Hi, welcome to the second post in my series of blogs “Discovering MEnopause”.
The change in my skin was my second most obvious sign that my body was menopausal (the first was the fact that my periods had stopped) I’ve been lucky not to have had bad hot flushes, although I’m prone to mild night sweats
Oestrogen stimulates the formation of collagen and other skin-smoothing oils. When this diminishes our skin can become dry and itchy as well as thinner, wrinklier and saggier.
The changing ratio of hormones also reduces the body’s ability to retain moisture.
Oh the joys!
I’m very grateful to have been blessed with good skin all my life, apart from a small acne flare up in my early 20’s when I was first made redundant.
Therefore it came as a surprise to me earlier this year when the backs of my hands and fingers turned red, itchy and sore. This has since spread up my arms, across my collar bones and down to my chest area. Occasionally it effects the skin around my eyes. The skin has turned every shade of red and has felt like I’ve been on the receiving end of a Chinese Burn or have had swarms of insects crawling all over me.. It’s also extremely dry and flaky.
I’m painting such an attractive mental picture aren’t I?!
The itchy, crawling sensations have kept me awake at night, and I felt very self-conscious during the summer months because I looked like I had an infectious disease. Sometimes I’ve scratched my arms so much it looks like I’ve been self-harming. The problem I find with itchy skin is that I scratch without realising I’m doing it, it’s an automatic response and it’s been worse at night. Sometimes I wear cotton gloves in bed but I’ve also been known to shake them off and they’ve ended up across the other side of the bedroom!
I prefer to use all things natural where I can and I already use organic, scent-free body, hair and facial skincare products as I hate the idea of steroid creams and slathering my skin in layers of liquid paraffin and other nasties.
Internet research (thank you Google!) led me to discover a lady called Hanna Sillitoe (who has appeared on Dragons Den) and I read about her journey with skin problems and the links between it and our gut. I recommend reading her blogs and I also have her books, which are a great source of information and facts about the effects of things like liquid paraffin on our skin and bodies.
I reached out to her on Instagram and she put me in touch with a Naturopath called Jo, who runs a company called Amarinth-Wellbeing.
Jo advised me to start taking a good Probiotic and to use a natural skin balm containing Calendula Oil and Zinc, which I began to do in September. I’ve also started to drink a Greens Smoothie every morning with added ginger root and flax seeds (a great source of Omega 3).
I also cut out tomatoes, red peppers and…much to my disappointment…wine. In other words, I’ve been avoiding a lot of acidic foods as they can be a trigger. I attended my best friend’s wedding in September and only had two glasses of wine as I could feel my skin begin to itch and flare. I was so disappointed! I now try and drink 2-3 litres of water a day although it’s not always practical when I’m out and about and not near a loo!
These subtle lifestyle changes certainly help me feel better on the inside, but I am still experiencing some nasty eczema flares and I want to get to the bottom of what’s causing them rather than just keep treating the symptoms. I’m convinced it’s hormone related.
Time had come to contact my GP and that’s a subject for another blog post. I’ve also been looking into the spiritual side of all this which is really interesting and will be the subject of my next post.
Until then, take care and thank you for reading this. I would love to connect with anyone else who has experienced these symptoms, so please pop over to my Instagram profile or my Facebook page, The Coddiwomple Lady and say Hi.
I have also included links to Hanna Sillitoe and Amarinth Wellbeing below.
Sending much love,
Wendy xx