I'm fortunate to have good skin. My husband not so much. He's always had a tiny bit of Eczema on his fingers and every once in a while it flares up. I'm not sure if it's the heat or a lingering side effect of a virus, but it's a bit out of control this time. It's on his chest, legs, armpits, knees.... he's being swallowed.
This makes him sad and makes me sad too. As I'm a complete novice at this, does anyone have any outstanding tips for coping with Eczema?
Many thanks in advance!
Amy
My husband suffers from Eczema, he uses perscription Betnovate cream which helps.
ReplyDeleteMore info! caffine & alchohol make it worse.
ReplyDeletemy 3 year old gets eczema sometimes too and I find calendular cream (from the chemist or health food store) is excellent!
ReplyDeleteMy young sons both suffer excema, especially in the heat. I have tried everything known to man. The Jurlique soothing baby bubble bath is the only thing that keeps it under control - not sure if this is a viable option for a grown man?! I use the over the counter cortisone cream (green tube) when mine flares up (and for boys when really bad) - very effective too.
ReplyDeletePaw Paw ointment or cortisone, my kidlets flare up with dairy. Hope it clears up quick.
ReplyDeleteMy eczema is mostly caused by a nickel allergy. It was really bad when I was working in retail. I would get it on my eyelids when I was tired due to rubbing my eyes. I used a cortisone cream that you can get over the counter. It would burn when I put it on, but you wash it off straight away and then re-apply it and it's fine. Egocort Cream 1%. I'm wondering if whatever it is he is reacting to has been transferred to the rest of his body from his fingers? I think muggy weather tends to make eczema worse. I hope you find a solution soon, eczema sucks.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter has TERRIBLE eczema. Try using Cetaphil (sp) to wash and the lotion. Also, taking Probiotics have helped. My daughters fingers and wrists were the most terrible areas. Also, lots of water to drink and short -- not too hot -- showers.
ReplyDeleteMy mum swears my taking vitaman E tablets daily. Her hands used to get so bad that they would crack open and bleed. She also used paw paw to help ease the pain. She hasn't had a flare up since she started on the Vitamin E
ReplyDeleteMy son started to get the signs of the really bad eczema that his half brother had until I got him on to a probiotic yogurt. I believe that good tummy flora is a real antidote. Other than that, all the other suggestions above. Good luck.
ReplyDeletePoor hubby! The People's Pharmacy has an article about eczema, which includes a long list of possible remedies. Hope he's better soon.
ReplyDeleteBoth of my girls have it bad thanks to my hubby who has had it his whole life. We use Cetaphil lotion and soap and ALL detergent and what really makes the difference is running a humidifier (to make more moisture in the house) and VASELINE is a God send, we use it like lotion a couple of times a day.
ReplyDeleteMy husband used to share a house with a girl who had major problems. She found improvement after seeing a Chinese herbalist (but the mixture she had to drink was pretty scary!). I hope it clears up soon.
ReplyDeleteI use an over the counter product from the chemist called dermaid. It works very effectively on patches of eczema I get on my hands at times and on two of my kids. We have tried a lot of products over the years. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any experience with eczema,but...I use Dead Sea Salts in my bath for relief from the aches of fibromyalgia. I noticed on the package that it says it is excellent for skin problems. Google it and see if you think it might be good for eczema. Your skin feels really smooth after soaking in a bath with the salts.
ReplyDeleteI have found goats milk and olive oil based soaps work beautifully, as does taking pro-biotics. Organic, synthetic-chemical-free moisturisers are good, as is cutting back on anything dehydrating like coffee and alcohol (boring I know!).
ReplyDeleteOh poor hubby and poor you watching your lovely so uncomfortable :( We a lucky enough not to have any sufferers in this house. The only thing I can suggest is to drink massive amounts of water to help the skin not dry out. Hope you can find something to help relieve it soon xox
ReplyDeleteThe last time I had a big flare up, I ended up seeing a dermatologist who suggested I use baby sorbolene cream, worked like a charm. You can wash with it instead of soap in the shower (or for washing your hands etc) and then put it on as a moisturiser after (or baby oil as a moisturiser). Trying to avoid anything which dries out the skin helps me too, soaps, hot baths, air-con etc, On the really bad patches I use betnovate ointment. Also I'd recommend he cut his nails as short as he can, takes away the temptation :)
ReplyDeleteHope he feels better soon, eczema is awful.
Whenever I get a skin irritation I use either this pawpaw ointment or nutrimetics apricot oil. A guy friend of mine uses the nutrimetics apricot oil on psoriasis and that usually clears it up.
ReplyDeleteFlaxeed oil taken orally is really good for the skin x
ReplyDeleteTo prevent flare ups I use Vanacreme, which is a compounding cream that pharmacists use to make skin meds. It is clean...no additives, and is wonderful.. I get it from over the counter at my local CVS. They might have to order it for you, tho; or you might have to get it online. Ours keeps a few pounds on hand because the local dermatologists recommend it frequently. It is worth getting the pound container.
ReplyDeleteTry to relieve stress levels, too. My sister's flares up when her stress level is high. Exercise and then relaxation will do wonders for it.
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of great suggestions there. Both my boys suffer occassionly from excema, they are 3y and 18mo. The over the counter creams are great to try otherwise go to the Dr if he finds he needs something a bit stronger. Does he visit the Dr as most men including my husband will avoid the Dr at all costs.
ReplyDeleteI would recommend Sorbelene cream in the shower instead of soap. Throughly dry the skin, put on the medicated cream you have chosen then moisturize with sorbelene cream or you can get more greasier creams for excema over the counter. Reapply moisturizer 2-3 times thru the day if needed. The dermatologist we saw recommended that the creams have to be applied within 3 mins of getting out of the bath/shower. I think its due to the pores before open and able to absorb the creams better? Goodluck.
