Soothe Thy Eczema| Dr Ranjit's Skin Specialist Clinic

Previously, I had a very horrible eczema which it wouldn't stop flaking, itching and stinging for almost a year. One major part of my solution was visiting Dr Ranjit's Clinic.

Click Progress to check on the previous progress of my skin while eczema was triggered.

_________________________________________________

In this post, I will introduce the clinic that I went to, which has been incredible because a one-time visit is enough to calm down my eczema a lot. I will also be showing you the medications that they prescribed to me. In the meantime, I'll talk about their product: Eczema Moisturizer.

Lastly, my (very honest) testimony at the end of this post.

*this is not paid promotion lmao*

_________________________________________________

First of all, here's some information of the clinic itself:

Ranjit Skin Specialist Clinic

C4, Jalan SS15/4D Subang Jaya, Selangor

03-5631 6090

Facebook Page

Monday-Friday : 8.30-5pm

Saturday: 8.30 -4pm

Sunday and Public Holiday: CLOSED

Description of Dr Ranjit from his Facebook page:

"Dr Ranjit Singh senior consultant dermatologist is a board-certified dermatologist by the Ministry of Health and gazetted as a dermatologist by Malaysian medical Council in 1988. Listed in the National Specialist Register.Started to practice dermatology in 1984 in General Hospital Johore Baru. Trained in Royal infirmary Glasgow in the field of Dermatology, London and Cardiff university U.K. Dr Ranjit Singh has more than 30 years of experience in the field of Cosmetic Dermatology and general dermatology."

Photo from LookP: http://www.lookp.com/ranjit-skin-specialist-clinic

Here's my view on the clinic:

Doctor is super friendly (despite at old age. Not being stereotypical but most of the baby-boomer doctors gives me the vibes like their time is too precious to "waste" and tend to rush everything before hearing you out). This doctor is very patient and he hears me out. He also gave simple, but useful, solutions for my eczema. There's another female doctor who works with him but I have no idea who that is.

The clinic looks just like any average clinics, with lab rooms and consulting rooms. The reception counter is always filled with crowd, mostly because people wanted to buy Dr. Ranjit's skin range products. They must've been really effective, otherwise, people won't spend thousands of ringgits in one shot for a couple dozens of his products. (I overheard someone's bill loloolol)

The only things that kills my mood is the parking availability and the receptionists'/nurses' sour faces. I get that Malaysia has a lot of annoying customers and all, but it's a bit upsetting when they don't smile back after everytime I smiled at them... but, they do soften their voices. So it's fine. The location is kinda convenience but then parking is a huge problem. If you want to visit during 11am-4pm, the cars are going to jam up the place. I'd suggest going there super early but they only open at 9am.

A lot of people tend to like to walk in instead of making an appointment. It's the best if you call them to reserve a spot before visiting them but of course, you still gotta wait. (Blame those who walk-in. 

They will still occupy your timeslot but securing a spot means you get to "jump queue" while leaving some other walk-ins waiting.)

_________________________________________________

Medications

My last visit was actually my second time there. He gave me the same cream and 

same pills as before, except for the spray, I requested for it. Last time they charged 

me around Rm150, this time though, they charged me somewhere around Rm175.

This time, they gave me a total of 6 items. 3 creams, 1 spray and two packs of pills.

Inflammation pills.

I've no idea which part of skin irritation it will tackle but I'm suspecting either blood 

inflammation or skin inflammation (bacteria entering wounds after scratching with finger nails). 

Both can cause skin irritation.

Atarax pills.

In short, Atarax is used as an antihistamine in cases that relate to the skin. 

The doctor assigned this pill to be eaten at night because it does make the consumer sleepy.

According to Drugs.com:

"Atarax (hydroxyzine) reduces activity in the central nervous system. It also acts as 

an antihistamine that reduces the natural chemical histamine in the body. Histamine 

can produce symptoms of sneezing and runny nose, or hives on the skin."

"Overdose symptoms may include extreme drowsiness, nausea, vomiting, feeling like 

you might pass out."

"This medication may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything 

that requires you to be alert. Drinking alcohol can increase certain side effects of Atarax."

"Stop using Atarax and call your doctor at once if you have a serious side effect such as:

restless muscle movements in your eyes, tongue, jaw, or neck; tremor (uncontrolled shaking); 

confusion; or seizure (convulsions). 

Less serious Atarax side effects may include: dizziness, drowsiness; blurred vision, 

dry mouth; or headache."

For more details about atarax, please click here.

For more details about it's side effect, please click here.

