Bioderma Cicabio Crème

~ stashy

I may have mentioned before that I’ve got sensitive skin.  This applies not only to my face but also to my body.  I get random contact dermatitis and hives fairly frequently.  In fact, I’m actually allergic to an ingredient that is supposed to help with skin irritation and healing: bacitracin.  This ingredient is found in common topical ointments such as Polysporin / Neosporin.  I’ve been wanting to find an alternative if I ever needed something to help heal my skin.  I stumbled upon Bioderma Cicabio Crème:
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In English it reads: Soothing Repairing Cream for irritated damaged skin. Sounds promising.  I kept this unopened until I had an opportunity to try it out recently.

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I received a Fitbit band last Christmas from the SO, which I happily slapped on my wrist on Boxing Day and wore without incident until sometime in June.  I had suddenly developed a rash around the circumference of my wrist, where the band touches my skin.  I attempted several times to start wearing it again but I kept getting the rash.  I washed the band, disinfected it, but still didn’t help. It was suggested that perhaps it was due to the warmer weather since I’d been wearing it without any issue from December all the way to June – so I ceased wearing the Fitbit for the summer.

Just this week, I attempted to wear the Fitbit again but, after wearing it for 24 hours, I developed this welt around my wrist:
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It might not be apparent in the photo, but not only was my skin red, it was actually swollen and felt warm to the touch, like a hive, and it was itchy.  This is what the wrist looked like after I had removed the Fitbit band for 12 hours already.  I left it off thinking the redness would just disappear on its own, but it did not.  There’s no mistaking it, it wasn’t the warm weather: I’ve developed contact dermatitis to the Fitbit band. 😦
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It was time to test out the Bioderma Cicabio Crème ($15.95 for 40ml – available at Shoppers Drug Mart).  Its indications are:
• Minor skin damage: superficial peeling, non-abrasive laser treatment, as follow-up to dermatological procedures on medical orders
• Dry skin: irritation, redness, overheating, scaly areas, etc.
The 2 key active ingredients are: zinc oxide and copper sulfate.  The other notable ingredients include glycerin, seaweed extract, and hyaluronic acid.
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I applied a small around directly onto the affected skin.  The texture is similar to other ointments – slightly greasy but it absorbed into the skin readily.  There wasn’t any strong fragrance – it just smelled like… ointment. 😛
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I’m impressed! My welt stopped itching about 10 minutes after application, and the redness went down after about an hour:
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I can definitely attribute the cream to improving my skin since before I applied it, I had left my wrist for 12 hours without any intervention and the welt remained red and irritated – whereas with the application of Bioderma Cicabio Crème, my skin calmed down quite quickly.  I applied the Bioderma twice a day as instructed and the redness was gone by the third day.  I’ll be keeping this tube handy for any future skin healing needs!  My tube expires Oct 2017:
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What do you use to help heal skin irritation?  Do you have skin allergies?  I’m kind of bummed that I can’t wear my Fitbit anymore.  I’ll have to see if there are alternative ways to wear it, or another kind of band.

32 thoughts on “Bioderma Cicabio Crème”

  1. I’m allergic big time to Poison Ivy (went to the emergency for it – no joke) I get rashes just from the pollen in the air … It’s so sad about the Fitbit (by the way did you like it ??? I want one) . Good to know about the Bioderma cream.

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    1. Oh dear! I hope I never encounter poison ivy! Or bees. I’ve never been bit by a bee and I am worried that I’ll just die! 😦
      Fitbit is awesome! I really love how it monitors my steps and my sleeping patterns. I didn’t use it to its full potential to add my food intake or calorie counting but I really just liked knowing my walking and sleep. 🙂 I recommend!

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  3. Ok, I need to get myself a tube of this stuff!
    I always have a couple of tubes of benedryl around the house in case of skin sensitivity and/or allergic reactions. I think the worst is when you can’t figure out the cause of the reaction.

    I’ve heard a lot about people getting rashes and contact dermatitis after wearing the fitbit band.

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    1. I LOVE those Benadryl commercials where the guy is walking and suddenly sprouts a bunch of hives and he has no idea what caused them! 😛
      Ugh, the Fitbit pamphlet says it was dermatologist tested against allergies! 😦

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  4. Argh, I am in a similar boat. I suffered from eczema as a kid, then got some hives during university (probably stress-related?) and in recent years, I’ve developed random rashes on my hands (cleaning-related). I also can’t wear earrings because of allergies – even quality gold and silver pieces will bother me.

