NECzema

Ah, November. The month of Thanksgiving. The month before Christmas. The month where the feeling outside goes from “oh, I need a sweatshirt” to “HYPOTHERMIA” unless, of course, you live in Kentucky, where today it was warmer than it was a month ago.

It’s also the month where my good friend and maybe yours, ECZEMA rears it’s ugly head.

eczema |ˈegzəmə; ˈeksə-; igˈzēmə|noun
a medical condition in which patches of skin become rough and inflamed, with blisters that cause itching and bleeding, sometimes resulting from a reaction to irritation (eczematous dermatitis) but more typically having no obvious external cause.

NO OBVIOUS EXTERNAL CAUSE, AWESOME.

I kind of know what causes mine though. November.

And while it usually has made its home on my arms or hands or somewhere that can be covered up quite easily, this year it’s migrated north.

You see, in my case, eczema has been a sort of seek and find only instead of finding all the words and being done with it, it’s finding that itchy patch of skin and trying not to scratch it until it goes away IN TWO MONTHS.

So this year, it’s made it’s home on my collarbone/neck. Wonderful.

And it could totally be hidden like the other spots usually are – with clothing covering it up. Only problem here is anything higher than my collarbone in terms of neckline tends to make me feel like I’m choking.

Allegedly, according to a friend of a family member’s tarot card reading, that means I was hung in a past life. Explains so much, doesn’t it?

Anyways. My whole body is itchy because of this disgustingly dry Kentucky air and I have said for the past three years I need a humidifier but haven’t done it. I’ve gotten chapstick for my lips but really they don’t make a neck-eczema – or neczema as I’ve taken to calling it – chapstick. And yes there are lotions and stuff that are supposed to work but I haven’t had any luck.

So if you see me, I’m probably that girl over there with the red scratches all over her neck like she’s been attacked, shaking because she’s trying not to scratch again until January. That’s how you get it to go away, right?