Tried to google what cream this is but couldn't find anything.

The consistency is semi-thick but smooth.

Protopic cream

In short, Protopic cream is used to slow down eczema by slowing down the 

body immune system that's responsible for it.

According to Drugs.com:

"Protopic (tacrolimus)is a topical macrolide immunosuppressant. It works by decreasing 

cell activity in the body's immune system which helps to slow down the growth of atopic 

dermatitis (eczema) on your skin. Protopic is used to treat severe atopic dermatitis (eczema)."

"Avoid sunlight, sun lamps, tanning beds, and phototherapy treatments with UVA or 

UVB light." Probably the reason why it's for night use.

"Apply the medicine in a thin layer, only to skin areas affected by eczema. 

Do not cover the treated skin with a bandage."

"An overdose of Protopic is not expected to be dangerous."

"Common side effects of Protopic include: burning sensation of skin and pruritus. Other 

side effects include: herpes zoster, varicella zoster infection, and vesicobullous dermatitis."

For more details, please click here.

For more details on side effects, please click here.

Elidel cream.

In short, Elidel cream is similar to Protopic cream but can only be used in limited areas.

According to Drugs.com:

"Elidel (pimecrolimus) is an immunosuppressant. It works by decreasing your body's 

immune system to help slow down the growth of atopic dermatitis (eczema) on your 

skin. Elidel Cream is used to treat severe atopic dermatitis (eczema} when other 

medications have not worked well."

"Before using Elidel Cream, tell your doctor if you have skin cancer or any type of 

skin infection, Netherton's syndrome, a weak immune system, kidney disease, or 

swelling, redness, or irritation over large skin areas."

"Use Elidel only on skin areas affected with eczema. Stop using the medicine once 

your symptoms have cleared up, unless your doctor has told you otherwise. Elidel 

Cream is for use on the skin only (topical). Do not get the cream in your eyes, nose, 

mouth, vagina, or rectum."

For more details, please click here.

For more details on side effects, please click here.

Don't know what this is because the nurse didn't write it down.

It smells like alcohol and has a very runny texture.

I usually just rub it with my hands then spread it to my hair scalp.

I guess it's job is to sooth your scalp? Not sure..

_________________________________________________

Eczema Moisturizer

Aside from medications, I noticed that they do sell Eczema Moisturizer, 

which can be very rare to find in Malaysia.

One tube of 450gram costs around Rm80. I wouldn't say that it's expensive.

Comparing with other brands that are known to be good for eczema,

this one is kinda cheap already. (Brands like CeraVe, QV cream, etc.)

Dr. Ranjit's brand is called DermaSafe. I'm not sure if they distribute it in other

 areas but they claimed to be cheapest in his own clinic. 

This is their Eczema Moisturizer.

I'm pretty sure there's only one size.

Contains: Emulsifying Wax, Liposomes, Safflower Oil, Algae Extracts, Chamomile, 

Aloe Vera, Lavender Oil, Rose Hip Oil, Saponaria.

DOES NOT CONTAIN LANOLIN OR FRAGRANCES TO REDUCE THE RISK 

OF SENSITIVITY REACTIONS

Direction: Apply evenly to face and entire body as often as required. May be used as 

a soap substitute, apply all over the body before bath and shower off the cream.

Most of the ingredients are either skin-soothing or skin-healing.

The cream doesn't really have any smell but if you sniff harder, it smells like any 

regular cream. I didn't know about the soap substitute part but that method is actually worth 

the practice especially when you bought cheap moisturizers.

This is what it looks like. It's has a very thick consistency, like, unless you shake 

the container hard, the cream wouldn't move.

The cream doesn't fill up the container full, which is what I was disappointed about.

The line where my thumb is at, is actually where the cream fills up to.

It's almost like, 60-70% of the tube.

This is what the cream looks like.

Honestly, this one is very, very thick.

Surprisingly, though, it's somewhat easy to spread across my skin.

Of course, it would be a lot easier if you do it after showering.

Also, it is 100% recommended that you apply moisturizer after shower (Not longer 

than 3 min after you dry yourself) because it gives the best moisturizing results.

This cream works well especially when all other brands of moisturizers couldn't stop

my midnight itches. Seriously, there were times when I wake up in the middle of my 

sleep just because my limbs were itching super badly.

_________________________________________________

Testimony

Dr Ranjit is honestly a very successful doctor in this field. The prescriptions that he gave me work miraculously. My irritation, stinging and flaking had all toned down all together so now I will only be using them when I need to, especially after learning that they are the strong kind of drugs. He's also very friendly for a doctor and doesn't appear to be one of those kinds who only work as a doctor just to earn big bucks. (Honestly, I hate those doctors.)