    In the past, I’ve used the old nail polish trick on the backs of cheaper watches, which works a treat. Sometimes I have to put clear polish on the parts of my glasses frames, too, if the paint has worn off near the ears! This won’t work with the FitBit, though 😦 I was thinking of getting one, but will probably pass on it, now.

    Thanks for the Bioderma tip – I will definitely have to check it out. I’m currently using Cetraben when I’m not using a prescription cream, but I like to have more options!

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    1. Yup, I can’t wear anything in my ears anymore either. The only things I can tolerate are pure titanium (heavy) or PLASTIC earrings! 😛 I bought a whole whack of those clear plastic earring posts with the intention of making my own earrings but they kept breaking so there goes that. I only bust out earrings for fancy events, knowing full well that my ears will be sore and irritated by the end of the evening. The clear nail polish trick works temporarily because it rubs off the surface pretty quickly!
      The Fitbit literature says it’s supposed to be dermatologist tested… 😦

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  5. So sad you can’t wear your present anymore and that it gave you a huge welt! It’s clear in the photos that the bioderma helped you out even on the first day you applied it. I do use neosporin after getting a cut. I actually never thought about what I’d use if I couldn’t have that. Glad you found something for future skin emergencies. Bioderma is king of skin, huh?

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    1. Yeah Bioderma to the rescue!
      I used Neosporin / Polysporin with NO issues for years until one day about 6 yrs ago I had burned my arm on a iron. Of course I immediately applied Polysporin as normal – well, instead of it getting better, it got so bad that I had to go to the ER twice because my whole arm has swelled up so much… I battled with it for more than a month until finally a dermatologist informed me that I was allergic to the ointment that the ER peeps were giving me! 😮

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      1. OMG see that’s what sucks about allergies. They just develop out of nowhere so sometimes you don’t know what’s going on! My derma let me know that I am allergic to nickel and that’s why my earrings were all of a sudden irritating my ear lobes. Nothing serious, just annoying overall.

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  10. Oh this sounds horrible. Must be so annoying to develop these reactions, especially after you had been wearing it for months already.
    The cream sounds like a little miracle though, might just have to get myself a tube for strange reactions 🙂 xxx

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  11. Ugh I have sensitive skin too and it sucks. Can’t wear costume jewellery as I break out in rash and sometimes watches do the same. And I always have eczema somewhere on my body at any point in time.
    Super annoying that the fitbit says its allergy-tested; I wonder if you contacted them directly if they’d do something for you? I was going to suggest clear nail polish as well but I guess that wouldn’t work too well on this type of band. Glad to hear you found a product that works for you though!

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    1. I read a bunch of people online who experienced this issue with Fitbit and they offered to give them a new band. I have several Fitbit bands and I switched them to test if I was allergy to one particular one but all of them behaved the same. I think that unlike a watch where I’m only wearing it for 12 hrs or so, the Fitbit is on for much longer – some days for 24 hrs. I have seen necklace pendants that might be an option for me to still use the Fitbit – but they do recommend wearing it on the wrist for the most accurate reading. SIGH!

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  12. Like you, I have sensitive skin on my body and from time to time I experience eczema. I’ve been prescribed steroid ointments, but at the moment, I just use Aveeno Daily Moisturiser for the body and Neutrogena hand cream fragrance free for my hands, which had helped to clear up the majority of my dry skin. I also use Lucas Papaw ointment for me helped within a few minutes to clear up any irritation.

    As for your fitbit band, maybe you could get in contact with fitbit via twitter and they can help you with the band allergy. I’ve heard of people receiving replacement bands due to some skin allergy. Good to know the bioderma cream helped! 🙂 x

    Caryl – http://carylalmelor.com/

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    1. Oh yes I should have mentioned that I have steriod ointments that I’ve been prescribed too but I use it very sparingly and only if very desperate. I don’t want to thin out my skin! I have Lucas Papaw ointment that an Aussie coworker brought back for me – it didn’t do much for me when I tried it before.
      Yes I heard that people got replacement bands from Fitbit but I already have several bands and all of them caused this issue!

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