Manuka Honey to the Rescue

I do believe I'm currently in the middle of what I'd call my first flare-up since I started treating my BXO. The itch I talked about in my last post has returned, and with it, there is increased redness on the healing BXO skin. It's not a hideous looking red, but as someone who looks at my penis far too many times a day already, it's not something I'm at all comfortable with. I had thought that Hydrogen Peroxide helped, but it doesn't seem to be doing a lot right now. I also thought earlier that the moisturiser I've used on occasion helped, but again, that relief is only temporary. Eventually, the itch will return and the redness doesn't fade. Today as a last resort (ok.. I haven't yet tried Tea Tree Oil) I tried Manuka Honey on it, and it soothed the itch almost immediately. The redness subsided pretty quickly too.

As a test, I tried hydrocortisone, but within about 20 minutes the itch was back, so I took that off and put Manuka Honey back... bingo, itch gone. It will occasionally return for a brief period, but you can't expect any skin treatment to give immediate permanent relief.

So, this really raises an awful lot of questions. What caused it to happen? What will happen when the itching and redness is gone and I stop using Manuka Honey? What does this mean for the future of my condition?

I'll try and come up with some hypothetical answers.

What caused it to happen?
I haven't started or stopped any new treatments recently. The only thing is, it seemed to come on the morning after a bit of.. er... 'fun' the previous evening, where I didn't clean the KY off. I had also eaten a lot of sugar in the preceding days. I may never know the answer, but if I can piece anything together I'd like to know. What I just don't get is, why has it stuck around for so long after? I'll go back to abstinence for a little while I think, and give it time to really heal.

What will happen when the itching and redness is gone and I stop using Manuka Honey?
I will go back to using it at night as a rule I think. Hopefully, that in combination with staying away from lube and keeping the area clean and dry at all times will help.

What does this mean for the future of my condition?
My point here is, skin that I once thought was 'healed' is now red and inflamed, and it's in the same pattern as the original BXO pattern was. This means my skin that I thought was healed isn't healed at all. I guess I'm just mindful of the fact that there's a school of thought that you never 'get rid of' BXO, you just manage it. I've never bought into this, and have always maintained that I will one day be rid of mine. The one positive I take out of this is that it's not my entire BXO skin that is red and itchy - there are parts that haven't gone that way, so perhaps those are just further along the healing path?

At any rate, I'm not at all happy right now and really hoping things get better within the next couple of days. On the up side, it speaks volumes for the power of Manuka Honey I think, which I intend to use exclusively for a little while now.

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