10 Natural Remedies for Eczema

I've had eczema on my hands for several months. As it began to spread and redness, and itching became worse, I decided to try vitamin D (I already take 1g fish oil & 1g pumpkin seed oil daily). 400 IU of vitamin D3 twice daily cleared it up immediately- overnight! No more redness, flaking & zero itch. The skin over my knuckles still appears a bit ‘swollen' but that's it.

I have had eczema for over 15 years. I was forced to resort to prescription cortisone salves to keep the flare ups under control.

As a result of being diagnosed with osteoporosis and refusing to take prescription medications to treat it, I discovered (as a reader of Dr. Joseph Mercola's daily emails) that Japanese Natto (fermented soybeans) contains vitamin K2 which is helpful in protecting bones.

I began eating a spoonful of Natto daily. It does take some getting used to as it is very slimy.

Low and behold as a side benefit of consuming this fermented soybean, my eczema completely cleared up!

I still eat Natto daily and consider it essential to my healthy regimen.

Hi Deirdre...I had both eczema and psoriasis when I had systemic candida all those years ago. After I used my anti-candida protocol for a year, my candida was gone and the psoriasis and eczema surprisingly also disappeared (never to reappear again). And I never used any topical remedies to get rid of these skin problems. That told me a great deal about the actual cause of my eczema and psoriasis.

So far you've only tried topical remedies for your eczema, and you've been treating it like a local skin infection. What I'm suggesting(according to my own experience above) is that your eczema may not be a local skin infection, but rather be an indication or symptom of a wider internal systemic infection in the blood (candida?). It's also well known that when people have systemic candida that this condition greatly lowers the immune system's ability to defend against other pathogen species. So, as I've mentioned before, you can also have many other pathogenic infections in your body caused by bacteria, viruses, mycoplasma and parasites etc as well systemic candida. This is well known from the research and this fact is what also confuses most allopathic doctors who, like as not, will always pounce on any bacterial infection as the main cause of your problem while completely ignoring other possible and significant pathogens (like candida or parasites) that may also be causing or contributing to your problems.

The simplest internal protocols that you could try for your eczema problem are listed below:

1. Pure Gum Turpentine: One teaspoon a day.

2. Lugol's Iodine.

3. Ted's Borax Water.

4. Alkalizing.

5. Ted's anti-fungal protocol - hydrogen peroxide/sodium molybdate/chlorella.

The above protocols will act to purify and disinfect the blood, tissues and organs in your body. My detailed anti-candida multi-protocol is shown here. Also, do not ignore the Alkalizing Combos at the end of the anti-candida protocols -- I deliberately added these alkalizing combos as a more convenient and simpler way of taking some of the recommended anti-candida protocols and they are very powerful.

Other internal nutrients/herbs that have a significant effect against systemic candida are shown below.

1. Marigold (Calendula officianalis). The essential oil and/or extract are both anti-fungal.

2. Quercitin. Has antifungal, anti-bacterial and anti-biofilm activity.

3. Resveratrol. Only use the resveratrol capsules that are derived from Japanese Knotweed(JK) and avoid resveratrol tablets derived from red wine. The resveratrol capsules from JK have a much higher trans-resveratrol content. You can purchase high-quality JK resveratrol capsules from Gaia Herbs.

What might also help you, if you're not really sure whether you have systemic candida, is to have the candida antigen test. This is a fairly new allopathic test that is accurate -- you can ask your doc for this test. This test checks whether candida is in your blood I.e. whether you have systemic candida. Do not have the candida stool test (which your doctor might recommend) because it is very inaccurate.

Just some ideas for you...

Hi Deirdre,

I think the mix you tried previously may have been water with xylitol and glycerin instead aloe with xylitol and glycerin, but it sounds like you may have a pretty stubborn case. In any case the pine bark with egcg that you are taking should be helpful because it will lower your total inflammatory and oxidative stress levels, but those effects are probably one to two weeks away if you are already taking it at high dose.

