Category: Support Group

Last Friday, the support group had a small and cozy turnout with majority of senior ladies interested in better care for their eczema skin. We learnt a few tips from Sister Wong, who shared graciously on her experience on caring for patients’ skin.

1. The skin comprises of epidermis, dermis, and subcutaneous tissue. The epidermis is the outer layer of the skin. The thickness of epidermis varies, with the thinnest on the eyelid (of 0.05mm) to the thickest at the soles and palm.

2. Some of the moisturizers aim to replenish the defective skin barrier, for instance, ceramides which make up 40-50% of stratum corneum (outermost layer of epidermis).

3. The dermis also varies in thickness, with the thinnest at the eyelid (of 0.6mm) to 3mm on the back, palm and sole. Collagen fibers make up 70% of the dermis, providing strength and toughness. The other components of dermis are elastic fibers, proteoglycans, blood vessels and sweat glands, nerve fibers and immune cells.

4. The baby skin is different in that their epidermis is 20-30% thinner than the adult. It is thus more easily penetrated by irritants as the skin barrier is not fully developed. Infant skin also absorb and lose moisture more quickly. Therefore, gentle products without irritants (see compiled list here) are a good starting point for product selection.

5. Baby skin is also less able to cope with sweat, thus more susceptible to milia/heat rash.

6. Ageing skin, like baby skin, is also thinner. It is more susceptible to blisters, tears and grazes. Its reduce moisture retention ability leads to dry skin. There is also less elasticity and shows signs of color or texture changes from sun damage.

After learning about the skin, we shared about different products and it was a heartwarming to see many of these senior ladies taking very good care and attention to their skin! Thanks to everyone who helped out and next month’s session would likely be on a Saturday, focusing more on kids. Subscribe to blog post and newsletter to be kept updated!

Reminder of this Friday’s Eczema Support Group lunch on Tender Skin’s Care.

Come join us on 25 July, National Skin Centre Room 402, 12.30pm to 1.30pm.

Both elderly and children have tender skin and senior dermatology nurse Sister Wong will be sharing tips for tender skincare. Another nurse will be showing your elderly parents how to care for their skin daily.

Lunch will be provided so that you do not have to rush to grab lunch on your workday. Do RSVP by Wed evening so that we can get ready your lunch. If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, and a NSC staff will confirm your RSVP.

Look forward to seeing everyone! Mei

This month’s session promises to be an exciting one because

1. It’s the first time the session caters for both the young and the elderly. After the speaker’s sharing, a dermatology nurse will facilitate the sharing with the elderly while I’d be chatting with the parents! Both groups tend to have different concerns, so the sharing will be separate but we are all still in the same room.

2. Both groups (elderly and kids) have tender skin – infants’ skin is thinner and has less oil and pigment cells (read more here) while the elderly’s skin is also thinner, fragmented collagen and higher trans epidermal water loss (TEWL) (read more here in Dr Claudia’s video). Thus, this topic on Tender Skin Care is very applicable for both elderly and children. Moreover, eczema skin is defective and has many of the ‘tender’ aspects like dry skin, more permeable, increased TEWL (read more here in interview with Dr Lynn Chiam).

The speaker for this session is Sister Wong who has shared last year on Step-by-Step skincare.

She is the Senior Nurse Educator at National Skin Center and trained in Dermatology and STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections) Nursing in UK. She had spent many years in the inpatient nursing care in CDC and currently based in outpatient services in National Skin Centre. She is also in charge of training programmes for the nurses in Dermatology.

3. Relaxing Friday lunch, FOC!

25 July 2014 (Friday) – Venue, NSC Room 402, 12.30 noon to 1.30pm

1. 12.30 – 12.35 pm Introducing Ourselves – we can do this with our mouths full (lunch provided).

2. 12.35 – 1.10 pm Sister Wong will be speaker on Tender Skin Care

3. 1.10 – 1.30 pm Elderly and parents (with kids) will split into respective group to share among yourselves, each with a facilitator and Sister Wong will be there to answer both groups’ questions.

