Effective Natural Eczema Treatments for Soothing Relief

So, I read somewhere to mix a small travel sized spray bottle with hot water, add a big pinch of both Himalayan salt and Epsom salts, shake the bottle real good, and spray that rash down liberally. Less than 1 week later the eczema rash is completely gone. Unbelievable. It cost pennies. It's worth a try for all you eczema sufferers.

3 days after eating more zinc rich foods, ie. Liver, beef, pumpkin seeds and just eating more foods. I had been trying to do more anti inflamitory diet of green smoothies and more colourful produce. I didn't expect to get healed eating meats!!! I am looking into supplementing iwth zinc although there are a variety of different forms so I have to research which one is the most absorbable. I am 80% better and no longer have to wear gloves to work. Still have dry skin with a touch of redness, but am so relieved to know what caused this. Thank you so much for your comment as this was what steered me in the healing direction.

Recent studies are suggesting that there is a correlation between vitamin d status (25 OH d serum level) and eczema or atopic dermatitis. You mentioned that your eczema worsened in Washington and improved in Arizona and that it did not start until you moved from Southern California to Washington.

In Southern California you would have been getting more UVB exposure and consequently a higher 25 OH d level than you would get in Washington.

You also said that it started around the age of 18 which would have been when you finished high school. Thinking back to high school, I remember being in the sun a lot because of all of the outdoor activities associated with being in high school and I also remember that it seemed like I got a lot less sun exposure after high school. It may be that this chain of events was enough to get your serum 25 OH d level into the insufficient or deficient range and possibly make it easier for eczema to take hold.

In any case, it seems like an easy enough and inexpensive enough thing for your dermatologist to get your vitamin d level into the optimum range to find out if it can have a positive effect in controlling or eliminating your eczema. Below 30 ng/ml is considered insufficient and below 20 ng/ml is deficient. The reference range is 30~100 ng/ml.

Some cancer studies have shown that being around the 75 ng/ml area may help to reduce risk of certain cancers.

Here are some recent studies suggesting that there may be a relationship between vitamin d and eczema or atopic dermatitis.

Http://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/8/12/789
Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28017448
Https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25282565

Art

It looks like you are partly there in your treatment of your eczema. I have had various forms of eczema on and off SINCE I WAS 4 MONTHS OLD and have tried many things over the years to treat it (medically as a child and holistically as an adult). I agree that the hot water and the coconut oil treatments are great and have been using them for quite some time as required. I see you have also identified the current irritants and some of the nutrients to supplement your diet.

My greatest improvements came when I acknowledged the fact that the skin is part of the body's detoxification and elimination system along with the kidneys and liver. The skin is not the only thing reacting to surface toxins. The skin absorbs everything it touches and the blood quickly routs toxic material to the liver for treatment and/or elimination. Any skin issues are a reflection of the toxic build-up in the body which the liver is struggling to cope with. My first main skin improvement condition came when I realized that my food intake mix promoted an acid condition in my body and I changed my food intake mix to produce a more alkaline balance. This allowed the liver and kidneys to do their jobs more effectively. Also the severity of the itchiness ‘attacks' went down considerably.

Secondly, doing liver cleanses helped with the liver overload and reduced the frequency and severity of the eczema. I still have a way to go but hopefully you can find something useful in my story.

My eczema started at age 18, inside elbows and knees. Doctors and their steroids? Not a realistic long term solution.

Every case and effective treatment is as different as those who suffer from it.

At age 28, I decided to address my inner demons, addressing what I thought was emotionally upsetting, long story.... insecurities related to our culture and sexuality, self worth, seeking validation from others, too much to list, but alas, my skin started getting better.

Also, I also tried eliminating gluten from diet???I lost some weight, but nothing noticeable after 6 weeks, as far as eczema.

This was all while living in western WA.(Was born and raised in southern CA until I moved to Seattle at age 15 in 1984) One doctor early on (1995), suggested the humidity in this area was largely to blame. I moved to Chico CA for 3 years. 2000 to 2003, it got better. In fact, I moved back to Seattle in 2003 and don't recall it acting up again for a few years, even in the Seattle winters. Winters in AZ? (2013 and 2014) awesome. Back to WA and in one years it came back. With a vengence this winter.

Obviously food is a factor in all health, I haven't had the patience to overhaul my diet, but I am getting better at staying very far away form fast food and over processed food. In the mean time...... what has helped with this last bout?

Learning to not focus on how bad it is and be more proactive. treating the symptoms? I read for years about oatmeal baths, but also, making a paste of fine ground oatmeal (colloidial). I was at my wits end and while getting a bath ready, I made a paste with colloidial oatmeal and water, smeared it on my arms and legs, sat for 20 minutes listening to Abraham Hicks (youtube it) about skin disorders. then I soaked in the oatmeal bath. the next day, skin started to exfoliate a lot more.