In addition to that you can take high potency probiotics and start the xylitol again. This will be for the purpose of trying normalize your gut microbiome. This combination would be considered a synbiotic. It attacks both inflammation and elevated oxidatative stress as well as improves your insulin sensitivity, repairs the intestinal mucosa, increases your short chain fatty acid production in the form of butyrate, lowers high cholesterol, reduces triglycerides, lowers blood pressure, acts as a histone deacetylase inhibitor(which is important in your case), increases hydrogen sulfide production, increases glutathione production and overall this should help return you to homeostasis and your whole body to a much better state. As I mentioned before in many posts, the synbiotics have many more health benefits that I did not mention and are a straightforward approach to improve overall health and ward off many health issues!

With the xylitol, for maximum effect, you will need to take more than just using it as a sugar substitute because in this case you are using it as a prebiotic and will need to take 12~15 grams per day. In order to avoid gastric issues typical of many prebiotics, you will need to dissolve the xylitol in water and sip throughout the day so if you are already taking borax water, just add your xylitol to it and sip throughout the day. Good luck and keep us posted!

Art

Okay so I had an eczema rash spring up on my arm out of nowhere. It started off as small fluid-filled blisters that got worse when I scratched them. It was spreading to different parts of my body. I read that excema is the result of digestive issues. So I went to the health food store and purchased some digestive enzymes. After a couple days of use, it started to clear up. I tried all type of topical oils, aloe vera, vinegar, baking soda and the only thing that worked was coconut oil to relieve the itching. But it only started to clear up when I took the enzymes. The one I used has HCl, L-glutamine, digestive enzymes, and herbs.

A trick that worked wonders for me for eczema was cheap, at home and painless. I took 1/4 tsp of tumeric powder mixed with a little warm water. And drank it followed by a large tumbler of water and it worked wonders overnight. Better than ACV and any other medication. I did ensure that I took it a good few hours after my last meal. At the same time: gluten free, healthy diet, cut out sugar and really reduce dairy products. And pray.

I am so utterly grateful for simple healing remedies for severe eczema!!!!! I have been suffering from this for approximately 1 year. No prior history of skin rashes. I have a 13 year history of being a dog groomer and using various harsh shampoos. My hands have never had sensitivities to these chemicals. I was raised on whole, homogenized/pasteurized milk, meat and potatoes, wheat bread etc. And have never had a problem with food allergies... Until now. At the age of 42 my right hand began with itching and redness at the web of my 3rd and 4th finger. The redness, and (intense!!! ) itching kept spreading up the back of my hand. Water feels awful on it, especially hot water. Chemicals bother it and I itch it so fiercely, it cracks and bleeds. During the day it oozes a clear, viscous fluid and my whole hand balances between being swollen, extremely itchy and utterly hideous to look at to swollen, painful and utterly hideous to look at. I am now an acupuncturist/herbalist and you can imagine the shame of hiding this while treating people from an alternative/holistic perspective. I wore a nitrile glove on my dominant hand for 6 months to cover my grief and shame. My hand was lobster red and scaley.

I began noticing that I was getting very reactive to foods that I normally had never had a problem with. I did my research and learned that oral birth control pills upset the flora/fauna of our intestines which makes it ripe for candida albicans to overgrow especially if you aren't on a probiotic. Fast forward to trying different remedies... I am a food lover and was so distraught at the severe restrictions of the candida diet that I tried various herbal formulas and probiotics to avoid having to thoroughly change my diet. I believe in herbs and eating healthy but my body seemed to over react to everything I put in my mouth. Eventually, I was hopeless thinking my severly damaged skin would never heal as it got to the stage of lichenification.

I had read during my research that eczema sufferers tend to have in common a severe deficiency of essential fatty acids and I also knew that disease thrives in an acidic body environment. If you properly alkalize your body, disease retreats. If you are deficient in a mineral or fatty acid then supplement with it. I had tried both of these in the beginning but I didn't stay the course with either of them.

Fast forward to today... I have been taking fish oil 10-14 capsules per day and 2-3 TBSP of unpasteurized ACV with the 'mother' in it mixed in 8 ounces of water per day. I unbelievably have not had to severly restrict my diet. I even can eat some sweets. My eczema that I have been so hopelessly suffering from is now 90% healed!! I have pictures! I am increasing the ACV and fish oil to see how soon I can finish healing that last 10%. I cannot tell you how blessed I feel!! I hope that those of you who are suffering from this infuriating disease can find some hope in my story! My heart goes out to you! Know that you too can heal!!!

