The eczema on my hands was a bit out of control (even with using betaderm ointment and cotton gloves nightly) however nothing really seemed out of the ordinary, at least for me.
My new work environment was my home office, located in a finished area of the basement which greatly limited my exposure to random allergens and triggers. So when I started getting some dryness and puffiness around my eye I figured it was likely just some random dry skin. I started putting some more moisturizer on it but over time it continued to get worse.
Talking with my doctor:
I finally decided to call the doctor in December 2020 and sent some photos of what was going on. She said I had an eye lid infection!!!! Likely transferred from the eczema on my fingers. Oh great, I managed to transfer a secondary bacterial infection from my fingers (although they didn’t seem infected) to my eye lid. I was prescribed erythromycin eye ointment 4x/day for 10 days.
During our conversation, she said it was probably time I saw a dermatologist again and said she would refer me to a new doctor who saw patients at a clinic in my local hospital. She reassured me that they we good and that she hadn’t had a complaint about them yet. (Foreshadowing here to a post later on…)
Another infection:
A couple days after this conversation, my ear started feeling swollen, itchy, red and hot. Another infection had cropped up on my earlobe. After another visit to the doctor (in person this time) I was prescribed some ear drops (ciprodex) and antibiotics (cephalexin or Keflex).
Here is what my ear looked like. Needless to say Christmas 2020 was filled with taking well timed antibiotics.
Ear Lobe Infection/Ezcema Irritation – December 2020