I've always recommended my friends to pay him a visit before considering other skin specialists. This is because he has a very good reputation (judging from my mother's knowledge of him and reviews of him in many sites). If you have any problems with your skin or scalp, try this clinic first. Pricing is reasonable, too. 

The only thing I don't like is the poker faces of the nurses, that's all. But I won't ask for much because I know how stressful it can be, when a person has to undergo fatigued from emotional labouring.

_________________________________________________

That's all for this post!

Read More

ZoelieWho

Share Tweet Pin It +1

1 Comments

#SootheThyEczema | The Do's and the Goods

Having eczema is a really horrible experience.

I'm 20 years old and I can't handle it, imagine how a baby could.

____________________________________________________________________________

Hello!

So let's get on with the topic.

Let me show you my progress first and then I'll tell you about what you should do and what to use during your triggered-eczema phase.

Now I took these photos when I felt like it's really, really too much to handle.

You can see redness between my brows, my cheeks, my lower left lops, my back and my chest.

Of course, there are some on my arms and legs but I didn't bother to take photos because they are less affected by it. 

Seeing these photos actually makes me wanna scratch again.

These were taken in June 2016

The ones below are from October 2016.

Then I tried to use some moisturisers but they're not as useful as they claimed to be.

I didn't take photos of my back because I felt like it's still the same.

So, this is me, like, right now:

I look tired, yup.
Anyway, CLOSE UP!



My pores are still wide but I'm slowly getting it smoother now.
I still do get a few itches from time to time but it's not as bad as before.
Most probably because I didn't do my moisturising enough.

My back is better compared to the first round.

The scars are slowly fading too.

My chest is obviously better too.

Just like my back, the scars are fading.

The only part I need to do intense moisturising now is my legs.

These are awfully stubborn.

Although I don't get much itchiness now the scars are really difficult to clear off.

___________________________________________________________________________

Having eczema is really painful and troublesome because you have to do so many things in order to avoid being triggered, soothe it down and try 10 times harder to pray for it to stop immediately right after every time it gets triggered.

A photo posted by Zoelie Jasmine Mah ✾ 윤큥순 (@zoeliewho) on Oct 25, 2016 at 2:30am PDT

So, I made an Instagram post about it but I wanna elaborate everything here

(I mean, that's what blogs are for, ain't it?)

So let's begin with what you should do first:

1. Always moisturise your skin

This is especially when your skin had been damaged already. Since your outer layer is no longer as protective as before,  you're basically losing moisture every second/minute. The moisture in your skin has been evaporating ever since the epidermic is damaged.

Products with hyaluronic acid are always a bonus point since they draw out moisture from the deeper layers of your skin to the outer layer.

2. Speaking of damaged epidermic, this means that bacteria can enter your skin even more

So what you can do now is just to make sure you stop scratching by cutting those nails of yours. At the same time, keep your skin moisturised so that it can still function as normal. (... although not as good as before)

3. Mild soap. Mild shampoo. Mild everything.

If your face is affected, switch your cleanser to something more gentle. If your soap and/or shampoo makes your skin/scalp feels really dry afterwards, switch to -perhaps- no-soap body cleansers. Like Cetaphil.

4. Vitamins, minerals and more water!

Getting more nutrients from supplement pills is actually quite effective. It's faster than changing your diet. Of course, you're supposed to change your diet but it's best to match it with supplement pills too. Since moisturising your skin is also a key-point, you should 'moisturise' your entire body system too. It helps if you flush out all the toxins from your body.

5. Ditch hair removing

For some girls, this is very hard to do. But trust me, it's safer for you. Shaving will makes your skin super dry, epilating will trigger itchiness, hair removal cream ARE MAJOR NO-NO. They are the culprit that started my eczema. Try to make it no-shave-November an everyday thing. To be honest with you, nobody really cares about your body hair (except for those who are terribly shallow). Genuine friends/partners just really don't care at all.

I put this here instead of the previous post because I feel like this is more important to stress about.

6. Visit a specialist for faster treatment

I know some doctors are trying to make a huge profit out of this business. Try to survey around first. My mom gave me a few suggestions and I ended up picking the one in SS15, Subang Jaya since he has better reputations online than others. (Others just doesn't seem to care about online reviews/promoting.. huh) But honestly, his facebook reviews are all about how great he is but how sh*tty the receptionists are. Well, I don't feel that way because everyday, there are a lot of patients walking-in, making appointments, getting their prescription. They have quite a handful of jobs to handle. It's natural if they "accidentally" flash you a resting-b*tch-face look. I mean, I might have done that many times too, without the intention to be mean to someone.