Do note though that this is not a consultation session. For those bringing your child, there will be balloons for sculpturing, puzzles and coloring to occupy your children.

Same note: Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

YOU MUST RSVP – You must RSVP so that we can order lunch and arrange the layout for the seats. If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, and a NSC staff will confirm your RSVP.

Look forward to seeing everyone! Mei

Last Friday’s lunch with the parent-child eczema support group at the Singapore National Skin Centre was an informative, relaxed and enjoyable session. We had a mix of people of different ages and 3 kids who came. The children were all very well-behaved and puzzles, toys contributed by a participant kept the children happy and busy!

On the topic of allergy, Dr Mark Tang, head of eczema clinic at NSC shared a few tips:

1. If it is a true allergic reaction, only a little is needed to trigger it and the reaction would be consistent.

2. Allergens can enter the body through environment as well as through the blood (for food).

3. Immune system grows to be more tolerant of certain allergens, thus the term ‘out-growing’ of certain food allergens. Dr Madeline Ho, another doctor on the support group’s advisory panel further shared that certain food allergens are more commonly outgrown than others, for instance children tend to outgrow cow’s milk, eggs but less likely to outgrow peanut allergy.

4. Various allergy tests are skin prick test, IgE blood test and patch test.

It was good that Dr Tang had the time to explain many of the participants’ queries/concerns and our nurses (you know who you are, for privacy didn’t state your names) were ever so supportive, not forgetting NSC staff who helped with the logistics and ordering the yummy lunch! Thank you everyone for making my last Friday lunch a lovely time.

RSVP today for this Friday lunch at Singapore National Skin Centre with Eczema Support Group – parents’ sharing on allergy with Dr Mark Tang. For full post, see here.

It is June holidays and if you are taking leave to spend more time with your children, you may want to choose 20 June 2014, Friday!

On 20 June, at the Singapore National Skin Centre, the Eczema Support Group will be holding its monthly sharing session and this time, with a doctor on our advisory panel Dr Mark Tang.

The topic for 20 June lunch – All Parents Wanted to Know on Allergy

20 June 2014 (Friday) – Venue, NSC Room 401, 12.30 noon to 1.30pm

1. 12.30 – 12.45 pm Introducing Ourselves – we can do this with our mouths full (lunch provided).

2. 12.45 – 1.30 pm I’d be facilitating the discussion on allergy, covering broadly

Allergy Testing – Does my child need to go for allergy test? Which are the common tests? Are they accurate?

Common Allergens – Which are the common allergens? Is food a common culprit?

Allergy and Skin – What does having a tested positive allergen means for my skin?

Do note though that this is not a consultation session. For those bringing your child, there will be balloons for sculpturing, puzzles and coloring to occupy your children.

Same note: Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

3. What’s for Lunch – Very likely, pizza.

4. YOU MUST RSVP – Our medical social worker who is helping with the Eczema Support Group will be in-charge of confirming your attendance, which isn’t confirmed till she says so! If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, so that I can get her to contact you.

Look forward to seeing everyone! Mei

To start off the June holidays, members of the Eczema Support Group are invited for an outing to the Singapore Discovery Centre. Nurse Cindy from the National Skin Centre will be our leader for the outing and you can always talk to her during the outing to discover Singapore!

The meeting time and point is 9.30am, 31 May 2014 (Sat morning) at the Singapore Discovery Centre ticket booth. It is a simple outing to do something together as a group and expected to end by 12.30pm. If interested to go for this outing, do leave a comment and social worker Debbie will get back to you on your RSVP.

Update: Due to low response for the event, this outing is cancelled. Look out for June’s lunch sharing information on this blog!

More on what’s available at the Singapore Discovery Centre here.

Today, the Eczema Support Group for parents of eczema children had a lovely lunch with Senior Pharmacist, Winnie Li.

First, I had my pizza, which looked exactly like the picture on left! 2nd, Winnie had prepared notes for the parents and 3rd, nice conversation and Q&A was undergoing during the up-close with pharmacist session!

