Fellow excema sufferers - what do you use?

[Bluepete]

Beeswax balm like this

Pete

Don't have eczema myself, but from a medical point of view, all depends on the severity.

Some general points though:

1. Use your emollients liberally, even when your eczema seems to be less active cos they treat dryness and act as a barrier. Same for bath emollients.

Use your emollients twice a day. If you've got it bad go for something more greasy such as 50/50 emulsifying ointment and liquid paraffin. If not so bad, still twice a day, but something a tad less greasy like Diprobase.

2. Avoid soaps, and use emulsifying ointments instead.

3. Daily steroid ointment for active sites. Loads to go into here, and again depends on severity and site.

Just general guidelines here though. Different things work for different people, so its hard to base what you should do on what other people have tried and tested.

Not to mention the different causes. For some its simpy a family history, others may have allergens at home or in the workplace they dont know about. I would say prevention is better than the cure, but no real cure for eczema, so preventions better than the remedy in this case!

I hope its not too bad for some of the people on here, cos then a dermatologist is really the port of call. Best of luck.

[dirtydog]

I used to get it in my armpits and on my face. But since a change of deodorant the armpits isn't a problem anymore.
Anyway I generally use Diprobase on my face and now and again Hydrocortisone if it flares up a bit like it has now the cold weather is here

Originally Posted by Bibio

this is going to sound really weird but, if you know a farmer that has milking cows ask him for some 'udder cream'. this is not a joke.

Definately not a joke. My sis' used to work for Diversey, who make lots of stuff for farming amongst other things, and my mum used to swear by their 'teat cream' for her excema. Which WASN'T on her 'teats' before any bright spark asks!

I believe that if you boil up strawberry leaves and use the resulting liquid (when cold) to bathe the excema, it is supposed to help.

Don't forget that regular use of steroid creams actually damages skin.

Originally Posted by madness

Don't forget that regular use of steroid creams actually damages skin.

yep, so again, all down to site and severity.

They are very useful in symptom control, and obviously the weak steroid for the weaker symptoms and so on.

Interesting research just picked up from wiki however (and one of our derms in Kings also kind of re-iterated this)...

"...recent research has shown that topically applied corticosteroids did not significantly increase the risk of skin thinning, stretch marks or HPA axis suppression (and where such suppression did occur, it was mild and reversible where the corticosteroids were used for limited periods of time). Further, skin conditions are often under-treated because of fears of side effects. This has led some researchers to suggest that the usual dosage instructions should be changed from "Use sparingly" to "Apply enough to cover affected areas," and that specific dosage directions using "fingertip units" or FTU's be provided, along with photos to illustrate FTU's."

So I think the limited periods of time is important here.
One last point though, kind of obvious, but always worth re-iterating..

Never worth taking medical advice over the net as definitive or that it correctly applies to you. Always check with your own GP, or even better, your derm should you be under one!

I haven't suffered for years, but just reading this thread is making me itch! Mine went away of it's own accord some time back. My brother, however, after 40ish years of suffering, went down the chinese medicine route about 4 years ago. He had a couple of bags of herbs to make into a vile potion taken for a fortnight or so, backed up with some acupuncture. Hasn't had a flare-up since.

I used to get big pots of Unguentum Merc (I cant remember if thats correct) and use it direct on teh skin and then stir a great dollop in the bath water