Man My Hands Hurt....

I have eczema. Had it since I was real young, like three weeks old so "they" tell me. Tried a whole myriad of therapies and strategies to control/understand it. Haven't had much luck. I had a whole block of time in my mid twenties to my early forties where it was almost non-existent. Anywhoo... I was in seeing the dermatologist and he suggested this light therapy or PUVA. Looked it up on the internet, hey maybe I'll be able to wear my hockey gloves without suffering for a week.

Let me explain, I love to play hockey. Played since I was a kid. Always had issues with sweat and my skin. Just plain irritates it. Hockey is like an hour of pure sweating. I love to sweat. I love it when it runs down your face and pours off your nose. I like to run too! For fitness. My idea of a great run is to do hill repeats to failure, on the hottest day of the year. Man, that's sweating! Call me crazy, but I'd like to be able to do that again.

Back to my hands, as part of the therapy you have to put this lotion on your hands a couple of hours before you go in to sensitize the skin to the light. Put this stuff on, go in and one minute later walk out. An assumption by the people in the office is that all people "drive" to their appointments. It was a "nice" day so I walked, for a half hour both ways, with my hands exposed to sunlight. Thank god it wasn't summer. The back of my hands that were exposed, got really sunburned, like to the point of blistering. I definitely couldn't play hockey, I couldn't get a glove on, I couldn't bend my fingers, I was in a lot of pain.

I should have been thinking a bit better, a warning from the office may have helped. Let's just call it experience and go from there. It's been a week, I look like a leper, it affects my life greatly and yet I'm thankful it happened. It mad me realize how good I do have it.

I may feel different in a week, then again.....