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I'm more concerned about the fact you have hand eczema than the fact someone not trained in clinical medicine has deemed it necessary to give you steroid ointment to be honest.

Your opinion that eczema will not affect a career in the RN is nice, but I wonder what it is based on. Warships are full of irritant substances, from oils and fuels to firefighting gear, none of which you will have been exposed to before. Problems are possible in people with normal skin: eczema on the hands can effectively incapacitate you in the event of a Ship-borne emergency and a useless body is, frankly, the last thing the RN needs.

Eczema in general will make an entry medical tricky. Hand eczema is a major problem I'm afraid, for very valid reasons.

Obviously, that is just my opinion at the moment and people with an experiance of the Royal Navy will have a better idea of the effect it may have. It is just frustrating currently as i have never had hand excema before and any excema i did have was barely visible and would not really effect me in what i was doing, never felt a need to desperately scratch. Would this be a complete bar to entry if it healed, or would it be ok after a determined amount of time free from excema if that happens?

I'm not sure you have grasped the importance of this. Your eczema has flared up from exposure to, presumably, nothing terribly toxic. You want to join the RN where you will go to sea in a Ship full of substances that can cause problems in normal skin, never mind eczematous skin. If your eczema flares up when a container of AFFF spills on it during a firefight you'll be another casualty - and AFFF is one of the less irritant substances on board.

AD, you've got blank response syndrome (my 2nd attempt to post).

AD, you've got blank response syndrome (my 2nd attempt to post). Its patient confidentality Wrecks

I've never been known for my patience

I think i had grasped the importance of this, but was just enquiring further as to the reasoning and such, thankyou for explaining that! My view (personal i add) was that it was controllable, however at speaking to someone with experiance it is obviously not. Whilst i am fully aware that Royal marine musicians were actively deployed i have not met one who has been placecd onto a ship deployment hence my enquiry. Looks like i should be looking at a different career!

Thankyou for your assistance i should also add!