A few new points I learnt:

1. For eczema patients, a cream is preferred instead of lotion for a better occlusive property (see moisturizing function here)

2. Urea is a humectant, however 5% for kids and choose one without SLS (sodium lauryl sulphate). Urea is known to have keratolytic effect, which means it helps to soften the thickened skin, thus suitable for adult whose skin has lichenification overtime.

3. Just bath oil is cleansing enough, no need for soap cleanser (more on bath here)

4. As always the topic of local corticosteroid creams comes up, and the tip is to balance the two – use prescription cream when there’s a flare-up to treat it, and when there is no flare-up – keep up the moisturizing and healthy lifestyle.

A point that is emphasized is to keep moisturizing the skin as it is a very crucial step to protect and repair sensitive/eczema skin.

Check back for next month’s topic which is on skincare, will be on a Sat morning!

What’s a better use of Friday lunch than to learn the products that you are using (and spending $$$) on your child with eczema. On 28th March 2014, we are privileged to have Senior Pharmacist Winnie Li share on General Tips in managing Eczema in children with Over the Counter products.

More on Winnie Li: She is the Senior Pharmacist experienced with Eczema and Itch Management. She was an invited speaker for a regional Congress organized by Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore on the topic “Off-label Uses of Oral Drugs in NSC for Pruritus and OTC Itch Relief Remedies ”. She was also the speaker for annual NSC Pharmacist Seminar on the topic “Products of Itch Relief in Atopic Dermatitis”

So Mark Your Calendar and Lunch’s on us!

28 March 2014 (Friday) – Venue, National Skin Centre, Level 4, Room 401, 12.15 pm to 1pm

1. 12.15pm – 12.20pm Quick introduction

2. 12.20pm – 1pm Winnie will be sharing information on eczema, OTC products and helps answer questions you have!

There will be balloons for sculpturing, puzzles and coloring to occupy your children. Same note: Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

YOU MUST RSVP – Our medical social worker who is helping with the Eczema Support Group will be in-charge of confirming your attendance, which isn’t confirmed till she says so! If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, so that I can get her to contact you.

One last thing, the session will START and END on-time, so please don’t come late and expect it to drag, it won’t! Look forward to seeing everyone, including those who normally can’t make it to our sharing session on Saturday morning! Mei

Last Saturday 22nd Feb, the Eczema Support Group for Parents with Eczema Children held a sharing session on wet wrap and everyone had a lovely time!

After Mölnlycke Health Care Singapore shared about eczema, Tubifast bandage and garments, there was a vibrant discussion on sizes for various body parts of a child. A few pointers on wet wrap shared in this session and previous one are:

1. Ointment, lotion or cream can be used with the wet wrap.

2. Blue and green sizes are applicable for sizes of grade school children, in fact, they ran out during the demonstration as these sizes are so useful for wrapping various parts of a child.

3. The wrap can be hand washed, and built for durability.

For more on wet wrap, see the interview with Mölnlycke Health Care. Thank you to their product manager, NSC’s nurses and medical social worker for being ‘cheerleaders’ for this session. And of course, I appreciate everyone’s participation, we had many light moments as our members got to know each other and ‘joked’ about our stressful condition!

Welcome all of you back to 2014, and Gong Xi Fa Cai (translated Prosperity Blessings?)! The Eczema Support Group for Parents with Eczema Children’s first session in 2014 will be on 22 February (Sat) 930 am at NSC, so mark your calendar!

This session will be on Wet Wrap, focusing on learning how to find the Right Size for your Child and using the Right wrap for different body parts. This is a back-by-popular demand session, as many parents who have not attended the last wet wrap talk in April 2013 have been asking me how to wrap.

22 February (Saturday) – Venue, National Skin Centre Singapore Room 401, 9.30 am to 11 am

The program:

1. 9.30 am to 10 am Introducing Ourselves over BREAKFAST – A warm-up for everyone, and food to get everyone awake. Feel free to bring your child, we have puzzles, coloring, balloon sculpture to keep your little ones occupied.

