Day 25

Day 4 Recovery

I woke up this morning and when I looked in the mirror I looked like a road crash victim, my face was covered in blood. The various scabs around my face are loosening and when they become detached they tend to bleed a little. This picture was taken about 5 hours after this morning's ointment application and although I still look pretty gross there is a definite improvement although my skin now feels very tender.

Day 24

Day 3 Recovery

Today's picture is taken in the morning before the first application of the ointment. As you can see my forehead is slowly getting better. The most noticeable problem is what looks, and feels like severe bruising on my cheeks and around my eyes. It is quite sore when applying the ointment, being quite greasy it is not as smooth to rub into the skin as a cream and is painful over the tender bruised areas. Also as the scabs break down they become very hard and it almost feels as if little shards of glass are being rubbed over the tender skin underneath. After application my face becomes very itchy and there is a great temptation to rub it slightly. This however only aggravates the itching and I try as far as possible not to touch my face for half an hour or so after application.

Day 23

Recovery Day 2

Still look pretty awful don't I, but why am I looking so happy you may ask. Well I AM A GRAND DAD!!! I now have a lovely little grand daughter, Amelia Rose, born 11.23 last night.

Back to my treatment, although it doesn't seem so important now. This picture was taken shortly after the Nystaform ointment had been applied. as you can my skin is very shiny and it remains greasy for several hours after application. I constantly require a tissue to wipe my fingers on if I happen to touch my face. It does work though and after 4 or 5 hours my face looks a lot better until it completely dries out and becomes very gritty and tender just before the next application is due.

Day 22

Day 1 Recovery.

Very pleased to say that I have now discontinued use of the Efudix cream and started the recovery process.
Last night was my worst so far, I woke up in the night with my face throbbing and feeling very hot. This morning I am very swollen around the eyes and the bridge of my nose appears to be about twice its normal width.
I have now been given Nystaform-HC ointment the active ingredients of which are chlorhexidine acetate 1% and hydrocortosone 1%. I was given the option of cream or ointment. I was told that the ointment would look worse as it was greasy and made the skin look shiny, but was slightly more effective. The cream was more readily absorbed. As I felt I couldn't look much worse than I do at the moment I decided on the ointment. On first applying the ointment I can see what the doctor meant. It exaggerates the yellowness of the scabs and does make my face look unpleasantly shiny. After a few hours it has softened up the hard crusty scabs and they are coming away slightly when dabbed with a tissue, they will also stain a pillow or clothing in which they come into contact so I will have to be careful.

Day 21

Well today although I don't look it I am feeling a bit better. Yesterday morning apart from the irritation I was also feeling a little unwell, but throughout the day I started feeling much better and in the afternoon, when the itching is usually at it's worst, I was hardly bothered at all by it. My sleep last night was disturbed again, but not this time by itching but by a throbbing in my upper cheeks and around my eyes where this morning there appears to be quite a bit of swelling, hence the odd look of my eyes in the photo.
Using the Efudix is an odd sensation. Whereas normally if you have a sore on your skin you apply a cream to sooth it and hopefully make it better, but with the Efudix when it is applied it just aggravates the sore and you start looking worse than you did before. I just have to believe in the long term benefit. Hopefully tonight's application will be the last and tomorrow I can start on the next stage.

Day 20

As you can perhaps tell from the photo I am not very happy today. For the first time I had a bit of a disturbed night. The unpleasant scabs on my face are weeping and bleeding slightly but as they dry out throughout the day they start flaking off.
Yesterday afternoon was quite uncomfortable as my face was constantly itching, but of course it is so tender that it cannot be scratched. The only slight relief is by gently pressing a hand over the irritated area. My cheeks and around my eyes are now getting a bit swollen, as if bruises are developing under the scabs. Only two days to go before I see the doctor on Monday so lets hope that will be the end of the Efudix stage.

Day 19

I woke up this morning, looked in the mirror and I looked absolutely disgusting.  The scabs around my nose and on my cheeks and forehead are now a horrible yellow colour and are oozing and bleeding slightly. I knocked the top off the one on my right cheek as I was applying the cream and that also started to bleed a bit.
Yesterday was probably the most uncomfortable day so far, my face was very itchy most of the afternoon, but it did settle down a bit after the second application of cream. Still slept ok though and although uncomfortable my face is not particularly painful. I'll just have to see what the next couple of days are like before I have to see the doctor again on Monday.