Eczema; Any Advice Welcome

Brenda&Audrey

A friend is at her wits' end with eczema and has tried all of the usual topical creams and lotions. I know its stress-related .... any advice would be welcome! Thanks!

madser

Has she tried pro topic, its hard to get it perscribed you have to have it from a specialist first. Its non steriod based and can be used over the whole body and face, I suffered with eczema for 35 yrs and am on pro topic now for 5 yrs and have no patches except for a small bit on one of my fingers:D

It can be made worse through stress but its not caused by stress, its caused by an overreaction from the immune system which over heats the body and irritates the skin, the pro topic cream dampens down the imune responce and the eczema goes as a result, it doesn't work for everyone but its worth a try.

ciano6

after having severe eczema for thirty years, I discovered last year, with a patch test from the dermatologist, that I am severely allergic to rubber/latex. while impossible to avoid (eg. it's in almost all clothing and many shampoos and soaps), knowing this has helped make a big improvement to mine.

MJOR

dairy products also can inflame it. Using e45 shower gels shampoos should help it to as does washing the areas with haldens emulsifying base

madser

I know its easier said than done in this country but try and get the sun if you can:D

Supercell

I've had it all my life (I'm 37) and its waxed and waned over that time, apparently as a baby i was covered head to toe, in my teen years it almost completely cleared but after then it came back with a vengeance.

Unfortunately there is no simple panacea from what i can make out (and believe me I've researched it a lot).

It certainly can be made worse by stress, I find myself scratching way more when I'm worried or stressed out about something.

General things that I've found helped a lot (note i've used you instead of "your friend" as its easier to type!, hope thats OK) :-

1) Wear loose fitting clothes as much as possible and always wair as little as possible (within reason - hot skin = itchy skin), that said I find unless its really warm its best to keep coved up by a thin layer as the fabric acts a barrier between your nails when you do scratch and you will.

2) Wear cotton , no wool or synthetic fibres.

3) Wash your clothes in non bios only, higher temp washes also kill more bugs which can irritate - wash cloths as hot as possible and change regularly as your skin will shed far more than an non eczema sufferer and these flakes will be irritating in their own right.

4) Shower using a moisturising non perfumed soap, or even better you can use "Emulsifying Ointment" as a soap and is available quite cheaply in the chemist (large tubs are about a fiver and last a couple of months).

5) After showering do rub yourself dry rather than dab - remember the name of the game is to exfoliate the skin - prevents itching.

6) Moisturise IMMEDIATELY after a shower. Again no fancy smelly moisturiser, I use "White Soft Paraffin" (in other words the generic name for Vaseline..and far cheaper..large tubs are about a fiver). I found myself getting a reaction to E45, but everyone's tolerances are different, you'll know quickly what works for you and what doesn't.

7) Loose weight - really follows on from the loose clothes thing, most people , myself included, tend to "grow out " of clothes as i put on weight - tighter = itchier. I also find that I sweat much more when i'm heavy - again more itchiness.

8) Sun - another poster brought this up and its really true (for some), but be careful, some people can get worse with exposure to sun and if overly clothed get hot and itchy. I find that small doses off sunbathing massively helps me . I always go for a cool shower after sunbathing though to cool the skin. If you are not sure then probably best to try short exposures and work your way up until you are confidant this well help).

9) Get your blood tested for allergies - Eczema is an allergic response, you may be lucky and find that you are very specifically allergic to certain things - pork, fresh fish and nuts are common food allergies. Unfortunately for me the results showed me to be allergic to almost everything lol!, the doc just said try and keep it varied and not to eat too much of any one thing..which leads me to ...

10) Keep the diet as varied as possible, being an eczema sufferer you have allergic responses to stuff most people don't - unfortunately too much of anything can lead to new allergies, keep it varied.

11) Try and keep it natural when you are eating, if the ingredients list something that you wouldn't find in Tesco's then avoid. Cooking for yourself is rewarding and healthy and cheaper.

12) once every few years its really flares up badly with me, so much so that i cannot get any sleep for weeks on end with the scratching. my doc puts me on steroids which seem to kill the immune system totally for a week or so and everything clears up and i can go back to regular skin maintenance again and get some sleep, maybe something to consider, my doc only does this though when things get really bad and I'm totally sleep deprived, maybe something to consider if things get a little out of hand, I fully appreciate the mental state this can leave you in if goes rampant.

13) Finally - keep your house spotless!!. Get thin carpets or better wooden flooring and get a decent vacuum cleaner that will keep the floors spotless.
Get anti-allergy bed covers, pretty cheap and washable and worth every penny. Oh and change your pillows every six months or so, even if they seem fine - they are a breeding bed for dust mites, if you get mostly facial eczema this would be a prime candidate root cause.

Hope some of this will be of help to your friend, the important thing to realise with this that its pretty much a voyage of self discovery, nobody is going to give you a wonder answer, though there is promising research regarding proteins apparently that may one day lead to a magic pill that can treat this for eczema and asthma, hayfever sufferers as they all seem to be linked (I certainly have all three to varying degrees).

Hope there's some ideas there that may be helpful to your friend.

madser

bedlam wrote: »

I'll second Protopic. It works a treat, however are you sure about the visit to a specialist? My GP happily gave me a script for it.

I do find from time if it gets very bad I have to resort to the steroid based Daktacort

I'm on it a long time maybe now you can get it easier;)