Eczema

Itchy, dry, red, cracked skin.  Do not scratch !

Tips

Hemp Foot cream

I took my 11 year old to the doctor several times for eczema, and was prescribed creams (which didn’t work), and then steroid creams (which worked only for as long as he used them).  The itching was driving him crazy, so I put on some of my Body Shop Hemp Foot Cream, which seemed to take the itching away. We ditched the prescribed creams, and kept using the foot cream, and after about a month his eczema had completely cleared up.

Vaseline

My eczema tends to flare up in the winter when the central heating comes on. I slather on layers and layers of Vaseline to try to stop my skin drying out.

iS Clinical Sheald Recovery Balm

This cleared up my eczema, but it is very expensive.  It’s also supposed to speed up the recovery of wounds.

Curapella

This is a supplement that has been developed with the University of Manchester that can improve skin function in people with eczema.  Click here for our tips on taking supplements.

Avoid the bubble bath

All our eczema problems seemed to start with bubble bath. Now we avoid it like the plague and no more flare-ups.  You might also want to avoid shower gels (can bubble up too much) and scented soaps.  Instead use a small amount of plain soap (make sure it doesn’t contain sodium lauryl sulphate and parabens) or use moisturising cream as a soap substitute.

Try also to make sure that you don’t have too hot or too long a bath, as the hot water can draw out your skin’s natural oils.  When you get out of the bath, try not to rub your skin too hard with your towel, but pat dry instead, and try putting one of the moisturiser’s above onto your skin whilst it’s still a bit damp.

Babies

If you are worried about your baby getting eczema (maybe because you have a family history of eczema), you might be tempted to use moisturiser on their skin just in case.  However, a study published in The Lancet found no evidence that daily emollient during the first year of life prevents eczema in high-risk children and some evidence to suggest an increased risk of skin infections.  They do not recommend that families with eczema, asthma, or allergic rhinitis use daily emollients to try and prevent eczema in their newborn.

Self-care

Find the NHS Self-Care factsheet here.

Verywell have a useful, physician-reviewed guide here.