Something that works for eczema

[nightrider1470]

My daughter who is 2 now has suffered with eczema since born... Its been the hardest thing to try and control and due to infections due to over scratching she has had impetigo on multiple occasions.

We have been back the doctors so so many times had a constant supply of creams including steroid creams.I have even bought, £50 creams off the internet.

After reading that most of these creams are made to to not work long term, so they can sell more! I decided to try something different.

The miracle I have found is coconut oil which comes as a solid in a jar (same stuff you cook with).... I have thrown her large supplies of creams in the bin and have had amazing results using this every day.

My routine is to put the coconut oil in her bath... Run hot water first so it melts, then top with cold... As soon as I get her out I sit her on a towel on my kitchen countertop and begin to rub a large amount of the oil between my hands (like Mr Miyagi) to melt it... I heavily rub this oil all over her body.... nappy on and left in highchair to dry (movie on and bottle).... 30 mins later I get her dressed.

I also have a little bowl with olive oil, coconut oil and finely chopped garlic.. I use this to treat her impetigo which has gone in 3 days.. I plan to use it if any eczema areas become extremely sore with signs of infection.

Hope this helps someone out!... My little one has been off all creams for 5 days and her eczema has never been so good!.

If you try these methods, please stay off all other fancy creams..

 

[LOAM]

Eveeno cream cleared our daughters up although she still gets a tiny bit when she's under the weather.

 

[Screeeech]

Childhood eczema sometimes tends to clear up by a certain age - but can come back in later life (did for me) and it's usually worse as an adult and harder to treat,

I have discoid eczema and absolutely nothing touched it at all, I spent ages trying all manner of things including alternative - mostly because I couldn't get a doctors appointment for over 4 weeks... Eventually I referred myself to a private dermatologist, who prescribed betnovate steroids, which works in about 24-48 hours and totally deletes it, thankfully it works fast and I don't need to use it for more than 2-3 weeks, as long term use can thin the skin. But it does work very well.

 

[nightrider1470]

Steroid creams are good, but they don't give you a large supply.. Before you know it you have ran out, can't get an appointment and its back to its worst.

I needed something, readily available and would keep it in check... My daughters eczema is severe

 

[MooMoo444]

Childhood eczema sometimes tends to clear up by a certain age - but can come back in later life (did for me) and it's usually worse as an adult and harder to treat,

I have discoid eczema and absolutely nothing touched it at all, I spent ages trying all manner of things including alternative - mostly because I couldn't get a doctors appointment for over 4 weeks... Eventually I referred myself to a private dermatologist, who prescribed betnovate steroids, which works in about 24-48 hours and totally deletes it, thankfully it works fast and I don't need to use it for more than 2-3 weeks, as long term use can thin the skin. But it does work very well.

Same stuff, or at least a variant of it I have. Clears up quickly if I use it, but the moment I stop using it, it'll just come back. So I'm doomed to paying damned prescription charges for life.

 

[skyripper]

So I'm doomed to paying damned prescription charges for life.

You can get pre-pay prescription cards which will save money.

 

[GinG]

You can get pre-pay prescription cards which will save money.

Costs around £10 per month which allows you to get unlimited prescriptions pretty much.

 

[Shocky-FM]

You can order Steroid cremes online and get them next day without prescription if you shop around, you will probably have to answer some question as to why you need it but it's never been an issue for me.

It's expensive stuff though, even small tubes can cost up-to £15.

 

[Screeeech]

Same stuff, or at least a variant of it I have. Clears up quickly if I use it, but the moment I stop using it, it'll just come back. So I'm doomed to paying damned prescription charges for life.

Yeah that's what the dermatologist told me - it's one of the main "problems" of steroids, in that they're very effective in treating symptoms, but not the root cause... Unfortunatley eczema doesn't really have a cure, although - since my initial flare-ups 18 months ago, it's slowly got better and better, I haven't use Betnovate for about 6 months now,

One thing he did say was that flare-ups tend to come in winter, so fingers crossed it doesn't come back too bad,

 

[MooMoo444]

One thing he did say was that flare-ups tend to come in winter, so fingers crossed it doesn't come back too bad,

Was told the same. He said due to the lack of sunlight, it can get pretty bad. For some people UV treatments are extremely effective. I try and get out when possible when the suns out. Helps a bit for me.

