single life at least for now. I would like to help those who are also suffering from Ichthyosis Vulgaris but mistakenly diagnosed as Eczema (like me), those who are too shy to admit (like me when I was younger, I avoided questions, now I just proudly say "I have Ichthyosis Vulgaris, go Google") and those who would like to know soothing remedies (it would also be best to read and join the forum on Ichthyosis.com).

After I knew I had Ichthyosis Vulgaris, I not only explain how and why my skin is such, people seem to be more considered. Not that I wanted the special treatment but they seem to understand if the area I sleep I covered with flakes, my table appear dusty even though it's just fine skin particles (ewww I know but I couldn't help it, it's nature doing it's job), and I unconsciously scratch myself at night while sleeping. My roommate of 5 years in university is admirably tolerant because even I feel annoyed that the floor on my side always feel sandy and dusty from the flakes.

Anyways, here will be the journey of my ups and downs coping with Ichthyosis Vulgaris and types of remedies I tried for my skin. There is no cure for Ichthyosis Vulgaris but we all try to minimize the itch, irritation and pain.

As of today, I am using the Johnson's Baby Milk Bath (other types of Baby baths didn't work) and St.Ives Hydrating Vitamin E lotion with scrubbing using coarse loofah.

The weather is pretty humid these days (I found molds growing on my one-week left aside backpack yikes!) so the flaking isn't that bad. Maybe except my back which is more difficult for me to scrub.

I also blogged about it on my personal blog 2 years ago when I discovered I have Ichthyosis Vulgaris
http://meilinxo.blogspot.com/2010/07/of-ichthyosis-vulgaris-and-me.html

The most frequently asked question is "why are your hands like that?" The top is like wrinkly (can be denied, I might be so hardworking washing dishes & cleaning the house Lol) but the palm is obviously not like a common person. These palms were what the trainee doctor was amazed with and he took out his camera right away, started taking pictures of my palms instead of inspecting me *sigh. I hope he finally found what is the disease and will one day find a cure =.= And these is a name for it, it's called "Hyperlinear Palm Wrinkles" 

Scaly leg and arm. I just applied lotion so the scales don't look so bad right now. Some other time you can see white flakes (you can see some on the arm) and just so scaly even if you stand 2-3 meters away you will notice.

No eczema rashes because it rained whole day, I just stayed home. But feet had been sensitive to dirty floor so we had been vacuuming and mopping alternate days. Even the slightest dust can cause itch. And sometimes I missed out the sole while applying lotion because I need to hurry so the sole crack on the lines.