So let's see how this goes...Efudex/Efudix

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 30-32 - A Tropical Fruit Well a couple of marvelous things have happened since the last post on Sunday.  On Tuesday I think I became itch free for the first time in about 20 days.  You don't know what a relief that has been.  In fact I say 'think' because when I returned to a more normal 'state' I didn't really notice - then it dawns on you...hey, I'm not itching anymore, yay! I've also switched up the lotion attack.  After some research on Paw Paw content I'm using the product below.  It has the highest Paw Paw extract by volume of any that I can find on the Australian market and is available in a couple of major pharmacy chains.  I think this was a good move.  Importantly it is petro-chemical free. I'm sure that Monty Python might have a song about exfoliation - if so - message me below and I'll link it.  Generally, very scaly, couple of open sores but I'm m...

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 28-29 Today's photos are taken on the 8th day of the healing phase, May 20, in the morning, pre-cream, so no glossy facial sheen. This is what I mean by spontaneous bleeding: these spots have opened up after a gentle wash down with a face washer, just warm water, no soap.  They bleed for a few moments and I just compress them with a dry face washer and they stop after a little while.  They can start whenever they want, the very definition of spontaneous!   The unfortunate thing is they can happen at night too.  Perhaps I'm scratching my face while sleeping, but I don't recall that obviously.  The pillowcase in the morning can look a bit tragic.  Call in the CSI Unit sort of situation. I'm feeling like there is progress - skin is very flaky today - it's peeling like a typical sunburn.  Very scaly around the chin.  I'm becoming blotchy. Next Blog will be on ...

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 26-27 Ok, another 48 hours and I'm stowing away the time (gratuitous Steely Dan reference 😀).  I'm thinking the wheels are starting to turn in a positive way.  There's a little bit of spontaneous bleeding from spots, but that's not new, and generally speaking I'm more pink than red.  Good thing!  Less itching also, which is a very good thing! In the morning, with the moisturizer gone overnight, my skin feels uncomfortably tight, but less uncomfortably tight than two days ago, so that's progress.  It feels like your skin is painted on and is drying and it's a laminated shiny surface (haven't explained that very well). The routine is: Advantan on the whole face once a day in the morning, leave that for twenty minutes then cover over with Aqueous Cream.  More Aqueous Cream at about 2.30pm and 6.00pm after shaving.  Shaving late in the day is working for me as it means no stubb...

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Day 25 - Close Ups. If you click "Read More" then things will get graphic.  The thumbnail picture is bad enough! Proceed with caution...  I've been feeling that the shots I've put up haven't been getting the detail.  So that I don't sound like an endless 'whiner' here is some creepy detail of my day to day existence this week. Scroll down...click the picture if you truly want the detail... Face full of tiny itchy blisters and other decay.... Pretty clear why you wouldn't want this to dry out and get crispy. Dragging a razor across that landscape is...'technical'.  Right side. Day 25 - both temples and cheeks awash with tiny, prickly blisters.

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 24-25 - Days 4-5 on the Healing Phase It doesn't seem to be progressing very quickly to me.  It's hurting more, if you can believe that!  I'm slathering on moisturizer but the big problem is at night when I wake up and the cream seems to have been absorbed into the top pillowcase.  This leaves raw, dry skin, radiating heat and hurting to the point that you can't sleep and have to get up to put cream on.  It feels like your face has just come out of a toaster.   The past two nights have been stages of two hours of sleep - get up - reapply.  I thought that perhaps dampening the pillowcase might stop the leaching away of the cream.  Well the induced, evaporative coolness of the cotton, by the water, certainly helped with the 'sunburn' effect as anyone who has had sunburn will know the comfort of a cool compress to the affected area. So, TICK, good result.  However, the...

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 22-23 - A Close Shave The pain has been worse over the past two days than at any other time, especially at night, which I find completely surprising probably because I thought the 'healing phase' would be, well, healing.  I talked it up in my head!   The reality is that I have very painful zones either side of my chin, shown below, which are challenging (read bloody painful) when chewing or talking.  This is made worse as whiskers push through the skin as the day progresses, and at night, the rubbing of whiskers on a pillow case lights up the hypersensitive zones which are pretty much everywhere.   As a solution I'm going to try shaving twice a day!  If you have read the Blog elsewhere you'll know my general view of shaving through this process is: a 'necessary evil'. To commit to twice a day indicates the level of the pain problem.  Resorted to Ibuprofen for only the ...