I used to have really mild eczema. I used to housesit at a place about 3 miles from my house. We are both on well water but she had a water softener. I was fine showering there until about day 3 and then I would start to get the eczema back. I had not had symptoms of eczema for about 3 years prior to that. It would happen every time I would housesit there. Once I went back to showering at home I was fine.
I never got the eczema if I only slept there so I don’t think it was her laundry detergent/fabric softener.
I had it on one hand. Wouldn’t go aweay. Saw thee different doctors, who prescribed various creams, none of which worked.
Ran into a friend who said that she had a friend who had it. That friend quit all dairy and gluten and it went away. I did the same thing and mine went away. It never came back. This was 4 - 5 years ago, and I am still extremely careful with dairy and gluten, especially when it starts to look a little red or feel sensitive.
helichrysum oil is wonderful, expensive but effective and lasts a while.
I’ve had eczema for several years now on my hands and feet. Went to the dermatologist; nothing he gave me worked. Tried OTC stuff which worked a little, but it never completely went away.
I always wear gloves for barn chores (although I sometimes think the gloves irritate the problem).
I was poking around my barn first aid kit one night and pulled out some bag balm. I slather the bag balm on at night and cover with gloves/socks. Within two days, the eczema is almost gone. Nothing else has worked this well. I can feel a bout coming on, so I make sure I use the bag balm (which is very inexpensive, by the way) and most times I can avoid it altogether. It’s worked great for me for nearly a year now. Might be worth a try.
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I have eczema all year round, since I was a child. Unscented creams are good to have, the less ingredients the better it works for me (and if it’s perfumed in any way, prepare for worse symptoms!).
Moisturize often, wear gloves in the cold (I can’t wear gloves when it’s warm, that irritates the skin more), and for me there is NO avoiding prescriptions…
Steroid creams used to work well, but less so these days (Unless I slather it on 4x daily, way too much!), so I switched to a new one called Elidel cream, took longer to work (3 weeks ish) but I use much less (once a day) and it’s keeping it under control!
Mine is severe, and long term, so you may be able to just use simple maintenance and avoid the prescription creams on a long-term basis, but there is no harm in using them for a week or two here and there, and they WORK.
YMMV 
I didn’t read through the entire thread so if I am repeating someone I apologize. I had the type of eczema that causes the tiny blisters that itch and then burst and subsequently crack and scab. I battled it for years with minimal improvement. While at the dermatologist to have a mole removed I mentioned it to her and she suggested changing all the soaps in the house to cetaphil cleanser. I didn’t think something so simple could make a difference but it has. My hands have been cleared up for over a year, even through very stressful situations. I use the cleanser in both bathroom and kitchen and use the lotion as well. I also found that a hand cream called Working Hands was very beneficial in deep moisturizing without leaving a greasy residue.
I don’t do any barn work without gloves, not any time of year. I don’t have eczema, but my hands do get irritated pretty quickly by hay and grit and I have the bad habit of putting them in unfortunate places and coming out with splinters or worse.
I wear deerskin gloves unless it is raining. At the store they will seem a little clumsy, but buttery soft. In short order they will mold to your hands, IME, and I can do all but the most fiddly activities in them. I wear them to groom and pick out hooves now, too, and only switch to my riding gloves when I’m going to bridle.
When it is raining, I usually wear nitrile gloves, because they can take the wet and dry, but that would be a terrible choice for you with eczema. I noticed when I went to get a new pair that there seem to be a fresh set of warm and weatherproof options this fall that you might consider.
Probiotics have helped me. As soon as I get an outbreak I start taking probiotic capsules several times a day, depending on the recommended dose. Usually the itching starts to improve within days and the eczema is gone in a few weeks.
[QUOTE=ToTheNines;8397413]
I had it on one hand. Wouldn’t go aweay. Saw thee different doctors, who prescribed various creams, none of which worked.
Ran into a friend who said that she had a friend who had it. That friend quit all dairy and gluten and it went away. I did the same thing and mine wenThe t away. It never came back. This was 4 - 5 years ago, and I am still extremely careful with dairy and gluten, especially when it starts to look a little red or feel sensitive.[/QUOTE]
THIS. My father has celiacs and this is his main symptom (cracking, itchy palms), when he gets into gluten.
I have awful eczema - mostly because I get it on my face (and arms, and chest and back, but face is the worst). Eyes and nose. Its itchy and painful and looks AWFUL.
I manage to get it to go away and then it comes back - I’m still figuring out my triggers.
I have a cream that works fairly well, but it has undesirable side effects, so I am trying to find other solutions and my triggers.
My husband is a lifelong eczema sufferer. He says he has to stay on top of the itching with an allergy pill. Goat soap works well in aiding the skin to stay healthy. Aveeno Ultra-Calming foam soap and lotion soothes things in a flare-up. He uses mineral oil instead of lotions for moisturizing, and he is on vitamin therapy to strengthen his skin, which he says works. The two vitamins he takes daily to strengthen his skin are Biotin 10,000 mcg and Folic Acid 400 mcg. He says to tell you that his dermatologist had him on an allergy pilll everyday in the beginning to settle things down, and now he takes them as needed.
I just had excema on my hands for months. I thought it was poison ivy at first and finally showed it to my doctor. He prescribed triamcinoline acetonide ointment. The excema was gone in two days.
I had hand eczema when I was younger and still get a flare up if I come in contact with dishwashing soap or wool. My hands do crack in Winter and it is horribly painful whenever I hit it against something. I will follow this to see if anyone can recommend a cream in Winter.
