There are treatments to try and relieve AD, but there is no cure

Chaya’s   grandmother lives with her family, and Chaya is very close to her. Chaya learned how to sew and cook at an early age, because she enjoys spending lots of time with her grandmother. She also loves reading, and has even figured out how to read while in the shower! Chaya collects stamps.

What is atopic dermatitis?

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin condition which causes your skin to become very red and itchy. It’s sometimes called eczema. In severe atopic dermatitis, patches of the skin become even more red, swollen, and unbearably itchy. There are treatments to try and relieve AD, but there is no cure.

When did you find out you had atopic dermatitis? How did you find out?

I’ve had AD for as long as I can remember. It’s always been a part of my life.

Does having atopic dermatitis affect your day-to-day life? How?

When I was little, I had AD behind my knees, on my arm, and on my neck. It’s easy to cover those parts, but as I got older, I started getting atopic dermatitis on my face as well, and there’s no way to hide that.

My parents tried all sorts of treatments. We’ve tried (and continue to try) conventional medicine (regular doctors), creams, calcium injections, and also natural medicine. Nothing’s helped long-term.

Twice, I needed to go to the hospital and was admitted to the dermatology department (which treats skin diseases), because my skin was so bad. I literally had holes in my skin; it was so red and raw and irritated, and I kept scratching it more and more, which damaged the skin and caused bleeding and deep wounds. Even when I work very hard to control myself and not scratch, once I’m asleep, I can’t control it anymore and I scratch all night long, in my sleep.

I also saw an allergy doctor, but we didn’t learn anything dramatic. I’m  allergic to cats and oranges. But I’m  allergic to unknown things too, and sometimes I get bad allergic reactions. My eyes swell up so much that I can’t see a thing. I wake up in the morning and I literally cannot open my eyes.

Moving to Eretz Yisrael has been good for my AD. It’s drier here, and the water has more calcium in it and is better for me.

For a while, I tried sleeping without pillows, in case I was allergic to dust-mites. But that didn’t help, either.

Steroid creams help, but only while I use them. As soon as I stop using them, the AD comes back even worse. And it’s not healthy to use steroids long-term.

The word dermatology comes from the Latin root “derma,” which means “skin.”