I have eczema help

You have gotten alot of correct and true answers by most of the other people responding to your question but after my experience with my son and ezema I am here to tell you it is true when my son's peditrician told me that I should only bathe my son when his smell bothered people so bad that I had nothing left to do but bathe him.
This Dr said people bathe way too much and in doing so are their own worst enemy,drying their skin out and causing more itching esp.with eczema.
When bathing,cut your regularity and use different soaps such as Ivory and Basis or Oatmeal.
The only cortisone creams that will really do the trick WILL be the ones that Dr prescribe as they will contain a higher content of cortisone than those over the counter.
Another thing that helps the itch and still gives moisture so to speak to the patch of eczema is Preparation H Cream.
Don't gasp or laugh until you try it.
You might find it worth it to go to a Allergy Specialist and get an allergy test done and see if there is something you are allergic to as was the case with my son that contributes to your eczema.
Good Luck.

Ok-I see that no one has posted since my last message, but I have to write regarding Noxzema!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! I bought some last night and put it on right away. My hands started to feel different within minutes. I applied more before bed. By morning, my hands were almost normal again. All day today I have had to keep feeling my hands-I simply CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS! My hands are so close to normal-I forgot what this feels like! I am at a loss for words! I was so used to dry, flaky, cracked, itchy, red, bumpy, rough nasty hands-now my hands feel great!!!! I am so excited and I just wish I had learned about this a few years ago. This is AMAZING! I never would have believed it! Such a simple solution~! Thank you for saving me!

I have tried the steroid creams and they hardly worked anyway. My son had excema patches on his cheeks when he was a baby and I put the hydrocortisone on him and it worked well. I felt worried however, about possible side effects or long-term effects of that. Thankfully it only lasted for a few months and seems to have cleared up. (He is now 4).
The noxzema has really saved me-it is a miracle. Regarding the diet and supplement comments, I do have a very healthy diet that includes a wide variety of foods. I have been using ground flax meal almost daily for years (for the fiber and the omega fats) and I have also taken borage oil, and fish oil supplements for many years now. I started those for the a number of reasons, but not for exzema. Honestly, I have very good skin for the most part. It is just my hands and elbows that are the issue. I truly believe that my hands became a problem while working in the culinary field a few years ago. Constant use of dish sanitizers was so bad for my skin. I never gave it a thought and just used these harsh products without anything to protect my skin!
Definitely I think that that healthy diet is important, but for my exzema NOTHING worked until I tried the noxzema.

Eczema is a cutaneous affection of allergic and hereditary origin. The causes remain unknown. Nervousness can trigger this condition. There is also a form of professional eczema caused by the repeated use of strong products such as dyes, soaps, chemicals.

Soaps and detergents are alkaline products that distroy the acidic mantle of the skin. They distroy the hydrolipidic film that covers our skin (the sebum and sweat mixed together form the hydrolipidic film). A skin washed with soap loses its protection, its acidic mantle and its hydrolipidic film. In a way, the skin is naked. It takes up to 4 hrs to bring the pH of the skin back to normal, and it is in this period of time when the bacteria can enter the ostiums (named popullarly - pores, which are actually the openings of the sweat glands) - the openings of the sebacous glands - and voila - the skin gets infected and gets all the pimples, pustules, furuncules, etc
In the long run, washing even with "special" soaps can further dry and damage the skin, especially one with eczema.

Primrose oil (in capsules), rosehip oil and emu oil are all good for treating the symptoms of eczema.

I used to be the eczema queen...seriously! I had bandages all over my hands because in the winter, my skin would crack so badly. Here's what I did....

wash and clean the area very well with a very very mild soap ...I would not even recommend dove, ivory or any of those, they actually are not very gentle to be quite honest. Use a very gentle handmade soap without frangrance if you can or essential oils only. When your skin is very dry, if you have cracks use liquid bandage ...it will burn like hell, but it does help seal the cracks. When they are sealed, they can start to heal. Apply a mixture of extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil to your skin religiously several times daily. Trust me, it's greasy , but it works. Mine wasn't caused by contact with anything at all. If you are changing diapers, using a lot of detergents and such, your hands will be worse. Use non latex gloves, or use cotton gloves.

I have followed this religiously for years, and rarely get the cracks anymore except when I stop this regimen. Steroid creams that the doctors prescribe will only thin out your skin if you use them more than a few days, which makes the skin more susceptible to cracking and bleeding. Ask me how I know...this is why and how I began making soap and skincare products 15 years ago, and even my doctors were amazed at how well my hands did.

The only times my hands get bad again is when I am making a lot of soap because I tend to test every batch and raw or fresh soap is harsh on skin until it cures (I test the lather immediately even though I know its not good for me!)

I have two questions-
first, to teb--what is ACV? I want to try it.

I am still getting some relief from Noxzema, but I have developed a couple of small patches on my fingers, so perhaps the effect was only short-term.

I also am curious as to what mamahuana wrote--regarding fasting. I would like to hear more about your fast. What exactly do you do?

Thanks to everyone for the intersting and helpful posts.