Effective Natural Eczema Treatments for Soothing Relief

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.

My wife then decided to see what it would do for a two spots of eczema on her leg and they were gone is less than a week. Our tube must be at least 50 years old. Folks used it to draw out splinters, briars, and things embedded under the skin. Also used to draw boils or cyst to a head, ingrowing hair anything that needed “drawin".

In a mill in Arkansas, I got a splinter in my finger and went to the mill nurse to remove. Did not have emergency rooms back then, so she wanted me to send me to the local doctor. I told her to forget it, my wife will take care of it. Soon she turned in her resignation and I ask why? She said she was going back to school to get her Masters so she can teach. Good people, she was ahead of her time. She could not do her job, so she now teaches that same job. Sounds right to me.

Deirdre, suggest you try this ointment from yesteryear. It is still around.

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I decided to do some internet investigation & read elsewhere that blackseed & coconut oil had helped others with skin problems. I have been using both oils as soon as I come out of the shower & during the day when my skin starts to dry out & tighten up in the office air conditioning. I saw signs of improvement & was encourages to do more research.

I found your site on 16th June 2010, bought the apple cider vinegar on 18th, along with the bicarbonate of soda & followed Ted's advice.

I have been using the 2 tblsps of acv & 1/2 tsp of bicarb each morning or evening. (because I get an immediate reaction of having to rush to the toilet I don't drink this on the mornings I have to go to work) I also apply the acv directly to my skin by way of a spray bottle plus my oil moisturizers as many times as I need. The acv burns but not enough to put me off. I also try to drink each morning lemon juice in a glass of hot water. I have to sweeten this as I find it impossible to drink otherwise.

At first my skin became very flaky, even drier & grey looking, which was alarming but I persevered, encouraged by my husband. I still itched badly too. But within a week the flakiness eased off & the greyness went away.

Nearly 3 weeks later I am very encouraged to see the change in my skin. The raised, thickened patches have flattened out & do not look so angry. The degree of itching has lessened somewhat but I am still itching, especially my palms. I am still covered from head to toe but I am optimistic & encouraged to continue my regime & see what happens.

I have to say BIG THANKS for earthclinic.com & the contributing stories & testimonials.

I will post another update in a couple of weeks.

"according to research, high histamine levels can potentially contribute to eczema flare-ups in a subset of individuals with atopic dermatitis, meaning that consuming foods high in histamine may aggravate existing eczema symptoms in some people; however, histamine is not considered the primary cause of eczema itself"

I am just starting on the Low Histamine diet, and I feel a lot better today, only the 2nd day, but I suspect my Eczema could take a while to clear up. I theorize this could help Psoraisis and cancer patients also as histamines may be contributors to these illnesses as well:

"Histamine can protect tumors from the immune system by inducing the activation of myeloid derived suppressor cells (MDSCs). MDSCs suppress the immune system and promote tumor growth. "

I don't know if it is safe to reduce histamine levels 100% as you may need some to function, but here are some supplements you can take in addition to low histamine diet:

• Serrapeptase
• Lumbrokinase
• ginger
• Vitamin C
• Quercetin
• Milkthistle
• freeze dried bovine kidney (always buy organic grassfed)
• Vitamin B complex

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.

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...

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

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).

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!

I went to the garden several days ago and pulled a batch of BEETS. I cooked them yesterday and when they were done I skinned them the juice was all over my hands. IT FELT GOOD! Overnight the swelling is down and almost healed. I CAN"T BELIEVE it? I peeled potatoes for dinner just a bit ago and the potato juice got on me and started to itch and burn. So! I rubbed a plain cooked beet on my finger. Guess what! Instant relief. Have you ever heard of this before? It isn't totally gone but I sure feel better. The little sores are died a pretty red, but that's okay by me. What is in a beet that has this effect? Would love to know.

After about a year of researching and executing cures that did not work for me, I have found that it is not just one action one must take to get rid of flare ups.

I say get rid of flare ups because it is impossible to get rid of eczema, however it is possible to remain flare-up free, and physically seem like one is rid of eczema, and remain flare up free for as long as one desires.