DRY BRUSHING!!!! A stiff natural bristle brush. I thought it would tear up my skin but first I started with a softer brush to get used to it. Plus, it is a nice way to relieve itch without breaking skin. A few days later, I used a brush with stiffer bristles. WOW! Some suggest to brush from feet to heart area, then hands to heart area. Supposed to stimulate lymph system. help with circulation. Visible results....mass exfoliation! The amount of dead skin I swept off the bathroom floor was astonishing. makes perfect sense, moisturizing dead skin cells is not that effective.

So, the first week, I dry brushed morning and evening. Now once a day. MOISTURIZING? Many people say coconut oil helps. Not me. Just kept my skin itchy. Shea Butter? YES!

First I bought Shea butter with frankincense and myrrh. It seemed to actually help. I gave up on drugstore lotions like Euerin, and CeraVe. I then used plain shea butter, not so effective.... I read more about frankincense and myrrh. The first essential oil helps sooth the itch, the latter is said to help heal skin faster. It is the first moisturizer that has made a difference.

I ordered raw pure organic unrefined shea butter and mixed frankincense and myrrh essential oils with it, about 20 drops of each to a pound of shea butter. seems to be helping. After the first week of dry brushing 2x a day, the pile of dead skin cells on the bathroom floor reduced drastically.

The eczema on my wrists was the worst so I have been applying triamcimilone to help, and it does, several times a day. and my face was getting bad too. There is a steroid, desonide? Sort of worked for me on my face. Remembering a doc who gave me Elocon (brand name, generic is good, not recalling name now) Worked even better than desonide for my face. and cheaper!

Eczema is torture, and add the depression that comes with it, extra torture when one is too depressed to even make an effort. Again, everyone is different and what worked for one person didn't work for me (i.e. apple cider vinegar, coconut oil, drug store lotion.) Yes, the shea butter is a little "greasy", but, take the time to let it soak in before getting dressed. and wear cotton!

A big help is a psychological approach.... remember that you are worth taking care of!!!! I was too depressed to do this. But instead of getting frustrated by the time it takes to rub dabs of steroid on all the little lesions, and then to warm the shea butter in hands so it can spread, on every square inch of my skin.....I tell myself that I am worth taking care of myself and taking the time to do it. Its not a chore or a burden, but a treat I am worthy of. I believe much of eczema is physiological, but the rest is emotional.

I hope this helps someone!

Exfoliate with dry brushing and oatmeal paste. (Store bought colloidal oatmeal can get spendy. I put about a cup of oatmeal in blender for a few minutes, easing the upper outsides down with a fork, but dont put fork in too deep or it hits the blades....get it as fine as you can. I then put it all in a double layer cheese cloth, tie up end with a rubber band. Put it in bath water, squeeze the dissolved oatmeal from cheescloth repeatedly into bath water as it runs. Open cheesecloth in a mixing bowl with a little water to make a paste that is stiff enough to stick to skin, not too watery. the first time I got it just right. The second time I did not grind the oats fine enough. You cant get it too fine. It will take about 5 minutes with a blender.

Moisturize with shea butter infused with frankincense and myrrh ( I blend it all with a hand mixer in a bowl, then scoop it into glass mason jars. )

and most importantly.....

BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE WORTHY OF SELF CARE AND SELF LOVE!!!!

Softress dot com says, "A healthy body produces natural oils that form a skin barrier that keeps skin soft and slightly acidic (pH between 4.5 and 6, depending on age, with an optimum at around 5.5), helping skin to resist infection by disease-causing bacteria. When the body is unable to produce these natural oils, the skin becomes very dry and the skin barrier is damaged, exposing the skin to infection.(4) To make matters worse, the body's immune system may overreact to common substances, causing inflammation and further damaging the skin.

Current research focuses on why the body is unable to produce these natural oils. Central to this research is an enzyme called delta-6-dehydrogenase (D6D), which converts the linoleic acid in dietary vegetable fats into gamma linolenic acid (GLA), an essential fatty acid necessary for maintaining healthy skin. In both eczema and diabetes, the D6D enzyme may be impaired--it may not function properly. Levels of the specific vitamins and minerals required for D6D to function are often very low in people with eczema or diabetes. Nutritional supplementation to increase the levels of these nutrients may reduce or eliminate the symptoms of eczema and help stabilize insulin and glucose metabolism."

I think that the vegetable oil they are talking about is Omega 6, and that the best source of that is sunflower oil.

Also, I remember that I used to drink a tablespoon full of ACV in a glass of water, and there was no stiffness in the skin of my hands and face, but when I stopped drinking it the stiffness came back, and I could feel it in the skin of my hands, when I clenched my hands. I stopped drinking ACV because someone on this website said that ACV wipes the iodine out of our bodies -- but now I am thinking this must be nonsense -- and I am drinking it again, starting today.

