Dealing with the ooze

Why does the skin ooze?

To understand why we ooze, we must first understand how topical steroids affect the skin cells. You may read an explanation of it at Topical Steroid Addiction.

Next, you may read a description of what ooze is under the description of Oozing in Withdrawal Symptoms Explained.

How can I deal with the ooze?

The main thing about dealing with ooze is allowing it to dry, minimising movement of the oozy areas, and management of the 6 flare factors. The following can help you do that:

1. Air dry your skin as much as possible

Do not cover your oozy areas and instead allow them to air dry, and this is an important point!

Clothing - Long sleeves and long pants over oozy areas are fine for short periods of time. Wearing an absorbent material such as cotton can help absorb excess ooze. However this clothing must not be tight, and should be airy. If your feet are oozy, do not wear thick socks and covered shoes. Your skin needs to be aired to dry up. Wearing shoes will hinder the process of the ooze forming crust and scabs. Instead, wear open sandals or flats for ladies. You may wear a thin pair of socks to prevent allergens/irritants from landing on your skin when you are out of home. 

My personal experience: Dr Jay advised me not to wear socks and covered shoes when I first met him. I did not believe at first that this would make a difference. However after switching to thin socks and open shoes, my skin started to dry up much quicker and firm scabs. This then made me realise the difference in healing rates when covering the skin vs not covering the skin.

Bandaging - it is always best not to bandage your wounds with gauze or even tubular bandage. These materials can stick to oozy areas and cause more damage upon removal. Sometimes you would need to wet the material to remove it from the oozy wound, which restarts the process of needing to dry it up again. You may dab at the ooze if it is dripping or too much, but do not bandage it.

Sleeping - Most people feel better sleeping with a blanket over them. This gives a feeling of security and comfort. However, blankets covering oozy areas would prevent them from drying up at night. I suggest hugging a pillow or using a pillow as a weight on any body part you feel comfortable with, instead of a blanket. Or, cover only certain parts of your body, just enough to feel secure and relaxed to sleep. This way your oozy skin areas can be dry overnight. 

2. Products that may help to speed up the drying process

Products with zinc oxide can help to dry ooze quicker. However, you should still be prudent with the type of zinc oxide product you use! Some products containing zinc oxide also contain moisturising ingredients, or contain irritant ingredients such as alcohol/menthol, or fragrances and are not suitable.

The safest zinc oxide product is Calamine Lotion (without menthol). You may apply it on your oozy areas with a cotton pad or with just your fingers. Calamine lotion is affordable and easily available everywhere and does not contain harmful ingredients to TSW skin.

Salt solution - you may also use saline solution to cleanse oozy wounds and help dry them up. Salt solution is a natural astringent, which means it helps in drying things up. Many people use Dead Sea Salt baths, but soaking is not advisable for TSW skin. This is because more ooze/exudate is lost during baths and soaking, and soaked skin becomes soft and easily damaged. Also ensure that the solution is not too concentrated. Just a pinch of salt into a small cup is enough, and then use a cotton pad to dab on the wounds several times. That will suffice. Overdoing it will cause the skin to be too dry and may cause more damage in the long run. 

3. Protecting oozy areas

You may use some kitchen roll or tubular bandage/gauze, roll them up into a donut shape and stick them surrounding your oozy wounds with body tape. This helps to protect oozy areas that are prone to being damaged from movement. You may even stack a few of them for added height.

My good friend and fellow TSW warrior Michelle has made some comfy Donut Shields that act as contact-free bandages. Traditional dressings like gauze and “non-stick” pads can stick badly to cuts and cause wounds to reopen. You can use these Donut Shields to protect oozy areas from abrasion so they can heal faster. She wears them throughout the day on oozy areas that need protecting, and even to sleep to prevent scratching and rubbing. They’re comfortable and feel like a cushion.

You may contact her at @eczema_warrior on Instagram if you wish to get some from her. She makes them using hypoallergenic cotton and comfortable padding. They are machine washable and reusable as well!

4. Reducing movement

It is best not to move oozy areas too much. Movement can cause the skin to crack and restart the healing process again. Skin on the joints and movement areas such as the back of knees, inside of the elbows, eyelids, neck and fingers are also much thinner and this is why stubborn areas of TSW skin are usually at the joints.

Keep your joints straight when at rest or during sleep. Eg sleep with your arms extended, or fingers straight. This is to prevent oozy areas from drying up in a bent position which will cause difficulty straightening when it is dried up.

5. Managing the 6 flare factors

You may read about the 6 flare factors here.

Ooze comes and goes and can be caused by a flare. So do manage the 6 flare factors well to prevent another flare that may cause oozing again! 

6. No Moisturizing Treatment

You may try Dr Sato’s No Moisture Treatment. This includes not showering or wetting the skin, restricting water intake and exercising. The protocol is strict and sometimes brutal. I find that adapting the protocol if you are unable to do the full protocol helps to some extent.

Not drinking copious amounts of water did help me with my oozy skin, and preventing wetting certain oozy areas on my arms/legs by tying a plastic bag around my limbs during my showers helped to keep my wounds dry.

I hope that the tips above will be helpful if you are dealing with the ooze. It is one of the nastiest withdrawal symptoms and learning how to deal with it can be tricky. You will be frustrated, tired, depressed and may even feel disgusted by it. But, have patience with yourself and your body as you go through it. Be gentle, listen to your skin and you will come to a good place with it eventually. As always, give yourself the love your skin needs to heal.

[The information referred to in this article was sourced from Skin Health Centre. https://www.skinhealthcentre.sg].