Eczema can affect more that your skin. It can affect your whole life – emotionally, financially and socially.
Whilst going through some old notes I found the results of a survey from 2000. It may be a little old but I found it interesting and I imagine some things don’t really change.
A study at St Vincent’s Hospital in Victoria that was carried out over a 12 month period from January 1999 to February 2000 revealed some interesting data.
- 40% of the eczema sufferers surveyed used 4 or more products to treat their eczema at an average out of pocket cost of $425 per year.
- 64% of the people surveyed said that stress was a major cause for their eczema to flare up. Other flare up causes included weather, hormones, treatments, holidays and illness.
- 36% of those surveyed spent 10 minutes or more each day applying their treatments and over 50% found that the spring is the worst season for their eczema and the time spent on applying their treatments increased to 20 minutes a day.
- 28% felt that their eczema influenced the clothes they wore.
- 21% found their eczema a source of embarrassment.