★★★★★
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!
Diatomaceous Earth
★★★★☆
Eventually the rash would turn from red to brown and begin to dry up leaving a very dark brown large area of discoloration. This would take months to clear up with the help of retin-a creams.
After searthing Earth Clinic's site for more natural cures, I found several entries noting 100% pure diatomaceousearth to cure fungal infections. I had about 2.5 pound of this stuff on hand and decided to try it. Well, the reviews suggested ingesting it. I'd done that in the past when dealing with other issues. This time I was trying Borax and baking soda as suggested by Ted and didn't want to mix it up too much. So, I tried applying the earth topically, straight from the bag. It's a fine powder just like talc. It immediately soothed the itch, and after a few hours the redness had decres by 50%. The eczema rash on my face has dissappeared!! My facial acne is history. The eczema is still on my neck but it is undercontrol and when I am diligent and apply it several times daily, it will go away. The dark blotches remain, and this is where I got into trouble last week, I began applying the retin-a much too soon and irritated my skin and the redness itch and rash returned. I'm back on the mend using the earth and will wait about one month after healed again before using the retin-a.
I hope this helps.
Six
Cod Liver Oil
★★★★★
Cod Liver Oil
★★★★★
I gave him cod liver oil in a cup of juice with a top on it (sippy cup) because of the smell. The next week he did not have one spot on him and he is 18 years old now and never had that again.
Iodine
★★★★☆
Alum
★★★★★
Get a clean spray bottle and break up about 1-2 Tablespoon size chunks of alum. Put this in about 1 cup of water and then fill your spray bottle with it. I spray a few sprays on my hair and massage it in my scalp. Some under arms for deodorant and then I give a few sprays all over my limbs and body, rubbing it into my skin. It has a weird texture; it seems to sink into your skin quickly - that's why the spray works so well. I'm thinking of trying an application in the evening as well and maybe by then I'll have more of a cure. Experimenting with the frequency... Let me know how this works for you. I used to have bad eczema in my hair that would flake all over; very embarrassing. I cured it by soaking my head with straight ACV and covering that with a shower cap overnight, but I don't like smelling like a pickle throughout the day. :) Now, the potassium alum has prevented it without the smell. Good luck to all, and hopefully we can cure our debilitating eczema.
It appears that you have way too many health problems that come and go. Have you thought of seeing a homeopath? After I took a homeopathic remedy suggested here for shingles like rash, my severe intermittent shoulder blades pain was gone, literally overnight. The rash was gone as well. I started looking into homeopathy and learning about it. Before that I never even thought about this modality. Long story short I am now under a homeopathic practitioner care and we are peeling layer by layer to get to the cause of my chronic health problems. It is a long, gradual process, especially if the condition is chronic, but I am impressed with homeopathy even more. One particular remedy obtained via a homeopathic pharmacy was nothing short of WOW, which actually means it was a match. I am on the 7th month of treatments and follow a strict protocol. It is affordable, I am on a disability by the way, and the remedies are affordable as well. My practitioner is in the UK and I have signed up for a membership package. The sessions are via Zoom.
This is a link to my practitioner's own story and how she became a homeopath. She also talks about severe eczema her daughter had.
https://www.formandheal.com/aboutpailin
There are great homeopaths in the US and every other country. Check out Larry Malerba videos on YT.
So please start looking into your chronic health issues from a different prospective Otherwise it is like chasing one health problem after another with no end in sight
Arrowroot, Tea Tree Oil
★★★★★
Vitamin D, Eliminate Dairy
★★★★★
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 â¦. perhaps both played a part. I am just very grateful for the learning experience and grateful that the eczema has been eradicated.
★★★★★
Cucumber Juice
★★★★★
I have been suffering with eczema on my hands for several months now and the itching is making me go out of my mind. A friend gave me several cucumbers the other day and not knowing what I could do with them I juiced one. Within a few hours I felt the itchiness and pain seemed to be dissapating. I began to wonder if the cucumber juice was really helping. I have John Heinermans book "The Enclycopedia of Healing Juices" and he does state that cucumbers are quite helpful for skin itchiness. I will continue to juice my cucumbers and if you don't have a juicer, a blender with some water will work as well or even rub slices on your skin. I hope this helps someone because the suffering is almost unbearable and depressing.