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All aspects must be attacked when it comes to Eczema. There are four aspects in the order that they should be attacked:

1.) Detox reset

2.) Raw Organic Apple cider vinegar

3.) Skin reset

4.) Diet

If one successfully tackles all four aspects of this war against Eczema, one can eliminate flare ups from their system quickly and keep flare ups from returning. Within about 1 and a half weeks, my skin returned to normal and has stayed healthy.

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I will list exactly what I did:

First off let me mention that if you are serious about getting rid of eczema, all food you consume from here on out absoutely must be as organic and unprocessed as possible. If you follow this regimen but you continue to eat foods with artificial garbage in them then you're just asking for flare-ups. The biggest factor of this regimen is EATING AS HEALTHY AS POSSIBLE! Do not be ignorant- check ingredient labeling!

Also, constantly moisturize using anything of your choice. Do not wait for your skin to dry to moisturize. Over moisturize rather than under moisturize. Moisturize until your skin is uncomfortably greasy even. I used 100% cocoa butter I bought in a brick like form, where I had to melt in the microwave.

In addition, constantly drink water. Similar to moisturizing, do not wait until you are thirsty. A good way to figure out how much you should drink is by using body weight, where you drink 1/2 oz of water per pound you weigh. So divide your body weight in half, and then divide it again by how many hours you are awake, to figure out how much water you should drink every hour.

Staying hydrated is incredibly important. I drank about 8 oz of water every waking hour this entire regimen, and even to the present of today.

1.) I detoxed using the three day apple diet I found on this website, however I only did it for two days, as on the third day I was very hungry. I bought and ate only organic apples. This is vital since before I was still eating not necessarily junk food, but regular food that had artificial ingredients in it here and there. I also drank 2 table spoons of raw organic apple cider vinegar diluted in 8 oz of water every morning and night, to this day. I do it every day, and throughout this regimen.

2.) On those same days I ate only apples, I purchased raw organic apple cider vinegar with mother in it. Using a mixture of 1/3 apple cider vinegar, and 2/3 water in an 8 oz cup, I rubbed the solution onto my patches of eczema. My eczema was very severe, so the burning was intense and painful, but the itch was obliterated afterwards. The pain was well worth it the itch relief provided. When you wash your eczema patches with ACV, do not panic if you see seemingly white bubbles form on the patches. Its normal. After rubbing the solution onto my patches, I waited until they dried.

I did this 1/3 ACV (remember it must be the organic raw kind with mother in it) 2/3 water wash once every day. It basically disinfected my open wounds in my eczema patches.

If for some reason you still itch, although it is not a home remedy, it is a useful back-up measure, get a product with menthol in it like a cough or vapor rub of some sort and apply it to wherever is itching. It has an incredible cooling effect and will generally instantly kill itch, in case the ACV did not earlier.

3.) After doing the eczema patch wash using the 1/3 Apple Cider Vinegar 2/3 water solution, I also took a bath for at least an hour with two cups of the apple cider vinegar. After the bath I immediately moisturized myself thoroughly. I would generally do the eczema patch washing in the beginning of the bath, in the bath.

4.) Once finished with the apple diet, I changed to eating only organic lettuce and organic chicken, since I know those foods in the past were neutral to me and were not flare-up inducing. This may not be the same for you, so make sure you only eat a small amount of food ranges you KNOW do not give you flare ups. Do not eat anything even mildly processed like organic cereal. Stick with raw veggies and meats you know are safe, and organic. From my experience in relation to me, eczema is 99. 9% diet related.

5.) I continued to take baths with two cups of ACV, and still washed my patches with 1/3 Apple Cider Vinegar and 2/3 water every day. On this day, AFTER washing my eczema patches and taking my bath, I reset my skin using steroid cream. This is the day after I finished the apple diet. So it is the third day.

I understand that this is a home remedy website but I see steroid cream as a strong skin resetting tool. I do not see it as a cure, not even close. However, for fastest results, it is the best thing to use in order to reset the skin back to normal. It is a resetting tool, that should NEVER be depended upon. I was lucky since I tried to avoid steroid cream usage as much as possible, so I was still able to use it as a potent skin resetting tool.

I only applied the steroid cream once, that was all I needed.

6.) As I continued to eat only organic chicken and organic lettuce, I also continued to bathe every day with the 2 cups of acv, and still washed my eczema patches with the 1/3 2/3 solution. I also still was drinking 2 table spoons of ACV diluted in a cup of water morning and night. I did it every day religiously, and still do.

