Scratching the Surface of Skin Science - A Personal Narrative

“Dude, your neck is really bleeding.” I smiled through my discomfort and nodded, trying to ignore the burning pain I now felt. “Yeah, it’s just my eczema,” I shrugged, trying to dispel their concern. I walked to the bathroom and locked the door, trying not to panic. I used my phone camera to see how bad my skin really was, but in reality, I already knew it was bad. I could feel it as the stray hairs from my ponytail brushed against my neck when the air blew from the vent above me. If my neck was this raw, the skin would take weeks to heal, and I knew that any minor inconvenience could cause me to scratch off the freshly healed skin all over again. My mind raced as it considered all the things that could have caused such a painful reaction.  I looked in my font camera once again. Red, inflamed lines were left where my already-short nails had wreaked havoc on my skin. Flakes of dead skin covered my dark blue choir shirt, enough to look like tiny snowflakes had fallen all around the hem. This was going to leave some serious scars. I took a few deep breaths, pulling myself out of the chaos and overthinking in my brain. “I’ve been dealing with this my whole life,” I thought, trying to keep my hands away from my already bleeding neck. “I should know how to manage this.” I unlocked the door, grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser, and ran it under the water. Wincing, I held it up to my neck, hesitantly moving it back and forth in an attempt to remove some of the blood that had dried there. Giving up, I threw the paper towel in the can. I washed my hands, putting on a smile, and walked back to join my choir friends as we prepared for our competition in two hours, trying to ignore the burning pain and bleeding in my neck in the hopes that others wouldn’t notice it.

Life has a strange way of intertwining blessings and curses. For as long as I can remember, severe eczema has been a daily hindrance as I’ve endured seemingly never-ending flare-ups, redness, and self-consciousness about how my skin looks. Still, I must credit this condition for my keen interest in science.

My childhood memories are littered with snapshots of waiting rooms and medical referrals. I vividly remember sitting in a doctor’s office, confused as my doctor looked through pages and pages of test results, a puzzled expression on her face as the pages showed “Negative” over and over again, unable to identify an allergen. We knew there was a problem–– it was evident on my skin–– but we had no guess as to what could be causing such a reaction. Unable to do anything else for us, my doctor prescribed stronger and stronger topical steroids each visit. Even though they caused me searing pain each time I applied them to my skin, I continued to do so. I was delusional in thinking that the steroid creams alone would help me. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself to stop relying on steroids and instead address the root of the problem—or at least make an attempt to find out what that was.

I woke up at 2:37 AM after a long night of tossing and turning. Skin flakes and scabs covered my sheets. I tried to get up, but my usually dry and flaky skin felt sticky and burned. Struggling to get off my bed without stretching and splitting my skin, I rubbed my tired eyes and turned on the lights. As my eyes adjusted to the sharp white light, I moved my arms and noticed they felt strange, as if I had to put in more effort to make them move. I looked down to see huge welts on my arms. Blood was all over my nails and fingertips, residue from the still-oozing scratched areas on my arms and neck. Time seemed to stop as my heart rate quickened. “This is going to hurt so much,” I thought as I cautiously stepped in the shower, slowly exposing my skin to the running water.

Most of my nights ended this way, but even the constant pain and discomfort could not motivate me to find a better treatment plan for the condition. I applied and re-applied the steroids to my skin to no avail. I was never motivated to change the way I treated it, but  one experience completely changed my outlook on eczema and pushed me to take control of my care. My eczema had always indirectly affected my grades, but there wasn’t much I could do about that—until I bombed a biology test, a subject I truly understood and cared about, because I couldn’t get my skin under control.

I took matters into my own hands. I spent hours poring over studies and articles, searching for a real solution—not a quick fix. After three weeks of trying and failing with various flash cures, I gave up. Exhausted and in pain, I returned to the basics. Compiling my research, I identified 20 foods considered safest for people with eczema. Two fruits, two vegetables, two types of lentils, and four types of beans and grains were what I lived off of for the next month. My skin improved slightly, but not significantly, and my mental health started to decline.

As someone who considers themselves an absolute lover-of-food, the absence of indulgent treats and the withdrawal from sugar began to really affect me. The decision I made at this point, however, sparked my passion for science. I remember exactly where I was when I read about reintroducing foods into restrictive diets to identify allergens. I stopped on the sidewalk on my walk to school as my eyes scanned the fifth Reddit post of the morning. A user described their process for identifying allergens, and I became engrossed in figuring out how to develop my own method.

For the first time in months, I worked tirelessly on solving this lifelong mystery. That weekend, I reintroduced cheese, my favorite food, back into my diet. Internally, I knew it would harm my digestive system and cause more inflammation, but my desire to add it back to my diet was too strong. I ate cheese with every meal for two days, relishing each bite. A few days later, I woke up with bleeding patches of skin and crossed the word “cheese” off my list. Disappointed but hopeful, I turned to my next test: chocolate. Again, I knew chocolate wasn’t essential or particularly nutritious, but it was something I missed dearly. As expected, the same reaction occurred, and I scratched the words “chocolate” off my list as well.

As my list of allergens grew, so did my disappointment. The results of these tests made me realize how limited my diet might be, and I began to feel genuinely depressed—not just from the lack of food I could enjoy, but also from the realization that I might never get to eat the foods I loved. The problem was not the tests themselves, but the foods that I chose to reintroduce.

After a few more days of wallowing, I decided to take a more methodical approach to testing allergens. I scrapped my old food order and rewrote my list, prioritizing foods that were considered safer for eczema. I started reintroducing foods with greater nutritional value, like cabbage and peas. Although I wasn’t as excited about these foods as I had been for cheese and chocolate, I quickly realized how much value they added to my diet and energy levels. The more foods that I discovered did not cause allergies, the more motivated I became to continue this methodical way of testing.

A few months later, my skin was much better. The inflammation and swelling near my neck had decreased significantly. As I weaned off the testing process, I realized I missed the experimental nature of my research. My science journey didn’t have to end here; I began investigating other potential eczema triggers like sunlight, water, and mold, all with the aim of helping others struggling with eczema. As I started doing more research, I began finding information that could be of use to others with my condition and started a blog to help others. I wrote a book detailing my experience and the systems and skincare I use to keep my eczema under control, all for the purpose of sharing the discoveries I make for my own condition. From my condition, I have found a passion for helping others and sharing the information that I gather. My love for this realm of science has inspired me to center my career, or at least a part of it, on eczema research and treatment development.

This journey has taught me more than just scientific facts and experimental processes. It instilled in me the values of discipline and dedication. More than just instilling those values, however, I now have the confidence that I am capable enough of sticking to a goal even when the waters turn rough. I stayed on a restrictive diet for nearly six months, entirely for the purpose of improving my health. This experience showed me that I am capable of achieving any goal I set my mind to, and that I won’t stop working towards things I want to achieve until I do achieve them.