What's the best treatment for Eczema?
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010 at
12:32 pm
My 13 yr old sister in law has really bad eczema all over her body. She uses E45 cream and showers daily but it isn’t helping. Her doctor keeps telling her to keep this regime up.
Are there any other more effective creams available? I am thinking it might be her shower gel – she says some shower gels make her itch but as her mum buys them she just uses them as they are in the shower. Is there a brand of shower gel that might be more beneficial?
Filed under: Eczema Treatment
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Hi Vicki,
There is a range of skin care products designed specifically for eczema called ‘allergenics’ for babies and adults.
Here are some comments of users of this range of products.
"My son was getting really bad eczema at the back of his knees and on his arms and it took ages for it to settle before using this ointment. It works really well and you don’t need to put loads on. Recommended"
"My skin has become very dry and sensitive since becoming pregnant and allergenics skin lotion is the only moisturiser I have found that sooths my skin and stops it itching – excellent stuff!"
"Already the dry sore skin below my eyes and on my neck is fading and feels more comfortable. I have very senstive skin and I am very wary of the normal cosmetic products…. which caused this problem in the first place!"
"My husband was given cream for a skin complaint, it only made the condition worse. As we were on holiday in Torquay & the skin was much worse I found your cream in a chemist. It started to heal the skin allmost immediately. I am more than pleased to reccommend this to anyone A Aldridge"
I have included a link to an eczema website below that should give you loads of information. I have also included the link of where to buy the allergenics products with free delivery.
http://www.trustwilliam.com/Search/?term=allergenics&extcam=sm
I hope this helps!!!
http://www.trustwilliam.com/Search/?term=allergenics&extcam=sm
http://www.lifewitheczema.co.uk/?extcam=sm
Shower gels with NO soap!!! Soap is very drying on skin and makes skin conditions worse. She can use E45 as a wash if that helps, or just buy a soap-free cleanser. Check the bottles.
BABY SHAMPOO FROM JOHNSONS BABY CARE
Try shower ,, just water ,, no gel Keep up E45 its the best
Hydrocortisone cream from the doctors, clears it up quickly.
It is helpful to keep the dry and cracked skin, moist and supple. Natural eczema remedies that helps manage this condition, is bathing in oatmeal. This is because oatmeal has a natural cleansing and soothing effect on the skin. You can also use oatmeal as a paste mixed with honey that is then applied to the affected areas. The honey will in effect act as an agent that will kill the bacteria that is often associated with eczema. The paste should be left on the area for about forty minutes to sooth and moisten the skin.
What is also often used as an eczema home remedies is nutmeg. Nutmeg is grated into a fine powder, mixed with water into a paste and spread over the skin. This will help in the same way that oatmeal helps: to sooth and moisten the skin.
Take care,
try to shower every other day and get a wash the rest of the time. the doctor can prescribe oilatum for the bath or shower to cleanse the skin without drying it. Aveeno oil can also be good for moisturiser and bath shower etc.
If it is really bad I use a cream called nerisone oily cream with is amazing and also a bandage called ichthopaste which is literally a bandage that you put on that has a paste in it to take away redness. these are prescription only.
I dont think much to E45 at all, for a daily moisturiser use aquaous cream instead.
hope this helps, ive had bad skin for years and its awful. good luck.
It’s important to remember that there is no ‘treatment’ for eczema per se- just management.
The key is maintaining and protecting your skin- all the time, even when you are not having a flare up. Use soap free cleansers, you can obtain this on prescription. Cetraben and Oilatum are quite good.
Always keep skin moisturised. A basic moisturiser will suffice. Avoid E45 products as they contain Lanolin which is a common irritant. For flare ups, it’s ok to use 1% hydrocortiscone cream but use this sparingly as it will thin the skin.
Always use non-biological soap powders and avoid perfumed products in general.
I agree with -only the best^^^^ good advice there.
oats in the bath also might help.put some oats in a muslin cloth or tights,tie and then soak in the bath.
tea tree oil also for the infection.
There is no one answer fits all. E45, I could not use. Neither could I use baby products. Anything which contained lanolin, which many baby products do, I could not use.
One thing I was prescribed by the hospital which is available over the counter in the UK is Aveeno. It is a very light but very absorbant moisturiser. It is an oatmeal colloid.
Also, something I tried when my problem was severe was to use porridge oats as an exfoliant when bathing. That required the oats to be contained in something like a tie bag made from a part of a pair of tights (pantyhose if you are not from the UK). You can’t use them too many times before they start to smell but it helped me.
Maybe, if it hasn’t been tried the doctor should consider a patch test. Not very comfortable for a short while but it can identify the things which trigger the eczema.
If I were her Mum, having personally had problems with the condition, I would be trying to work out what she can use that will not aggrevate the condition.
Oh, another thought….what about the washing powder/gel etc her mother might use. I can only use non bio otherwise it affects my skin.
Eczema is unfortunately managed rather than treated. There are certain general rules.
Things not to do:-
Don’t use biological powders
Don’t use fabric softeners
Don’t use soap or detergents to wash with
Don’t use standard shower gels or bath additives
Things to do :-
Try Fairy Snow -the old fashioned powder
Use dryer balls
Use a soap free cleanser to wash hands etc.
Use a moisturising shower gel like Oilatum
Use a moisture bath additive like Aveeno
Use a good moisturiser like Aveeno
Use it very frequently, you can’t over-moisturise!
Use antihistamines for itch, a non sedative one like loratidine in the morning and a sedative one such piriton at night.
You may need to use steroids creams/ointments for flare up areas. Use the mildest you can, for the shortest time possible.
Sorry if you knew all of that already
The main cause of eczema is overreaction of the immune system. Identifying certain foods, chemicals, etc can be very helpful in battling this disease. I try to avoid soy and milk products which trigger my flare-ups.
After using number of prescription drugs I’ve turned to the natural treatments.
Now I use herbal remedies from serenaskin.com, which aim at the root of the disease – the immune system, and are steroid-free.
After about 2 weeks of using ointment and spray my skin has been cleared up and now I just continue with anti-eczema extract, which controls the immune system. My skin has been clear for months now.
It is the only treatment I have found that provides me complete relief when I use it as directed.