[sasxxxxx]

I have suffered from eczema since the age of 7 when it took over from my asthma, im now 18 and have had enough!

At this stage my eczema current has taken over my legs, feet, hips, arms and worse of all my hands.... my hands are the worst by far, I can barely look after my daughter, changing her nappy brings me to tears because of the pain.

My hands crack, bleed, weep and are beyond itchy all of the time. I struggle to do everyday chores, like dressing myself or even turning a tap on or holding cultury to eat.

I hate going out in public cuz im so embarrassed!!!


I can't take it much more.... can anyone help? Im running out of idea and different types of treatment!!!


Sasx

 

[Stiletto con Carne]

Dear SasX - I feel your pain! I've had severe bouts with eczema on/off for 20+ years & every episode is maddening & debilitating!

The last major outbreak I had was treated with topical creams Betnovate, Dermatnovate & Elocom lotion (which are marginally helpful at best) oral antibiotics as I had a severe secondary staph infection, and finally 2 steroid hip injections that seemed to stop the continuous overlapping cycles & disperse the size & severity of the blisters. The whole episode was 5+ months of misery, but within 2 weeks of the injection there was major improvement & I haven't had a severe episode since: 6+ years.

If the outbreak is this far spread & out of control you should seek help immediately from a dermatologist & considder the steroids. Yes, the are stong & have potential side effects (disrupting your reproductive cycle), but in my experience the relief was worth it.


As far as topical treatments and relief, I was advised to use Burosol to cleanse affected areas. (Only my hands) and use as few natural products as possible.

I had to go to the salon to wash my hair, or get my BF to help me as at that time ANY shampoo was increadibly irritating. Stay away from SLS in any beauty products!
I regularly soaked my hands in filtered cold water with tea tree oil to relieve the burning itchy madness, as well as drinking Burdock root tea & making a poultice to apply from the teabags.

Stay away from refined sugar & white flour - I've found this to be very helpful in curbing minor outbreaks.
I also take combination acidopholus/bifidus tablets to help keep my internal system healthy & whereas I normally have some eczema at any given time on my hands, this approach has completely cleared me up for weeks at a time

Good luck & I hope you get some relief soon.
Feel free to PM me if you have any more ?'s or want some more info.

Best wishes,
Stiletto

 

[yummyskin]

Hiya, so sorry to hear your misery. I've learned to control my excema and helped my brother as well by first taking care of my diet. Drinking a lot of orange juice or apple juice (as natural as possible, without refined sugar is best).. mainly I make my own with the juicer or by hand juicing (orange juice, lemon juice, water and honey... yum!). I eat as many raw greens as I can and lightly steam the ones I can't stand to eat raw. Stilletto_con_Carne is right, elimate white flour, refined sugar and processed foods from your diet -- you and your family's health will thank you

For skin treatment, I use an oatmeal scrub from Love A Scrub (it's for sensitive skin and is a mild exfoliant with all natural ingredients so doesn't irritate my skin and helps to soothe it and remove a lot of the dark, flaky skin). Also, I moisturize with Vitamin E oil every night. For severe outbreaks, I soak in oatmeal and apple cidar vinegar (very little in case I have any open breaks in my skin) and then exfoliate with the Love A Scrub exfoliant. Out of the shower or bath, I moisturize my still wet skin and then dab it dry. I moisturize it at least three times per day, and for my hands every time I wash them. I keep a small bottle of my Love A Scrub exfoliant by the sink to use after I wash my hands and a bottle of Aloe Vera gel and grapeseed oil to moisturize them afterwards. They won't turn out greasy but feel very soothed and refreshed. It takes some time but you'll see the improvement.

Also, see a naturopath or other expert (like dermatologist) if you are comfortable. The naturopath will most likely give you homeopathic medicine which your body will learn to produce on its own.

Best of luck.

 

[IluvNY]

Hi just to add to all this advice you have been given i would have to stress that you should see a doctor straight away, if you excema is that bad then it is important to use a mild steriod to get this under control to start with and then useing good moistuizing products ontop of this will also help you!

Yes steriods cream are not nice but however this should help improve your excema, my excema used to be so bad my hands blead at once point, and steriod creams was the only thing i used to help calm my hands down!

However just be careful cause excema does thin the skin!

Also keeping your stress levels low and your skin covered warm at all time i find also helps me a lot when i had my case of excema! For example after showering it is important to dry your self properely and do things like wear cotton clothing and not wear things that might irrate your skin!

You might also want to look at purchasing a tub of excema cream off skinfix.com: The Leading Skincare Site on the Net, its an all natural product that i really like personally!

 

[sasxxxxx]

hi everyone,

thank you for your replys. i jsut started a new treatmeant, its a once a day tablet and its pretty strong im guerssing by the packet as i can not fall pregnant for 2 years after my treatment due to the side effects, so far its helped alot. i peeled my first orange in years!!!!!

but i think i have found the main trigure for my hand eczema... the other night i had a themed party to go to and wiped my makeup off with my daughters baby wipes. i suffered a extreme reaction on my face. then it got me thinking.... my hand eczema only started a couple of months after i had my daughter... bingo!!!! i had a talk to my doctor and she thinkas it may be a leading cause. so luckily my daughter is goin through toilet training and i have just start wearing gloves if i have to use the wipes. also on my feet my doctor noticed the main areas are where my thongs touch so shes starting to think im allergic to latex... blood test for it today.