So, here's the nutritional remedy for my type of eczema, caused by dry winter skin that is exposed to workplace chemicals.
1. Balanced B vitamin complex (too much of one will make you deficient in another, and physical or emotional stress will deplete you of all).
2. Vitamin D3 (the amount you need will be based on your skin color, plus how much sun you get -- website page from the Vitamin D Council will tell you how much you need.)
3. Zinc supplement
4. Sunflower oil supplement, or some form of Omega 6
4. Selenium gave me ovarian cysts, but maybe you can take it.
5. ACV
6. 500 mg of magnesium, at bedtime. It is better to take magnesium and vitamin D at different times of day.
7. Vitamin B6 supplement

I developed a horrible (probably stress related) breakout of eczema all over my body about 2 weeks ago, the skin on my arms literally looked purple and my face was swollen with eczema all over my forehead and under my right eye. This is the first major breakout I have had in a bout 10 years, my brother even asked me if I got punched in the eye because it looked so bad.

I got steroid pills and creams form the doctor and it cleared up my face after a few days (again I haven't used steroids in over ten years, eczema previously disappeared mostly from juicing and striving to maintain a great diet)

Sad part is as soon as I stopped using the steroid cream, my face looked nearly as bad as it did before I used it. I was determined not to keep using steroids on my face so I searched the internet for a solution. I saw turmeric on this site and a few other sites as well as Apple cider vinegar.

I started the following regimen that COMPLETELY cleared my face of eczema

Apple cider vinegar three times a day in warm water (about two teaspoons in 8 ounces)

About 1/4 teaspoon of turmeric and a sprinkle of black pepper in 8 ounces water as soon as I wake up before consuming anything else.

The most integral part of my regimen was turmeric masks which consisted of plain greek yogurt (Chobani) and organic ground turmeric (got from Whole Foods) I put just these two in a bowl and mixed it (not sure of the turmeric measurement but I put enough to make it mustard yellow color) and then I rubbed this all over my face with a double portion on trouble areas. Leave it on for 20 minutes until dried and then washed it with warm water then a light facial cleanser. I did this twice a day for 3 days and on the 3rd day I woke up with 95% of eczema gone on my face. I am going to try this on arms and legs soon but I am almost certain it will clear up anywhere that eczema is evident.

I did a turmeric mask in the morning then I would mix half and half ACV and water and use a cotton ball to wipe my face and let it dry out on my face. I would do this about 2 or three times during the day and then I would do another turmeric mask at night.

Lastly, I totally changed my diet, meaning I stopped eating meat (I was eating all organic meat prior but I think it was causing digestive issues) most of my meal consists of vegetables like broccoli, cabbage and kale, steamed. And I eat brown rice. I eat fish most days and the occasional lentil soup. I also eat a lot of oatmeal with almond milk and the only real fruit I consume is bananas and the occasional apple or mango in green juices. I eat no sugar, dairy, eggs, etc. Taking about 2 probiotic pills a day and one fish oil tablet daily. I have been on this diet for about 2 weeks now.

I also exercise at least 4 times a week, exercise makes things itchy BUT as soon as I got off the treadmill I would go and put apple cider vinegar on my face and let it dry.

Hope this helps someone! Prayer and Turmeric and a little faith gave a great ending to a horrifying experience.

P.S. Even if you have a skin condition other than eczema I would recommend you try turmeric masks and ingesting it(less then a teaspoon a day)! It actually tastes great with a bit of warm almond milk

1) I switched from a more expensive omega 3-6-9 balanced supplement which included Eve Primrose Oil (GLA) to a cheaper Flax seed oil and have been taking a high dose for some muscoskeletal inflammation. It worked for that but maybe I overdid it and now have an imbalance.

2) I lost over a stone on the intermittent fasting diet where one only has 500-600 calsa day for 2 days a week. However I upped my coffee consumption those days and I work out. The combo of fasting, exercise and coffee would cause my body to metabolise triglycerides/ fatty acids from my own adipose tissue (fat)

I have been trying ACV, coconut oil, Citricidal and allsorts, but nothing has sufficiently worked. I have the qualifications and the knowledge but I didn't make the connection regarding my own body and EFA metabolism til I read your post, Dianne. Thank you for sharing! And thank you Earth Clinic!

PS that might be why the lady above found yeast worked - nutritional yeast contains active ingredients integral to the fatty Acid metabolism process.

~Mama to Many~

Teas you can drink some even boost your immune system, turmeric, moringa red clover or nettle tea.

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!

