Eczema is a skin disease that has become extremely common in the U.S. over the last ten to fifteen years. It results in dry, flaky, itchy skin, or as small clusters of itchy bumps. While there are treatments available, such as cortisone creams or medicines that can be taken orally, there is no cure unfortunately. While some people can experience it only a few places on their body and have mild flare-ups occasionally, there are others who have it in large places all over their bodies and do battle with it every day. If your eczema suddenly starts to go from small, mild patches occasionally, to large ones that seem to be taking over your body and nothing’s been working for you, I have some tips for you that won’t cost you a ton of money, and won’t have any damaging side effects.
My first and most expensive tip is to invest in a shower filter, like the one made by Jonathan Product. Water is absolutely necessary in cleansing your skin, but unfortunately our water can be full of chemicals like chlorine which can dry out the skin, especially when hot water is used. Celebrity stylist Jonathan Antin was inspired to create the shower filter, after he was getting ready for work one day but the city shut down the water on his street. Since he had to get to his salon, he decided to shower and shampoo his hair with bottled water and he said his skin and his hair had never felt better. This $95 filter is the winner of Consumers Digest’s Best Buy, and is designed to reduce harsh chemicals and metals in your water and would be the first step in keeping your skin soft and soothed.
The next step would be to change the soap you are using. Most bar soaps and body washes use harsh cleansers, like sodium laureth sulfate, that not only strip your skin of protective oils but can also contain irritants that can leave your skin itchy and dry. It isn’t a great idea to use any soap you happen to grab on your awy out of a drugstore if you have sensitive skin, much less if you have eczema. Instead choose a soap that isn’t full of chemicals that you can’t pronounce and doesn’t have a ton of ingredients.
I like the soaps and the body gels from Carol’s Daughter. The soaps are $8 and have glycerin bases, and the body gels are great because they only have about four or five ingredients, with the two main ones consisting of vegetable castile soap and aloe vera gel. They leave your skin feeling cleansed and refreshed without that feeling of dehydration that skin can feel with run of the mill cleansers. Carol’s Daughter’s body gels sell for $11.50, they are a bit more pricey than your run of the mill body washes but your skin will thank you. There is also a great line of soaps by Villainess which sell for about $4.25, they’re good for your skin, cheap and, fun at the same time. Make sure to be aware that not all expensive soaps and body washes are the same, don’t be fooled by the big prices of some department store brands. There are some soaps that can cost triple the regular amount and still be made of basically of the same harsh detergents as some cheaper brands, only with more moisturizing ingredients and fragances to make you believe that you’re getting better quality. Just make sure you read the ingredients and steer clear of ingredients like sodium laurel sulfate and make sure you can find a quality soap no matter what the price.
My next tip is to make sure you moisturize, moisturize, moisturize at least once a day, especially after you shower. This is absolutely essential to keeping eczema under control, because it thrives when your skin is thirsty and crying for moisture. You might not be able to ever fully prevent your breakouts, but you will be able to keep it from spreading and to lessen it’s severity with a great moisturizer. The best that I’ve found was is the oldie but goodie, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula with Vitamin E. It’s works by keeping skin adequately moisturized yet without further irritating the eczema like other lotions can.
Along with the lotion, try Palmer’s Soothing Oil for Dry Itchy Skin as a spot treatment for the eczema. This oil contains cocoa butter, elastin and collagen. It’s designed for pregnant women, but it works really well on eczema. It can help to soothe the itching somewhat until it clears up, but the best thing about it is that i can actually heals the eczema faster and more effectively than medicines. If applied two or three times daily to the problem areas, it will cause the skin to form layers of dead skin that flakes up and then peel away like a scab. This process of flaking and peeling can occur a few times over a few weeks until the skin is completely healed. After a month or so of continuously applying the oil the skin is like new, with no major signs of scarring on darker skin tones.
Along with this regimen, my next tip would be to relax and de-stress. The look and health of your skin can be reflective of what’s going on inside of your body. If your skin’s looking dry and lifeless it could be because you’re not getting enough sleep or you’re stressed out. If your skin’s not healing properly it could be because you’re not eating enough healthy foods. So the same thing can be said if your skin starts freaking out on you with random intense flare-ups of eczema. If you’ve had eczema for a while now, but you’ve noticed it’s become worse lately and it’s been difficult for you to heal it. Then your skin might be trying to tell you something.
The problem could be physical, where you have developed an allergy to a certain food or to certain dyes or irritants. If that’s the case make changes in your diet, switch to a perfume and dye-free detergent, or switch soaps. But more than likely the problem could be psychological. Perhaps you’re carrying a lot of anger around or depression or hostility. Maybe you’ve been holding it all in, yet internally you’re raging. If this sounds like you, and you can’t figure out why your eczema is suddenly so aggressive then you might want to look more closely at yourself and find out if you’ve been stressing lately. If the answer’s yes you need to chill out and as soon as you do, your skin will begin to as well. Try to get out your emotions in an appropriate manner, write out how you feel in a letter or in poetry. Draw a picture, take up boxing, do some yoga, meditate. Basically do whatever you need to do to get whatever it is that you’ve been holding in out, it’d be best to do this voluntarily, then by letting your skin do the work for you. Get out those toxins in a healthy manner and as soon as you become more peaceful and relaxed notice how your skin will calm. You’ll see that your skin hasn’t been against you, it’s been a reflection of you, and it’s totally under your control.
Note: I am not a doctor, so this is just my advice and use it at your own risk. Of course if any of these things further irritate your skin or exacerbate the eczema further, discontinue using it.