Alright.

Now let's get back to the products I've shared on my Instagram, 

along with some of the products I forgot to mention.

These products are great for those with eczema-//allergy-//dryness-prone skin.

1. Caudalie Grape Water Spray.
First of all, this brand is a very well-known brand in EU, specifically France. 

What's in the can, though? Nothing but grape fruit water, grape juice and nitrogen. It is also stated that there is no blotting required after spraying by the way.

The reason why I picked up a mist is that I really hate the cream-moisturising concept. I mean, sure, they stay effective longer than other types of moisturisers but you can only do that to your bare face and it's also sticky???? It's just so awful, especially when I wanted to moisturise my makeup-applied face. Definitely can't do it with cream moisturisers.

Also, go ahead and try their other products.
They hydrating moisturisers work very, very well.
But a kid like me can't afford it heh.

2. Hada Labo Face Wash. 

I'm pretty sure everyone knows that foam facial cleansers are a huge no-no for dry skin since they will dry up your skin and makes your feel tightened. However, this one is exceptional. It effectively cleanses your face without scraping every sebum off the surface. I was really surprised by how gentle it is. It has a bit of fragrance, I think. But the smell is nice. It doesn't make my face feel stingy at all, even when my face was at the serious-phase of itchiness and pain.

Another bonus part is: it lasts longer than any of my other cleansers.
Seriously, you only need a very little amount of it to create a lot of foam for your entire face and neck.

3.  Innisfree Cushion.
I really don't give a dang when people tell me not to put makeup on whenever I leave the house. I mean, I'm a Libra. I can't let people from the outside to see how much of a "hobo" I am when I'm in my room. Let alone my bright red, scally face with an obvious sign saying: "I'm having a skin disease. Ask me any questions your like" is going to get in the way. I'd rather have my skin all covered up rather than being asked the same question on and on.

Innisfree cushion did a great job for not clogging my skin and blocking it to breathe. Otherwise, my already-cracked skin would crack even more. I bought two types of cushion foundation since I wanted to try them. They both work fine for me.

Anyway, I prefer Water Fit over Longwear, since it's more moisturising and has lesser coverage (means less clogging, for me). I would suggest getting a foundation instead (it's cheaper in a way) and I'm pretty sure that they are about the same. It stays on my face for quite an amount of time, enough for me to get home and take it off immediately. Makeup-removing process is also pretty quick for this product. It doesn't use a lot of colour-coverage like other foundation.

4. Muji Light Toning Water in High Moisture.
Oh, Muji, Muji, Muji.
I never loved that place so much. I'm definitely going to make a short video about it. Now, I'm pretty sure you know bout this product since during one point everyone was raving about it and it's been on Cosme's ranking for quite a while already. It has been on multiple credible beauty pages as well. I've mentioned a little bit about hyaluronic acid in the post before and this baby right here has hyaluronic acid (very good for our skin category) and also grapefruit seed extract. I honestly think that this is better than whatever tea tree oil products out there. Also, it does not have: fragrance, alcohol, paraben, mineral oil. Allergy tested but has a disclaimer that it may not be allergy-free for everyone.

There are three options for this product alone, and I picked up the highest efficiency one
just because I need that intensity :3

5. Innisfree Green Tea Seed Serum.
It's not a must, but my mom and sisters made me use it until I love it.
I never wanted it at first, because it doesn't feel like it's going to do anything other than being typical skin care 'Emulsion/Essence'. But I do see a better result after using it. It felt like it will boost up the moisturising results, making my skin to be better at absorbing all the good things from every skin care products.

6. Coconut Oil  (Extra)
This one works like a miracle. I've been having the itch again on my body but my moisturizers are being useless. Then I recalled reading about putting coconut oil to calm the itching, so I gave it a try. It was 3am so I was very, very desperate to get back to sleep. I did it and, I slept through the night. I gave it a few more tries too, just to make sure about the effectiveness, and they really work but once the oil gets soaked into your skin completely, you might feel the tingling again, depending on your situation.

However, up until one point, it no longer works as well anymore.
So I used my next solution.

7. CeraVe Moisturizers (Extra)
Ever since I gave Cerave a try, I decided to ditch the idea of getting more ointment from the doctor that I had visited. Like, a short consultation, 3 small ointments and 2 packs of medicine (inflammation and Aravax) had already cost me Rm150. I can already imagine how much the ointments are gonna cost among that 150 bucks.

