7-year update: AR long-term

Blimey. Seven years, huh? SEVEN. YEARS. Well, my official 7-year mark was about 3 months ago, but eczema doesn’t really cross my mind anymore and I totally missed the milestone.

I haven’t been active in any eczema communities in a very long time, but doing some branding work for Aveeno recently which involved talking to several focus groups of dry-skinned consumers got me back to thinking about how much my life has changed since I found out about Dr Aron. 

Yesterday, my boyfriend - who didn’t know me when I had severe eczema - spontaneously said “your skin is so soft, you know”, and it made me flip on the inside as I realised I’ve achieved my once-dream of having not only normal, but BEAUTIFUL skin without even stopping to appreciate what I now have. Life has just been fast-paced and exciting like that.

So, what’s happened since I last updated this blog? I travelled across Latin America for 26 months, moved back to the UK just in time for covid, got a big moulty dog who slept in my bed practically every day for a year and coped with all the stresses of dealing with the deaths of loved ones, breakups, the unpredictabilities of freelance work, the physical and mental exhaustion of launching as a wedding photographer and the absolute rollercoaster of falling head over heels in love with someone and both of you being silly enough not to communicate your feelings for 1.5 years (it’s been a journey!).

But I know you’re not really here to read about the ups and downs of my little life. You’re here to find out, did Dr Aron really work long term? Did she get any side effects? Is she now hopelessly ‘addicted’ to topical steroids? Is she steroid-free?!

Well, though my path here was bumpy, I have considered myself in remission for about the last 3-4 years. By remission, I mean my skin doesn’t need any medication at all to stay clear for long periods of time, but I might get a mild flare once every 6-12 months, usually just on a small part of my arms or angular chelitis around my mouth. In fact, I’m pretty lazy with my skin and most days don’t even bother to moisturise with anything.

Here’s my coverage of eczema on Day 1 of the Aron Regimen vs my latest flare:

And here’s a picture of me during said “worst flare of 2022”:

As you can see, my sporadic flares nowadays look nothing like my old days. 7 years ago, they were raw, red, bleeding and seeping pus. Now, it’s like an isolated patch of heat rash or bumps that never break the skin. It goes away in 3/4 days if I use the Dr Aron cream once or twice a day. And that’s it! 

Seeing a flare never makes me panic anymore; I barely even think about it. AR takes the itch out in a day, and it doesn’t allow the eczema to spread. It’s just not a big deal.

And as for the amount of steroid I’m using… (dah dah daaaaaah)... the tube that used to last me less than a week now lasts around 2 years. I have no signs of long-term damage to the skin as a result of the diluted steroid usage. The biggest issue is actually getting new GPs to prescribe me anything at all because they don’t believe I’ve ever had eczema that bad when I’m sitting in their office with my current skin. I have to go in armed with photos and explain the maintenance side of the Aron Regimen 😂 The AR is not a cure, remember, but it's damn good at maintaining clear skin.

Oh, and most of my food and environmental sensitivities seem to have disappeared, too. I eat whatever, wear whatever and go wherever. I guess the only thing I am wary of is super salty sea as it can aggravate a bit, but it’s nothing major and won’t result in a flare, and retinol in anti-ageing skin products which really does cause a flare (sadly it looks like I'll have to accept growing old gracefully!).

So yeah, believe me when I say LIFE IS AMAZING. If I hadn’t found Dr Aron on a Facebook group and been desperate enough in my protopic-withdrawal to take a punt on his treatment even though I was wholeheartedly convinced he was a scammer, I really don’t think I’d be where I am now. 

I still tear up when I look at old photos or tell people about what I’ve gone through - in truth, no one really thinks I’m not exaggerating until I show photos, and I can’t really blame them as the true potential of this condition is little known so the phrase “I had really bad eczema” gets thrown around a lot by people who had a slight itch in their elbow one time - but it feels like something that forced me to be a better person and learn how to advocate for myself and others. Though I haven’t been an admin of the Dr Aron community for many years, I’m stupidly proud of the work I did back then and how many people we were able to help.

Do I believe the AR works for everyone? Of course not, but I feel it’s always worth a try, and a proper try, at that. Be prepared that it’s not always a smooth journey to sunshine and rainbows; I could have easily considered giving up in the first 9-ish months of treatment as for a long time it really didn’t look like it was going the right way for me. I persevered thankfully, and now look at me go!

 

Happy healing to all of you xx