I have had a mild eczema flare. Borage oil supplements always work for me, but I get lazy about taking them.

I bought a generic eczema cream at Stuff Mart. (The ingredients were identical to that of the Aveeno eczema cream and included colloidal oatmeal.) This stuff has worked quite well. It is very moisturizing for dry skin, too. (Without being greasy.)

~Mama to Many~

I can't say sure but I think B12 shots can cure Eczema.

My daughter had really bad eczema she had it on the soles of her feet so bad she was hobbling around like an old lady but she was only 25. Her hands were painful, cracked and bleeding. She had gone to several doctors and tried all kinds of topical treatments with limited success.

After a couple of years of trying to deal with the eczema she was diagnosed with severe B12 deficiency. Her body can't process B12 properly so she needs monthly B12 shots for the rest of her life. Well, she got her initial loading doses (6 shots once a week for 6 weeks) and she noticed her eczema seemed better.

Her eczema waxed and waned so she didn't get too excited. She has been getting her shots for 6 months now and her eczema is almost totally gone. She still has one tiny spot on her foot but it's not sore or cracked. The only thing she can attribute it to is starting B12 shots. I thought I would share this in the hope it can help someone else. A lot of people are B12 deficient and don't know it. A simple blood test can tell you if you are.

For several months I had eczema on my forehead; my skin was red, itchy and flaking. I tried many things to cure it including various supplements, creams, and diet changes, but saw no improvement.

In March, I tried two new experiments to see if I could rid myself of the eczema.

First I began sitting out in the sun for 20 minutes each sunny day to generate natural Vitamin D. Even though it was early spring and there were limited ultraviolet rays, I wanted to slowly build up my time in the sun since I sunburn very easily. At the same time in March, I eliminated all dairy foods from my diet.

Within about 2 weeks of the sunbathing and the diet change, the eczema was already showing great improvement and within a few more weeks my skin was completely smooth and free of the eczema and has remained so.

As I write this, it's the end of July and I've continued the sunbathing making sure I sit in the sun for short periods nearly every sunny day all summer (I've read that 20 minutes a day 3 times a week is sufficient to maintain an adequate Vitamin D level, but I've exceeded that amount since I've sunbathed more than 3 times each week).

About 3 months into my experiment, I began slowly adding a tiny amount of dairy foods back into my diet to see if the eczema would return. I've had no reoccurence of the eczema. I plan to keep my dairy food consumption at a minimum and also plan to continue sunbathing as much as possible. In summation, I have no way of knowing if the diet change or the addition of natural Vitamin D cured the eczema …. perhaps both played a part. I am just very grateful for the learning experience and grateful that the eczema has been eradicated.

Dear Earthclinic,

I just wanted to share this information with people that suffer from Eczema and hives. My adult son age 48 for a few years now was suffering first from hives and then from terrible eczema! He even had to stop working and lived with us because he was so ill. One day our washing machine broke and so we started to wash clothing at a local laundromat. Then my son's eczema (the hives subsided) got even worse! We didn't know what to make of it? One day my husband decided to rinse some of his clothing alone and my husband could not get over all the soap residue coming from the washed clothing (loads of it). My son's clothing was full of soap residue that showed up in the rinse water and had to be rinsed several times to get the soap out!

Now we only wash my son's laundry in organic Baby shampoo (by hand) and his eczema is going away! We believe that using the laundromat washers had even more soap residue from other people's wash. My son is now almost well completely from the eczema (a little redness on one leg only) and feels so much better. My son had allergy problems since childhood but this eczema/hive problem was making his life miserable. He now feels like he is back to normal. Thanks DianeC.