Wow I did't know there were so many things you cold do for Eczema.
ReplyDeleteI'm a nurse and I've always been told that oil in a bath was the way to go. You can use olive oil or go the the chemist and there are special types of oils for eczema you can buy. Try and avoid using soaps and body washes as they are very drying on the skin and will only make it worse. Sorbelene cream is also a good soft alternative to soap. Make sure he keeps his skin well moisturised with a fragrance free moisturiser (once again sorbelene is great). If it's really bad he should probably go see his GP and maybe even get a referal to a dermatologist for more help.
Hope it clears up soon
Washing with Aveeno body wash also helps - and I would know!
ReplyDeletePresctiption stuff aside I've had great results with my daughter using Pawpaw cream. Available at any pharmacy, and sometimes the supermarket too.
ReplyDeleteGOod lukc - I hope it settles.
I have bad eczema too, and it's quite bad now on my hands.
ReplyDeleteI am loving these tips. I'll be getting myself to the health food shop and getting vitamin E and probiotics.
And then get some sorbolene too.
Thank you so much everyone. Such great tips, and having suffered all my life... it's nice to know there might be an end to it! x
Hi Amy, Don't know if this will help but my friend uses crabtree and evelyn goats milk hand cream (60 second fix) and it works a treat! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteKelli xxx
My eldest can bad eczema on his face which is not helped by the cold weather we get here but improved slightly when we removed dairy from his diet. We have found Penaten Cream to be most effective. It is marketed mostly as a diaper rash cream but its active ingredient is zinc which is anti-inflamatory and healing and it also contains hammamelis(chammomile-I think) and allantoin (very soothing). Good luck!
ReplyDeleteHi Amy,
ReplyDeleteMy son has had bad eczema all his life. We have tried most of the remedies suggested above. The best things we have found recently are Tea Tree oil which stops the itching - this makes a big difference at bed time so he is actually able to sleep. Then when he is not so itchy we use Coconut oil to keep his skin moisturised.
yes our house smells like we have been making weird cocktails but they both really work for him.
Hope hubby is feeling better soon.
Vanessa
I found a fab cream and I have seen the results it. It is called MooGoo. Friends of mine have ordered it from Austraila and got it posted to the UK. It is by all accounts a wonder cream. Worth a try. http://www.moogoo.com.au/ Hope this helps, at least postage won't be a killer for you.
ReplyDeleteOur son's is nearly gone for a whole year now - naturally! I am a mom of a food allergy son who developed severe Eczema as a baby. It was so bad that he could not sleep at night and would itch until he bled. He could hardly eat anything because all kinds of foods seem to make it worse. After going to many docs and trying all kinds of meds and creams (which burned and/or could have potentially dangerous effects) nothing worked. Some of these things may "seem" to help but rather COVER up the problem. Our prayers were answered when we heard about Vidazorb probiotics and we knew we needed to try it. It was amazing because he began to clear up within just a couple of days. It was even more dramatic after a few weeks -we were so shocked.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing is that this is natural and it treats the cause not just symptoms. It really worked for our son and I highly recommend it to anyone who suffers from Eczema. More and more research is coming out on the effects of probiotics and Eczema! I hope this helps :) Oh and have him take a bath in baking soda and olive oil - great all natural moisturizer! I have a mom blog at smilinggreenmom.com on green, natural and allergy free living if you ever want to stop by!
Many great suggestions. I have always found my excema flares up in the humidity. Swimming in the salty sea helps (lucky you living near the beach!) & fish oils orally is helpful for me.
ReplyDeleteI love homemade olive oil & goats milk soaps (very fussy with soap I am) & I feel they have made a great difference over the years. Gloves everytime my hands are wet when it is flared up. Strong steroid creams really are handy when its a bad flareup (Diprosone is what I like). Don't like using them continuously but they are a necessity at times.
Lately I've used Amolin washing deterent for clothes which perhaps makes a difference too.
I think sulphites in food might be an irritant- so avoiding ham & dried fruit is probably helpful for some but I can't quite come to that altogether.
Amy I really hope it improves for him soon- it is a big pain.
On another note, the kino market sounds very exciting- hope I can make it!
I, like Chantelle have suffered from it all my life too. I use (and have tried) an alchemy of things, but still struggle with it.
ReplyDeleteThere are some suggestions here I haven't heard of, that I'm looking forward to trying myself. I think you'll find what works for one eczema-ite, doesn't for another. One common theme is stay moisturised, all the time, don't give the skin a chance to dry and crack. Moisturise immediately after being wet. Watch what you eat. And get on top of flare ups as soon as possible.
Another thing people without eczema often don't know is that it feels very hot. Putting thick oily things on it just heats it up more and makes it really itchy. When it gets to that unbearably itchy stage, and ice pack is a good temporary solution to relieving the itch, just make sure you wrap the ice in a tissue or tea towel so it doesn't wet the skin too much.
It's the most awful thing. I hope he finds something that works for him very soon. Good Luck.
All above suggestions are good for treating the symptoms....If he wants to try to get rid of it, he should cut out dairy completely for about 3 months and see if there's any difference. Most adults are lactose intolerant and many are flat-out allergic to dairy. Eczema is a common reaction due to that allergy. With a lot of people, like me, who have had it from birth, it may not be completely due to dairy allergy, but the absence of dairy should still make improvements. Hope he kicks eczema's booty!!!
ReplyDelete