Cerave is a well-known American brand among eczema patients, especially among mothers of eczema babies. If you google it, you'll see that most of the websites, surveys, and even reviews for people with eczema will definitely include this brand. It was disheartening at first because Malaysia seldom have great brands in other countries. The number of choices here sucks. But after a few searches, I finally found somewhere that sells it. Sadly, Cerave is only available in Caring Pharmacy. You can order it online if you don't wanna ask each and every store one by one just to know which one has stock. Their online store will always have stocks and you can collect them in-store as well.

The cerave lotion has been saving me from all the late-night scratching. Seriously, it always happens to me at 4am-6am. Not only that it affected my sleep, but it also causes more unwanted scratch wounds.

CeraVe moisturizing lotion and cream both have glycerin, dimethicone, ceramides and hyaluronic acid. They are fragrance-free and non-irritating. Both of these "provide patented controlled released of ingredients to help repair and restore protective skin barrier". However, though, they have methylparaben and propylparaben.

The lotion itself already works well enough and their cream works even better. Creams are usually more effective than lotion since they can last longer. However, Caring Pharmacy only sells small tubes of them, so I usually use cream only when things are uncontrollable. On the other hand, the tube's volume is small enough to bring on board in your carry-on bags. This is very useful for people like us, especially when it's going to be irritating for our skin when we're boarding planes.

Okay... So, I'm pretty sure this and the previous one are not the only eczema posts that I'll be writing... since this is going to be a long war for me.

I'll update you if I found more stuff for skin types like ours.
Stay smiling!

Read More

ZoelieWho

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments

*new* Soothe Thy Eczema| Things you shouldn't do!

So, I never knew I had eczema until recently and thinking back about the stupid things I did, it really hit me hard in the face to know that I WAS THE CULPRIT TOO!!

Let's get into the knowledge of Eczema in a bit:

1. Eczema isn't triggered by your personal hygiene, but the environment's. 
   Sure, the moment you hear this familiar term, your head starts to focus on the word "Unhygienic" or maybe even "Ew." But eczema is truly triggered by external factors that leads to internal damage. By internal, I mean your inner level of skin haaaaah. Of course, there are other factors too.
   
   Causes of eczema: stress, allergy to food, smoke, pollen, bacteria infection, hormone-related, strong soap/detergents/shampoos, hot baths, etc.
   Other reasons: Asthma, hay fever, ADHD, damaged skin, nutrient deficiencies, etc.
2. There are so many types of eczema!
   Common ones: Allergic contact eczema (dermatitis), contact eczema, dyshidriotic eczema, neurodermatitis, nummular eczema, seborrtic eczema, stasis dermatitis, etc.
   
   Consult a skin specialist to know your symptoms better.
3. Nope. No cure at all.
   You can only "treat/soothe" it, but there is no cure to eczema for now.

See, the reason why I listed these is because I DID WHAT I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO.

Here are the list of things that I shouldn't have and you should avoid to do so:

• Hot baths.
• Hmmmm I know it feels dang good in hot baths, but you know what? That hot temperature of your bathing water will cause your skin to lose more moisture than ever. So you better stop it!
• Strong chemicals.
• Things like strong body soap, strong shampoo, disinfectant that dries out skin very quickly, and your housekeeping chemicals can do more harm to you than a regular person, since your skin is much more easier to damage.
• Scratch. scratch. scratch.
• Those nails of yours have more germs than you think. Better cut them short before your can't control the itch any more! You don't wanna have scars do you?
• Rub your skin vigorously with a towel after shower
• Oh it feels good too, right? BUT did you know that you're rubbing off a lot of moisture off your skin? Pat it gently instead so that you still get to keep some moisture for your skin. 
• Use disinfectant on your face
• I initially thought my skin was just full of germs after all the scratching, so I used hydrogen peroxide (in 6% omg not 35% chill chill) to wipe my face once in a while. Turns out I was too dumb to know that it dries out my skin even faster. Wrong move.
• Neglect skin care.
• I did this for almost a decade and now I truly regret the day I gave into my laziness. Now I'll never dare to do it again.

Eczema is really horrible. Trust me you won't want that ever again.

My eczema made my entire year depressing and now I've finally have better skin. I'll talk about it on another post but until now, STAY MOISTURISED!

*ps: I'll state my eczema story and what you "should do" along with what products to use on the next blog post!

Read More

ZoelieWho

Share Tweet Pin It +1

0 Comments