After having a pretty bad bout of poison ivy on my arms, I was prescribed a steroid cream. Shortly after that my hands started breaking out with what I thought was still poison ivy that was still on my boots or other items I may have touched after. Eventually I got to the point where I wasn't sure if it was in fact still poison ivy on my hands. Long story short, I went to two different dermatologists. One said it was probably Granuloma Annulare while they other said it was probably Eczema. Both agreed, however that it wasn't poison ivy and that it was probably caused from my skin being compromised (i.e. good bacteria) on my hands. I used to use a lot of hand sanitizer and wash my hands a lot because of the type of job I have. Anyway, after using their creams that they prescribed, getting good results at first and then my condition getting worse (mind you, one dermatologist actually prescribe a cream that had alcohol in it- go figure right), I decided to go natural and with the mind state that I had to rebuild my skin on my hands.

What I came up with was a mixture of oils that have both restorative and anti-fungal/bacterial properties as well as a new method for my hand washing.

First, the oil mixture which I have gotten the best results thus far over anything I have tried is 1 Tablespoon of unrefined coconut oil to 10 drops of peppermint oil, tea tree oil, and eucalyptus oil. Make sure the coconut oil is liquefied so you can mix all the oils evenly together. The best way to apply seems to be running my hands under warm to hot water (seems to relieve any itch for a few hours or so and opens up your pores so the oils are better absorbed) gently dry, and then gently rub in the oil mixture on the affected areas and around (a little goes a long way). It may be a little “greasy” at first, but it will absorb and some will wipe off on its on.

I do this right before I leave for work and then right before bed (keeping my hands from rubbing the oils off on covers as much as possible). I even found that the more you can apply this oil mixture or the longer you keep it on, the better results.

Also, now when I wash my hands I don't go as crazy and stick to washing the parts of my hands that will actually touch something (i.e. the underside of my fingers). Remember the key here is to rebuild your skin and take care of any bacteria or the like they may have your hands reacting the way that it has.

Am I completely cured, not yet, but my hands have improved tremendously. This has been the best method for me and addresses the key cause without causing other issues like many drugs do. If something starts to come out on my hands it's usually small and goes away in a couple of days or so if I stay on top of applications. I find that if I don't at least apply the mixture in the morning and at night or my hands have been exposed to friction like working with my hands or irritating them somehow and I don't stay on top of applications, they will be worse. Leaving my hands dry and working outside for example is sure to bring on something on my hands. I know this will take time because we use our hands so much so rebuilding is going to take time.

Oh yeah, and I stay away from hand sanitizer too and don't overdue washing my hands. If I must, again, I focus on the parts of my hands that actually touch (i.e. the underside of my fingers).

I used a 10% hydrogen peroxide liquid on my eczema, it cleared up in about a week. I applied it 4 times daily.

I developed seborrheic eczema for 2 years. It started back in 2010 July as a very small on my left cheek and soon developed to a huge red patch. I quickly went to the pharmacy to find out what it was and they said it was fungal since it was inflamed and oozed with yellow liquid. I was scared so I listened to the lady when she recommended me to use clotrimazole (fungal cream). It was going great, the patch was gone within 3 days. However it kept coming back and worse as before. I then went to see a dermatologist and he said it is definitely eczema. He prescribed me the usual 1% hydrocortisone. I used this very thinly for a few weeks and it did the temporary trick, however it keeps coming back and the condition worsened. At this point, I had no more faith in creams. I was depressed everyday looking at myself in the mirror, my skin has been destroyed with this huge patch of red, dry and flaky skin. End of 2010, I went to America for holiday. My aunt is a pharmacist and she took me to a skin specialist. The doctor asked me to wash my face with Head and shoulder shampoo and go on a course of cortisone pills for 7 days. This method did the trick for controlling the eczema for only 3 weeks. After that, it came back in vengeance. Start of 2011, I gave up in finding a doctor or taking pills and using these chemical creams. I started experimenting with natural products. For 1 and a half years I changed my diet by eating super clean (Though my diet was very healthy already before this eczema developed, maybe it was due to stress as I was still studying in university).

Second step is, I started washing my face with apple cider + water and apply coconut oil on the eczema patch. I tried this a few weeks, it did not help.

I then tried juicing raw potato, drink it and also put it on my patch, this also did not work.

