Legend has it that Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, was always sensitive about his red nose and how it really stood out. Since he was a tiny little reindeer calf at North Pole Elementary, all the other reindeer would mock his nose. He just wanted to fit in and be one of the guys, well, reindeers. But his red nose was like a sore thumb that no, he wasn't. "Reddy," they would teasingly call him--and he never liked it.
He tried for most of his childhood to accept who he was and is. He thought life would be different, as an adult reindeer, and when he took the job as Santa's lead reindeer.
But one of the challenging lessons of adultreindeerhood for him was learning the other adult reindeer he worked with would bully him just as much. (He never watched movies -- he is a reindeer, after all! -- but had he, he might have been warned from Veronica's mom's sarcastic warning in the 80s classic Heathers: "Just how do you think adults act with other adults?")
Eventually, Rudolf decided to see a doctor to understand his red-nosed condition. And guess what? Just like your humble author of this fictional story, he had eczema. And just like your humble author of this fictional story, the eczema manifested itself by making huge blotches of his nose bright red.
The solution? Here's what Rudolf did (as well as your author): collagen, collagen, collagen, a scoop of collagen every day! There has been increasing evidence such as here and here) that collagen helps to manage symptoms of eczema and thus the red skin that comes with it.