The Atopic Topic!
Some of us born with a sensitive soul, some with sensitive skin and some others know well both types of sensitivity; and that’s where I belong I guess. However the inner part is too complicated to analyse it now so let’s focus on our outer self, our skin.
The words atopic dermatitis, atopic skin or eczema should sound at least familiar to you while for those of you who suffer, you know something more. I always remember myself experiencing problems with my skin, especially during high stress seasons like exam periods; rashes, redness, scaling, cracking, itchiness and very dry appearance mostly in areas like the inner and outer elbows, under arms and behind knees are the commonest symptoms of an atopic skin.
In younger age didn’t take any care of my sensitive skin, no matter how loudly and desperately it was asking for help or how many creams my dad was bringing from our pharmacy, I was too immature to bother; in many cases resulting in the need of strong corticosteroid creams and antihistamine pills in order to restore the damage. Though, getting older and studying pharmacy, started to listen to my skin, to its needs and treating it only with the very best.
In the market you will find a lot of products dermatologically tested for sensitive skin and I guess many of them would probably be good enough. Me as a lucky girl with access to most of the pharmaceutical cosmetic brands, I have distinguished the Atoderm line products by Bioderma and the Xeracalm by Avene. Specifically, lately I only shower with the Atoderm Gel Douche, which may not smell any floral notes but leaves my sensitive skin healthy without any irritation like most of the common brands do. Additionally, after shower for extra care, increase of moisture and restoration, I apply the Atoderm Lait on a daily basis. On days of exacerbation I substitute the last one with its ‘sibling’ the Atoderm Intensive Baume as a stronger alternative.
Before that and for a quite long period, I was using in the same way the Cold cream Ultra rich cleansing gel combined with the XeraCalm Lipid-Replenishing cream of Avene. I didn’t change because I wasn’t happy enough; in contrast I can say I have chosen them as equally good and better than many others in the field. It’s just about trying other products and changing from time to time. In the future I may do a mix & match between those two brand lines.
Personally, using those products specifically designed for sensitive skin, I have seen the difference, however both brand lines include a wide variety of products for sensitive, dry or atopic skin, which you can explore, ask advice from your pharmacist and find the most effective and suitable ones for your case.
It is important to state that this kind of products although helpful to be used regularly, they cannot replace any required medical treatment; so when essential, they should be used in combination with the prescribed treatment like corticoids.
Spend some time and take care of your skin using the correct products; healthy skin is beautiful skin.