Here are a list of things that I also tried (ingesting and/or applying topically) but failed:
- Aloe vera + slippery elm + probiotics
- green barley grass+ green juice + spirulina
- coconut oil (ingest and topically)
- Apple cider vinegar (ingest and topically)
- Hemp, fish, flax seed oil
- Zinc, magnesium, Vit B complex, Vit A.
- Tumeric (make it into paste as face mask and also ingest)
- There are still many other things that I've experimented but with no desired outcome.

Here comes the answers to my prayers. The ONLY things that made my eczema gone was APPLE CIDER VINEGAR + COCONUT + NATURAL BENTONITE CLAY.
I would mix them all into a paste just enough to put all over my face. I leave this on OVERNIGHT and EVERY NIGHT for 4 weeks. The first few days, my face would sting after using the mask over night. it made my skin red (my eczema looked especially angry with drier patch), however this pass in an hr and your skin goes back normal. The most amazing thing is I saw results just after 1 and a half weeks of using these ingredients religiously every night to sleep. I just kept doing it and in the 4th week the eczema DISAPPEARED. You guys have no idea how HAPPPYYYYYYY I was! To maintain this (because I was so traumatize that the eczema might reappear again) I would apply this paste every 2nd night for the next 6 months. After that, I never applied them again. It's nearly 1.5 years ever since I had eczema and it never came back (:

You can buy ANY natural bentonite clay online (I bought mine on ebay) and mix it into a paste with a few drops of apple cider vinegar + coconut oil just so your face won't be too dry. This worked amazingly with quick and fast results! I hope this works for everyone but I know we're all different. Anyone who are struggling with eczema, please please pleaseee give this a try and see how you go! At least give it ONE whole month EVERY NIGHT to see results. Do not worry if the first week makes your skin worse, 2nd week should be ok!

Good luck everybody!

Try a less messy poultice by mixing the activated charcoal with a little fine psyllium powder and water to a manageable paste. It firms up after a while and then to a consistency which can be peeled off eventually. Makes a good facial mask.

After being diagnosed with IBS and perioral dermatitis I knew I had to make a change. I did my research and talked to a few people at the health food stores and then added probiotic acidophilus to my diet. The first week I took 2 times the recommended amount, the second week I cut it down the recommended amount and then have stayed on that amount rather well the past 10 years. It has fixed all the problems with my skin as well as my digestinal tract. All the diseases of the body start in the stomach and colon, the acidophilus either in capsule form or yogurt help correct this imbalance. By fixing the imbalance, everything else falls in line. My skin is beautiful now. I would recommend this to any one suffering from any skin lesions and digestive problems.

Regarding Samuel's post above from 2011, where he wrote:

"The bottom line is that anything that is not organic or has artificial ingredients is poison. Citric acid is It is the reason you have eczema/acne. Even regular fruits and vegetables and meats, if not organic, are full of pesticides and other junk that can do nothing but harm you.

Just to let some of you know the real face of artificial ingredients, I finally researched what citric acid is. Unless the citric acid is coming from citrus fruit, artificial citric acid is derived from MOLD. You are eating or drinking a product that comes from MOLD. This alone should let people realize that artificial ingredients are poison."

The dermatologist here prescribed citric acid for a patch of psoriasis on the back of my neck. I did not know it was mold. That could explain the huge eczema flare. He should be fired.

Blistex Lip Medex Balm (medicated) for Eczema and Psoriasis

A friend of mine developed a strange rash on his hand and wrist that looked like eczema. I remember hearing that Blistex Lip Medex Balm ($1.25 for .38 oz container) may help control Psoriasis so why not Eczema. So I stopped by the dollar store and picked some up for him. He would apply the balm to the rash several times a day. He started to see results and a few days and the rash was gone within a week.

Active Ingredients of Blistex Lip Medex Balm: Camphor, Menthol, Petrolatum, Phenol. Purposes: External Analgesic, External Analgesic, Lip Protectant, External Analgesic. Inactive Ingredients: Beeswax, Benzyl Alcohol, Diisopropyl Adipate, Flavors, Fragrances, Lanolin, Menthoxypropanediol, Microcrystalline Wax, Myristyl Myristate, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Saccharin, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter.