Effective Natural Eczema Treatments for Soothing Relief

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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! :)

I developed dyshidrotic eczema on the palm of my right hand and in between my fingers in Sept/ 09. At first I developed a rash that weeped directly where I had a ring on my finger.. I thought maybe the nickel in the ring triggered it. Hydrocortizone cream did not cure it, although it provided immediate relief from the itching. The rash than spread to in between my fingers and on the palm of my hand. It was awfully painful.

I tried massage therapy for stress and repressed emotions and found that it started to heal directly after that. I also had three or four sessions of acupuncture and realized it was healing after that too. But it wasn't gone completely.

So I began a THREE DAY Apple Fast for persistant Acne problems. Hoping to clear up my face and in the process it COMPLETELY healed my eczema. You see it all starts on the inside, in the organs, in this case, the large intestine or colon.

Here's what you do:
For three days eat nothing but peeled Red Delicious apples or Golden apples. They must be peeled. And you can eat as much as you want all day long. (I ate about 6-10 a day)And drink a ton of water ! at least 60 oz. a day.

At the end of each day, you have to do an enema to remove all the apple you ate that day. The Pectin in the apple absorbs the heavy metals and toxins from inside the colon and then each day it needs to get passed or the results won't be as good.

You can buy a Fleet Enema from most drugstores, and just follow the directions. However, you have to use it 3 times. You do the first flush lying on your right side, then on the left, and then again in the knee-to-chest bowing position. For a total of three flushes. Remain in the positions while you're holding it in. (Since a Fleet enema only has solution in it for one flush, on the 2nd and 3rd flush you just have to refill it with warm tap water) After squeezing all the fluid in, you hold it inside you (for 2-5min) until the urge to expel it is very strong...then get on the toilet and let it go.

It is very important to remove the apples each day, but only do the enema flush once in a 24 hour period. On the first day you may not see a lot come out, but the 2nd and 3rd days you will. If you have really severe cramps you can do it earlier in the day.

On the third and last day, you may have two tablespoons of olive oil and a couple glasses of Welch's grape juice in the evening to prepare your digestive system to be eating again the next day. You will want to start out with easy food, like soup and crackers, don't run to McDonald's or something. And do an enema on the fourth day as well, just to make sure you got everything.

This apple-fast is done primarily to treat acne, and the results should last for months. My skin is cleared and softer than ever! And my eczema is gone for good too! You will notice things changing by the 2nd day. Sometimes your acne can get worse for a bit, but that just means your body is detoxying. Stay with it. And NO CHEATING whatsoever. You may have a few cups of green tea throughout the day.

Be easy on yourself. Don't exercise a bunch, or stay up late, or what's really great is if you can get work off. Take a hot shower if you get a headache (normal) and just be good to your self. When you're hungry, distract yourself, go for a nice walk, watch a movie, play music. LOTS OF WATER AND LOTS OF APPLES and say goodbye to eczema!

There is a body-mind connection with all things. The Colon is the organ that allows us to literally "let go of crap" so sometimes when we are emotionally plugged up we experience problems with our colon, that end up showing up on our skin. It is our body's way of talking to us. Let me know if you have any questions.. and good luck...you can do it! God Bless