The skin as a battleground

Sometimes in clinic we talk about how the skin can become a battleground.
Perhaps as a territory that is the boundary between ourselves and our surroundings, it is easy to see how this can be. The scratching, picking, rubbing, biting, plucking and squeezing that we can inflict on our skin, hair and nails, represents an emotional energy that is not only a build of frustration, but sometimes is something close to anger. Certainly the damage that gets done as a consequence leaves a scene reminiscent of a battlefield:

Blood is drawn, sometimes with a sense of satisfaction and relief - but this is quickly followed by dismay and guilt as we survey the scene, and an inventory of the damage done is totted up.
Some are perhaps more prone to do all this than others. Add then a condition like atopic eczema, and the recipe is written for habitual scratching, and chronic eczema - a miserable outcome.
Fortunately, like any battlefield, the skin will recover and revert to its previous state if and when peace is allowed to break out. Mother nature can then establish again it's preferred equilibrium. The skin is resilient. It is an organ that is constantly regenerating itself.
In a few weeks all can be well again. After a few months there can be hardly a sign of what took place. There may not even be a memory of what happened.
A sense of well-being reinforces the new status quo.

Relief all round, especially for the skin!