Day 80 (photos)

I have been quite active during my break between flares and was even able to go out last night. My skin is generally calm, but still not "right".

My neck was oozing clear fluid all night, which was unpleasant, but I still wouldn't consider myself to be in another full blown flare yet. The oozing may be a sign that the next flare is on its way though.

As I have mentioned before, I have some areas on my body that seem deeply damaged. These areas are a bright red colour and look very raw, as if all the skin has gone. The patches weep non stop and occasionaly crust over with a paper thin layer of skin, which flakes away quickly to reveal the sore skin again. The raw skin looks very odd close up. You can see the vessicles, pit and wells in the skin full of fluid. I think that these areas will take many months to heal. I keep these areas clean at all times to avoid infection. the last thing I want is cellulitis complicating matters.

This is the raw area on my elbow crook. I would have liked the camera to have had a better close up function, as you cannot make out how bad it is from the photo. The skin in this area has been like this since pretty much the beginning of withdrawal and is still raw and wet. I think it will take a long time to heal.

This is my bad area on my leg. I posted a photo of this area a couple of days ago. It is very raw and again, the photo does not really do justice to how bad it looks. This area does not dry up no matter what I put on it and it is very itchy. When I have a bath, it opens the wound up again and makes it ooze even more.

These raw areas really concern me. They seem much more stubborn than the other areas of reddened skin. My biggest worry is that these areas will grow and spread. They seem localised for now, but I have had similar areas start appearing on my other leg and in my leg creases. I try and keep the areas exposed to air when I can. I may avoid having a bath for a couple of days to see if it helps dry the areas out.