Catshanghai

I have suffered from atopic eczema all my life. It is a complex condition that can be triggered by just about anything including soap, chemicals, fabrics, temperature changes, stress, tiredness, diet, genetics, pollution or even an oversensitive immune system. I have tried many different remedies from steroid creams to avoiding dairy products, but it comes and goes. When I have a bad attack on my face or body, it is really quite miserable, but I have learnt how to live with this condition by avoiding lanolin and keeping my skin well oiled with non allergenic aqueous cream. It was a source of amusement to friends and shop workers when I walked into the Bristol branch of Boots to order 24 tubs of auqeous cream to send to China in the summer of 2004. Now that my aqueous cream has run out, I can not find it anywhere in Shanghai.

Since I came to China, my eczema has got a bit worse. The trouble started with a long weekend in Beijing that led to a dry, sore patch around my eyes and under the bridge of my glasses that did not really heal for two years. About nine months ago, it got so bad that I started visiting the clinic at Huashan Hospital. Now I have to go every couple of months. When I go to the hospital, I fumble my way through a consultation using bad Putonghua until the doctor prescribes me with herbal cream, anti-histamine and foul tasting Chinese medicine. They have also told me to avoid alcohol, spicy food, prawns and coffee. I try to follow this as much as I can, but I don’t eat meat and such a strict anti-eczema diet would leave me with very little to eat. The basic pattern is that the medicine clears up the eczema until I finish the course of treatment and then it comes back, meaning the whole cycle starts all over again.

This time the problem has changed a little. My facial eczema is much better, but a sore patch erupted on the skin covering my right shin at the end of the summer. Why it escaped my left shin is totally beyond me. This new bout of eczema got bad enough to warrant a visit to Huashan Hospital, but the medicine they gave me did not help at all. In fact it got worse, developing into an uncomfortable skin infection. After a couple of weeks, I decided to give expensive Western medicine another chance and paid a visit to Shanghai East International Medical Centre. The doctor prescribed me with anti-biotics, steroid cream and advice to get more sunshine. Apparently, eczema is made worse by a lack of Vitamin D that is caused by not getting enough sunlight. I am glad to say that tomorrow I am heading to Thailand for a six days of sunshine, just as the doctor ordered.

The funny thing is that a few of my colleagues have paid a visit (at 500 RMB a session) to the same doctor for a variety of different ailments. Each time this doctor has prescribed sunshine as part of the treatment, which suggests he regards it as a universal panacea.