2. 10 am – 10.45 am Tubifast team will share on wet wraps – Right Size and Wrap. They will give a presentation and have products available for you to see. From past sessions’ experience, it is not as easy to visualize your child and how to wrap, so you may just want to bring him/her along!

3. 10.45 – 11am Q&A time, so be prepared with your question!

Same note: No doctor present, so don’t expect to ‘Ask the Doc’. Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child and the session is for parents with eczema kids. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

4. YOU MUST RSVP – It will then be possible for us to prepare breakfast and for the Tubifast team to prepare the relevant product. Our medical social worker who is helping with the Eczema Support Group will be in-charge of confirming your attendance, which isn’t confirmed till she says so! If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, so that I can get her to contact you.

One last thing, the session would be ending on-time, so please don’t come late and expect it to drag, it won’t – simply cos I have to run! Look forward to seeing you! Mei

Time flies and it’s already year-end. We’re rounding this year to celebrate together all our Ups and Downs, as I’m sure many families have much to share on how they manage eczema through the haze, the exam stress while others discover to their joy something that works to calm eczema for their child.

So, the last sharing session for the year, and look forward to meeting old friends and new! The topic is “Eczema Ups and Downs” for the year, and our nurses whom we have enjoyed their company and skincare tips in previous sessions will be joining us for

BRUNCH BUFFET at National Skin Centre, Room 401 on 30 NOVEMBER 2013, 10am to 11.30am. with

Giveaway items: Cetaphil Restoraderm Mini Pack

and Parenting Tips on Living with Patients with Atopic Dermatitis book by NSC

Kindly RSVP by 25 November 2013, as we would need time to book the buffet! Look forward to seeing your children too! I’d be bringing mine, and also balloons, puzzles and coloring to keep all kids occupied.

RSVP by emailing me ([email protected]) or leaving a comment here and I’ll get the social worker for the support group to confirm your RSVP.

The same rules as always: Information shared during session is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

Last Saturday’s Rise and Shine Expo was a success, including the informative talk by Dr Lynn Chiam on children’s skin. For this Saturday, the eczema support group will have another informative and engaging time with senior pharmacist Winnie Li.

It’d be the first where we have Senior Pharmacist Winne Li. Winnie will be sharing her experience and knowledge as a pharmacist who has worked at National Skin Centre for 5 years. Topic ”General Tips in managing Eczema in children with over the counter products”

More on Winnie Li: She is the Senior Pharmacist experienced with Eczema and Itch Management. She was an invited speaker for a regional Congress organized by Pharmaceutical Society of Singapore on the topic “Off-label Uses of Oral Drugs in NSC for Pruritus and OTC Itch Relief Remedies ”. She was also the speaker for annual NSC Pharmacist Seminar on the topic “Products of Itch Relief in Atopic Dermatitis”

12 October 2013 (Friday) – Venue, NSC Room 401, 1.30pm to 2.45pm

1. 1.30pm to 1.40pm Introducing Ourselves – An informal hi from everyone!

2. 1.40pm – 2.30pm Winnie will be sharing information on eczema, OTC products and helps answer questions you have!

There will be balloons for sculpturing, puzzles and coloring to occupy your children. Same note: Information shared is not medical advice, please still see a doc. No selling anything or pretending to be a parent of eczema child. Information on my blog is not pre-approved by NSC.

3. 2.30pm to 2.45pm Tea-time and catching up

4. YOU MUST RSVP – Our medical social worker who is helping with the Eczema Support Group will be in-charge of confirming your attendance, which isn’t confirmed till she says so! If you’re coming, please email me ([email protected]) your name, mobile and email, number of adults & kids coming, so that I can get her to contact you.

Look forward to seeing everyone! Mei

On 14 September 2.30pm to 5pm, there is a very informative public forum, by National Skin Centre, on Sensitive Skin and Eczema. The venue is SMU, Admin Building Level 5 Auditorium, and four speakers from NSC will share on eczema – its causes, prevention and treatment. The tickets are at S$8, inclusive of goodie bags and refreshments.

Do click on this link and fill in the registration form. It’d be a very good use of your Saturday!