Days 22-23 - A Close Shave

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 second time on this journey last night.

Not sure I'm a fan of the Advantin - doesn't seem to do much - however, the Aqueous Cream is very useful in keeping my skin soft and preventing cracking/bleeding.

Enjoyed the weekend as best we could - Mothers' Day - and our daughter came home from University for the weekend. She was a little freaked out on first contact, like, "Dad is that you? OMG..."

Comparison photos:

Day 21 - first day off Efudix - healing phase

Day 23 - third day off Efudix with circle to indicate major pain zone either side of my chin

Day 23 - third day off Efudix - left side

Learning:

If you teach a poor young man to shave himself, and keep his razor in order, you may contribute more to the happiness of his life than in giving him a thousand guineas.

Benjamin Franklin

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Day 39 - Pink!

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Day 39 Final Post - Pink! This is my final post and the past week has just been about recovery. My face is still very pink and I suppose that will slowly fade, but it's still disconcerting. There is no itching or pain anymore. Shaving is back to normal too (thank God). I'm still applying Paw-Paw ointment as noted in the previous Blog post, hence the 'shine' in today's photos. I'll be using it for some months yet. In summary: This was a tough gig for long periods; Staying indoors and out of the sun was difficult, that surprised me more than I thought it would. I may not be suited to living in Canada in the winter 😊; I still have to get a blood test to check my Vitamin D levels as a result (yes, seriously); I'm glad I'm through it, that I made it, and I'm glad I had the sense to read other Blogs before starting, to get the lay of the land; The reason I'm glad,

Days 28-29 - Blotch!

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 Wednesday, May 23.

Days 19 -20 - All things Tenzing

This blog is to help others contemplating this treatment. Days 19-20 All things Tenzing If Day 19 was base camp, then Day 20 is summit. What a road! As you'll see below I'm finally out of Efudix - didn't quite get to 21 days but the drug will be active in my skin for another 18 hours, so near enough. Day 17 to now have been very dark days for pain and itching. Each night I'm only getting 3-4 hours sleep and I'm an 8-9 hours guy, always have been. I've taken two Ibuprofen on the 18th night leading into Day 19 - it may have taken the edge off a little, while I was lying in bed, but not significantly. The tricky thing I find is the pressure of the pillow on your stubble - each little hair seems to catch and scrape and seems directly wired to an itch generator in your skin. But that's all the pain medication so far. I'd advise anyone considering pain medication to discuss the matter with your Doctor as to what their recommendation is, an

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

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