I went to the dermatologist in 2012 and prescribed hydrocortisone (among with some oral corticosteroids). It helped at the beginning and then I would apply every one or two weeks when blisters would show and burst. It would "heal" but then flares got more often and worst each time (the skin was getting thinner; I did not know) when I started medicating. I spent up to last year (2015) doing so up until I lost my tube and everything went unstoppable!!! Oozing, sticky, bleeding nipples and tissue was not enough. I got scared and went to a new dermatologist. He would prescribe the same things and I had temporarily cured. And then I started with the same old story: applying cortisone everytime it was itchy or blisters would show.

I decided I needed to stop and started browsing for natural cures. Found your site and decided to give ACV a try 1.5 months ago. First days it did not help much but stopped the itching and reduced the blisters. I started using it orally as well, twice a day. I apply an ACV-soaked compress to both my nipples for 5 minutes once or twice a day. Then I apply some drops on each one of them and let them dry.

A month ago, I also decided to give colloidal sulfur a shot. I remembered there was a local ointment that worked for acne pimples, read its instructions and IT SAID IT WORKED FOR ECZEMA!!!

I have been using it for a month now and it has improved amazingly!!! New blisters try to show but they dry within minutes or a day. I also apply organic coconut oil every now and then to moisture the area. My nipples are starting to get back their texture, form and color!!!

Thank you Earth Clinic for this forum!!

I quit wearing the watch and over the course of three days the rash spread up my left arm, then patches of it started breaking out on my right wrist and both shins and ankles. The itch was so severe at night I couldn't sleep. It looked like Chicken pox. So back to the doctor I went again. I was concerned it was scabies since it is going around the elementary school where I work and I also thought maybe I had the shingles. The doctor said no to those conditions, said it was not contagious whatever it was, he also said it was not RMSF or Lyme. He gave a Rx for triamcinolone cream which did nothing.

So I finally found some tea tree oil soap and tea tree oil and started showering with the soap and massaging the oil in the patches. After the oil is absorbed, I've been covering the areas with a thick ointment called Calmaseptine, which contains 20% zinc, calamine and menthol. This seems to stop the itching and in the mornings when I wake up the rash looks better and almost disappears, but later in the day after I get out in the hot sun or when I just get out of the hot shower, the rash comes back with a vengence. I don't know why heat is bringing it out and making it worse. I have an appointment with the skin doctor next week. I'm sure whatever he prescribes my insurance won't cover and a small tube of anything can cost $80-$300+ I finally understand how King Hezekiah, Job or the Egyptians felt during the plagues.

The skin care producers know that at least one-in-thirty moisture cream users will have a severe reaction to a key "antibacterial/preservative" present in an ever-growing number of products, namely a compound known as MIT, a shortened version of methylisothiazolinone, which, like MSG, goes by many labeled names, and which has several chemical cousins.

First, it is a well documented neural toxin, and was never meant to remain on human skin. It was only approved in surgical antibiotic soaps, which were intended to be immediately rinsed with copious amounts of water away from the body to literally sterilize all pathogens from the exterior of a human. Even then, they knew a large percentage of humans would develop raw, burning skin, replete with oozing blisters and secondary bacterial infections.

Great product, right?

So then it was approved for mass-market, antibacterial hand washes. Now it is in nearly all of your liquid laundry detergents and, worse, most of the commercial moisturizers and make-up products.

It was NEVER intended for prolonged contact with human skin...ever...just as a flush-wash to kill pathogens.

Again, not only does it cause blistering contact dermatitis, it also causes permanent neurological damage, including blurred vision, peripheral neuropathiEs and palsies, and the like.

I wish that I was making this up, but the same people making these skin care products are also selling the "cures", like prednisone, benedryl, and even Claritin.

I know this because the the pharm company that made the "all-natural" moisturizer that gave me a blistery, acid-burned, scarring rash and bacteria-infected skin (sleep scratching) is the same parent company that made the $846/tube "cure" my doctor prescribed to get rid of said chemical burn.

The first irony is that she also prescribed a different moisturizer, Eucerin, which also contains MIT, to help combat this "skin disorder/allergy" I had supposedly contracted, "out of the blue".

Kind of genius, in a Dr. Evil sort of way.

Oh, and if you buy veggie wash soaps, it is the main ingredient, so you might not want to eat that...even if you don't blister internally, you might not appreciate the premature dementia.

Then again, you won't have the mind to care by that point.

Thank God for my informed allergist, is all I can say.

I bought the brewer's yeast flakes at a health food store and I sprinkled them on the food I ate at meals. Sorry I can't say how much flakes were used at each meal, they covered the food. Oh, I also took a very good multi vitamin mineral cap with each meal. ( 50 milligram strength of each vitamin except folic acid). The vitamins had a calming effect on me.

I don't even have a little bit any more. Hope this helps.