A personal story by Melissa Carter, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
As a nurse, I had always been focused on the care and needs of others for my entire life. It may sound odd, but for all of my work devoted to patients, I had somehow managed to ignore my own personal health.
I am Melissa Carter, I'm 38 years old and I have been employed at a hospital in Boston Massachusetts for well over ten years. My days consisted of work (lots of hours), hand washing, sanitizer, gloves, stress etc. These became a part of me, to the point that one winter I had tiny cracks appear on the fingers of my hands.
At first, I thought this was due to the cold weather, and then I found those small cracks turning into large red and painful patches. My hands started to peel and then felt as if they were burning from the inside out, followed by the burning and the itching, until even holding a pen for an extended period would cause me to want to scream. I finally decided to go and visit a dermatologist, and after seeing one of them, I was diagnosed with eczema.
While many may think eczema is simply dry skin, in my case, it felt like living in hell. Not only was my body in agonizing pain, but the mental pain I experienced was much worse. My patients would often ask me if they could catch my skin condition and my hands appeared quite sore. A child asked to shake my hand to feel his pulse but then quickly snatched his away from mine, noticing my inflamed and swollen skin. Although I attempted to give him a smile, the pain I felt made me break down as soon as I left the workplace, sitting in my car.
My relationship and my marriage suffered greatly too. I started to not wear jewelry and was particularly embarrassed to not wear my wedding ring. Meeting new people was difficult, as guests frequently asked me about my hands which made me feel very embarrassed, and photographs from family gatherings felt mortifying as I tried to hide my hands behind another person's shoulders.
One night after another exhausting shift at the hospital I decided to take part in researching a variety of Karma Ayurveda Reviews USA. One aspect that stood out to me were the numerous and almost impossible before and after stories people have to write when giving testimony, as opposed to the people discussing how lifestyle change was part of the cure. Then I decided that I should book an appointment.
The Ayurveda doctor listened carefully as I detailed the work I had to do, my diet and if I ate regular meals, the stress that I had encountered throughout the day and the type of sleep I obtained after working night shifts as well as if I had any specific foods that caused my symptoms to flare up. Finally, I had found a doctor that could look beyond superficial symptoms and delve into the actual causes of my pain.
I began to follow the advice and the prescribed lifestyle change together with my conventional treatment. It wasn't easy, and required dedication and much patience; but I drank a lot of water and ate organic wholefoods as well as got as much sleep as I could and managed the stress that was causing my pain. My sleep began to improve, and as this did, my scratching pain disappeared, and the painful and itchy cracked skin on my hands disappeared with it. Putting gloves on was also a lot more bearable then it had been previously.
Then, one afternoon, a patient complemented my care: "Thank you so much for all the great care you gave me". And, for the first time in months, I didn't have to hide my hands. I could engage in conversation; I worried a lot about communication issues while at Karma Ayurveda, but the follow-ups were always organized and calming. Whenever I had a query, the staff were always very friendly and helpful, they never felt as if they were rushing, or promised anything unattainable. The claims of their honesty regarding treatments were true and a lot of people mentioned lifestyle changes.
Eczema does not control my life and although I do keep it in check daily I no longer try to hide my skin. I don't have to worry about wearing short sleeves or a normal handshake with someone again. And if you are reading these Karma Ayurveda Reviews USA then it's quite likely you are suffering from a similar problem, you're probably fed up with the condition and the shame you feel regarding your skin. You may have used creams and potions but nothing has ever worked and you may believe that eczema will stay with you forever. But if I can say anything, it's that despite it affecting my skin, it did not affect my identity. Karma Ayurveda helped me heal not only my skin, but my spirit too and it allowed me to realize that internal health affects everything around us; now my lack of confidence has vanished and I'm happy touching and helping anyone I need to. I guess some diseases are treated by healing the heart.