Wash Clothes in Baby Shampoo
★★★★★
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.
★★★★★
Bleach Bath
★★★★★
1/8 tsp pure simple normal bleach to 1/2 gallons of water for a hand soak. Or 1/4 cup bleach in a tub filled halfway. Soak for 15 minutes. I do it 3x a week.
Fish Oil, Yogurt
★★★★★
In addition to steroid creams prescribed by her dermatologist, we have tried every product (and combination of products) known to man for over a decade - special soaps, lotions, creams - you name it, we've tried it. None of it worked. At best, it offered a bit of calming, but the large patches of skin eruptions remained.
In my determination to rid her, or even just ease her of this troublesome and embarrassing affliction, I continued to research and continued to try different methods.
I am beyond excited to report that I found a combination that actually works! It has been over a month and her skin has never looked better! She is blissfully happy, and I am so happy for her.
Deep down, I always felt that treatment from the inside-out would be most effective. In my research travels, I came across an article suggesting exactly that - that "good health begins in the gut" and cited eczema as one of the ailments that could be "cured" with probiotics.
I bought some quality probiotics but after a month, we didn't see any improvement. For the heck of it, I had her eat a small container of vanilla yogurt every day and I had her take a fish oil capsule with her breakfast and again before bed. The combination worked! :) I can't believe it. After all these years, all of the remedies tried, not to mention, the thousands of dollars spent - yogurt and fish oil every day did the trick and she is finally free of it!
She joked that I should win the Nobel Prize for curing eczema (hahaha). :) I'm not sure it would be a cure for everyone, but given my daughters amazing results, it is absolutely something you should try. I hope your results are equally amazing.
The fish oil capsules I used were nothing fancy. I, personally, have tried the pricier fish oils that come in glass bottles, but it's been my experience that they don't work any better than the inexpensive ones.
I use Nature Made 1,000mg fish oil capsules--two capsules per day. You can find that brand at any of the large chains. The vanilla yogurt was Activia brand--also available pretty much anywhere.
(I've been around EC long enough that I think I can mention brand names without anyone thinking I'm trying to 'pimp' products. ;-)
Hope this combination works as well for you as it did for my daughter!
Baking Soda
★★★★★
Apple Cider Vinegar and Baking Soda
★★★★☆
My main ingredients being coconut oil, mango butter, shea butter & vegetable glycerin. I put other oils reputed to be beneficial to the skin as I feel like. I take some supplements too: probiotics, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil & also drink black seed oil, usually once daily. I'm keeping positive & I continue to see improvements. Some very small patches have become raised again, tiny in comparison to how they were, but when I work on these a bit more they tend to subside. I recently started treating the more stubborn patches with neem oil. I will watch & update my reactions in due course. My daughter who was visiting from London, told me within minutes of meeting her at the airport she could see a big difference in the look & feel of my my skin & wants a tub of the body cream for herself. I no longer scratch myself constantly all day long or in my sleep at nights. I do still itch but only sometimes. I no longer feel my skin is my enemy.
In a nutshell, I have to say big thanks, once again, to Earth Clinic who started me off on this discovery, given me hope when I really thought there was none. I will continue to tweak my routine according to how my skin performs, but for now acv, organic coconut oil based moisturizer plus a few supplements are doing a good job.
Evening Primrose Oil
★★★★★
Zinc
I have recently read that Eczema is mainly caused by deficiency of zinc in the body. Taking zinc supplements or foods rich in zinc will help in restoring the healing property of the body and treating eczema. Zinc promotes the synthesis of collagen, which is a necessary element of proper wound healing also.
Foods high in zinc are beef, lamb, pork, crab, lettuce, avocado, banana, cauliflower, cheese, egg, milk, yogurt, wheatgerm, seeds such as pumpkin, squash and watermelon, and oysters top the list. So if you are an oyster lover like me, dig in! :)
