"ID reaction" recovery - dos and don'ts?
Longtime eczema-haver, first time having a pretty serious incident, so I'm just dropping by to ask the relative experts while I wait for a dermatologist appointment in a couple days.
I had a worst-ever contact reaction to formaldehyde releasers two weeks ago. It later ballooned into what a hospital dermatologist eventually identified as an "ID reaction," aka "autoeczematization." In essence, I had a bad enough case of contact dermatitis and enough accidental re-exposures that my immune system started attacking all of my skin. Not to mention that I might have also reacted to the class A steroids I was given... so as of right now, the majority of me is basically a giant healing eczema patch with some sunburn-like redness that's going away. I'm no longer being exposed to the trigger(s) and I have an upcoming derm appointment as mentioned, but I could use some tips on how best to take care of myself until then. I'm playing a concert that afternoon and would like to look at least a bit better than I do now... (insert "this is fine" gif)
- What do y'all do for lots of dry, peeling skin? Like, seriously, it's at least 50% surface area. Advice especially appreciated for my face, which is peeling for the second time in a row... I think/hope this is a final attempt to recover from re-exposure, but please correct me if I should temper my expectations.
- I was already prone to dry/dehydrated skin, so I know some things about skincare and have a stockpile of heavy and sensitive-skin-friendly moisturizers. Application stings, especially on my face where I can tell my skin barrier is totally wrecked, but there's no lasting irritation and it hurts less every time I do it, so I think it's helping. Should I keep moisturizing whenever I feel like it or slow down?
- Should I also be using something occlusive e.g. Vaseline?
Sorry this is such a long post and thanks for any advice!