Meanwhile - I use rubber gloves when I wash anything and I replace them if they get a hole in them or else I get a flare up again. After I wash I immediately put a hand cream on - anything from the health food store with No parabens. That keeps me going until Winter.
I’ve had terrible eczema on just my hands for a long time. As I’m sure you know, having it on your hands HURTS! During high school and college I worked at food restaurants that required me to do the dishes in harsh chemicals which was a nightmare. Unfortunately, even now that I work a desk job, it is still pretty bad. The only medication that seems to work is Clobetasol. It is a pretty harsh medicine, but I just use it for a couple days, which is usually enough to clear it up, then stop for a few weeks.
OP,
I get eczema occasionally.
This summer I got it really bad on my hands. To the point that I was scratching so much skin off that it would bleed and ooze. It was impossible to sleep and I couldn’t handle not scratching it!
I tried everything for a while, and it never got any better. I tried the gloves at night, bag balm, hand lotion etc. I always noticed that it was worst after washing my hands at the farm (well water). Mine is tied in with my allergies.
I finally went to a walk in clinic and the guy immediately said “whatever you have was once eczema, but is now a fungus”. I thought, what the heck? How? But I didn’t ask any questions. He gave me this amazing cream (for anyone interested in the contents, feel free to PM me). It cured my “eczema turned fungus” in 2 nights, I kid you not!!
So, make sure yours is actually eczema! The DR told me a lot of people who are obsessive hand washers or dish washers (which I am neither) tend to get it the most, but I blame the well water.
Glad to see so many ideas - I’m enjoying a reprieve - not sure yet if it’s just summer weather or oil pulling or what? I used to have bad heat reactions, not just hands but also my inner arm in the crook of my elbow. One summer I was diagnosed with fungus - so worth re-testing periodically, I imagine. I hate hot, humid summers but hoping I don’t end up with eczema as badly as it cools down…
I also used to have chronic eczema on my hands. Mine has since cleared up.
The ultimate cause was extremely poor air quality in the building where I used to work. The eczema showed up when I first started the job, was present the whole time I worked there, and when my office moved to a new building, it cleared up within a month. The old building had no humidification system, I don’t know if that was part of the cause or if it was something else present in that building (mold etc - it was an old and poorly constructed building).
The only other thing I found that worked for me was drinking a green smoothie every single day. I originally tried out the green smoothies to see if they would bestow majikal powers on me like their proponents claim (boundless energy, effortless weight loss, etc). I didn’t get unlimited energy or lose any weight, but the eczema cleared up within about a month. It might be something to try. My smoothies were usually a cup of water, a few handfuls of greens (spinach or kale), and a cup of frozen mangos or strawberries. Blenderize & drink. The sweetness of the fruit masks the taste of the greens, they actually taste much better than you’d think.
There was an article in a UK paper about a Dutch researcher working on a long-time anti-biotic eczema treatment. He discovered the eczema patients and to a lesser degree acne and psoriasis patients were reacting to staff-aureus(so?) bacteria present on the skin. The staff colonizes the skin surface and some react to it. So I thought what do hospitals use to kill staff–chlorine and alcohol–hand sanitizer.
I remember that chlorinated swimming pools helped my skin and thought the improvement was from moisture and when my hands were in diluted javex the itching and inflammation improved.
Chlorine and alcohol kill staff infections. For the past month I have been putting hand sanitizer on the outbreaks on my arms and the itching has stopped. I don’t put it on my fingers because the knuckles crack. However diluted Javex reduces the inflammation and itch.
Advis if you are interested in the article and I’ll post the link.
The Dutch researcher is marketing a
I had terrible eczema several years ago on my eyelids, backs of my hands, and on one ankle. The eyelids were the worst. After trying every natural remedy I finally went to a dermatologist and he prescribed a prescription-strength steroid cream that seemed to wipe it out. I had tried over-the-counter creams but they weren’t useful.
I will note that I had flare-ups periodically until I lowered my stress levels, however.
Have you tried steroid creams yet?
I have eczema pretty badly on my hands, but really have it all over, and have since I was a baby. Stress is a huge trigger for me, as is sugar and grains–when I eat better, it seems to get better. Vaseline is also great when they are super dry (to the point I can’t straighten my fingers all the way). I also do oatmeal baths (though very rarely) and bleach baths (to prevent infections–1/3-1/2 cup bleach in whole bath full of water and then rinse off after). I also love thisEucerin lotion–it’s super thick, almost crisco consistency and is the only thing I’ve found that doesn’t burn. My eczema got so bad last year that every time I went to the barn and sweated there (with the dust and allergens) I would almost be in tears from the pain and itching. I always wear gloves when I ride and groom, but more so b/c the sweat and dust burns in the places they are raw than anything. But, I do go the drug route as well–I couldn’t function w/o it (especially w/ 3 dogs, 3 cats, and my horse (; ). Zyrtec helped until we got our dogs, but now I take Cingulair (prescription strength antihistamine). My dermatologist also has me take a probiotic and fish oil pill, and I do notice a difference (especially if I run out of them ). I also use two different steroid creams on a daily basis–Neosynalar (sp?) and Mometasone Furioate. The absolute BEST thing though has been xolair shots–I get them once a month, and they are the only thing that has ended this horrid cycle of breaking out in a rash almost every 3 weeks. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions! I have been dealing with this forever, and have tried almost everything! :o