7.) Around this point it was day four, and my phases of incredibly itchy patches of eczema were gone. My eczema patches were no longer risen or flared up, and it had no blisters. It was simply red, but it was flat. It was the same height level as my normal skin. It was healing. I easily rubbed off a lot of dead skin from my eczema patches in the bath. Do not forcefully rub off skin. At this point, dead skin should just easily come off after soaking in the bath for 30 minutes.

8.) Every three days I introduced a new vegetable to my diet, organic of course. I read that food can take anywhere from 24 to 72 hours to completely be digested and removed from your body, so I set three days as a good food testing time. After I was done with the vegetables, I then added fish, turkey, and other types of meat, all organic, and all once every three days. Since my diet was so bare it was incredibly easy to figure out EXACTLY what gave me flare ups and what did not. What made this food detecting process even easier to follow in the beginning was the apple detox since it let me fully know that my starting neutral foods lettuce and chicken were not giving me eczema problems.

9.) After 7 days had gone by using this regimen, my eczema patches had completely healed other than a few scars left from the deep scratching. Now you must understand, if you choose not to reset your skin using steroid cream, it may take longer to reach normal skin appearance, however since from my experience diet is what really contributes to eczema, chances are you will definitely achieve normal skin soon enough.

Afterword:

IT has now been a month since I did the regimen and I have no longer gotten any sessions of intense cravings to itch, nor have I gotten any flare ups. I no longer have to bathe in Apple cider vinegar because I have no eczema patches, however I still eat a very healthy, organic food diet, and I still drink 2 table spoons of ACV diluted in a cup of water in the morning and at night. As a side note, my acne has almost completely disappeared as well, which makes sense.

I have been suffering from eczema my entire life, which means about 18 years. The main solution to eczema flare ups being healthy organic food only, and avoiding all artificial ingredients and processed foods was mind boggling, miraculous, and frustrating all at once. I'm incredibly happy; happier than I've ever been before, now that I no longer have to battle with eczema flare-ups. However I'm frustrated that I never realized how vital it is to avoid regular food since it will always have artificial ingredients, even if it seems like it does not.

It frustrates and fills me with rage, how almost all products with a nutrition label and ingredient list will almost ALWAYS have some artificial garbage that you don't even understand on it, unless it is organic. Something as harmless as white tortillas could have some crap in it. Even some organic foods however, may have artificial junk in them, as foods can wield the USDA organic label but only be 95% organic, which is why checking the ingredients list is INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.

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.

Everybody is capable of ridding themselves of the symptoms of Eczema. Eczema will return if people cut corners and eat junk, however if people remain strong, and only eat organic food and avoid artificial ingredients like the poison they are, flare-ups can be a thing of the past.

What REALLY helped was changing my diet to traditional foods, namely raw dairy (milk, butter, cream, etc. ) & fermented foods & drink, in particular homemade yogurt. The idea is to get ALL of the beneficial bacteria from real live food items. Helpful traditional fermented foods: pickled veggies, certain raw cheeses, kombucha, natto, miso, raw soy sauce & of course ACV. Many "pickled" items in grocery stores are pasteurized & therefore don't contain beneficial bacteria. Anyway, it's no wonder ACV is the top remedy on this site. It's a raw fermented drink!!! These items, taken regularly, help us digest our food & maintain a healthy balance of good bacteria in our bodies. Bacteria are not baddies! I'm now convinced that we need to be mindful of beneficial bacteria in all aspects of life. In gardening & farming, we depend on good bacteria to break down, to compost & make nutrient-dense soil. Earth can't survive without them.

The concept is the same within our bodies. Similarly, anti-bacterial soaps & products and chlorine destroy the "good" as well as the "bad", making our bodies weaker in the end. It all makes sense to me now. You don't have to be vegetarian or a raw foodist (though I like many of those recipes) for clear skin. By sticking to whole, unprocessed foods & adding fermented items at each meal, we noticed a difference in our family's skin (child had severe eczema too, now much more beautiful skin! ) & in overall health. Best to avoid non-raw dairy whenever possible. That's when we begin to see little flare-ups.

Very helpful resources were "Wild Fermentation" by Sandor Katz and "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon. Fascinating info on this site!