 

[B@Th*nG]

not meaning to poop on your parade but 5 days is not enough and reports like this CAN be a bit misleading to people also suffering with the same/similar conditions. I hope it's resolved but often the treatments work for a while and then come back. The internet is full of coconut oil remedies but also tales of stuff like this coming back. See how things are in a month and report back with findings

B@

 

[rubberduck]

Will steroid creams help me develop my bicep muscles if I rub them in? Serious question.

 

[B@Th*nG]

Will steroid creams help me develop my bicep muscles if I rub them in? Serious question.

there are different types of steroids, and i don't think the creams you use are THAT kind of steroid. The cream kind are anti-inflammatory, so would probably be a detriment to the tearing of muscle that's required for body building

B@

 

[Usel]

Coconut oil is excellent and so diverse in the amount of applications and it can be used.

I treat my dogs ears with it. I melt it and then squirt it in her ears with a syringe. She gets dermatitis in her ears and it drives her mad.

 

[Steeps]

There is no cure but it can be managed, the aim is to reduce the risk of flareups and try to cut out the itch-scratch cycle as it only makes things worse. If the condition is moderate to severe it might be worth looking at underclothing to help reduce irritation (which is available on prescription and has been available for years, a lot of GP's are reluctant to prescribe because it's not a cream and therefore can't be any good).

 

[Hotwired]

olive oil, coconut oil and finely chopped garlic.. I use this to treat her impetigo which has gone in 3 days.. I plan to use it if any eczema areas become extremely sore with signs of infection.

Mmm...

I've had eczema for a few decades since a baby and also had it as bad as its possible to have it.

The itching -> skin damage -> infections and even when you know you cause the skin damage it doesn't help.

Endless prescriptions of moisturisers over the years (did actually try coconut at once point), these don't "do" a whole lot, idea being a moisturised skin might get less irritated and itch less. Might.

Steroid creams are meant to "do" something and they do indeed but as some already mentioned even when you find a working one (usually a strong steroid) you're only allowed to use it for short time (there are good reasons for this) so if its still bad after that, tough.

Tried light therapy for a while, literally get into a (medical) vertical sun bed (in a hospital) and get blasted by UV, the hope being that it suppresses the condition between the bi weekly sessions. Pretty sure this just caused skin damage for me.

I got to the final choice of immunosuppressants in the end, I'd been offered them before but was put off by the idea of side effects. Well it's all a balance you can't appreciate until you realise how bad things already are. You wouldn't be offered it if you were perfectly healthy obviously.

Have painfully damaged skin with almost constant risk of infections or take some pills every day and have blood tests half a dozen times a year...

So I went with the pills.

They really "do" something about the cause of eczema not the symptoms. Roughly speaking eczema is your immune system over-reacting to irritation and thus causing far worse irritation (leading to scratching and damage and infections...). The immunosuppressants do what the name says and weaken your immune system so it doesn't attack your body nearly as much.

I still have ezcema, still have moisturisers, still have steroid creams. But the steroid cream is not often needed and when used the flare up rapidly vanishes.


Anyway. Eczema is a genetic problem and it doesn't get fixed, you just try to find a balance of medication and lifestyle to help you get along. Also if you find substances which are incredibly irritating to your skin you avoid them or use protection (gloves!).

Unfixable diseases have a lot of wishful thinking around them because of desperation. Advertising snake oil treatments for cancer is actually illegal in this country. Nothing else, just cancer.

On the same note, bacterial infections don't get fixed by oil and garlic, I hope this was simply having a go in addition to a doctor prescribing a course of antibiotics.

 

[LeMson]

Only thing that has worked for mine is a doc saying I had a staph infection and getting some anti biotics, cleared up in 2 weeks taking them, but when it went bad again a few months ago and I went back to the docs they wouldnt give me any Thought about ordering some from Spain but not sure if it's legal or what pills I would actually end up with in the post

 

[Hotwired]

Only thing that has worked for mine is a doc saying I had a staph infection and getting some anti biotics, cleared up in 2 weeks taking them, but when it went bad again a few months ago and I went back to the docs they wouldnt give me any Thought about ordering some from Spain but not sure if it's legal or what pills I would actually end up with in the post

The antibiotics helped because the bacterial infection was interfering with healing.

They don't do anything about the eczema. Or the scratching which caused the damage which led to the infection.