Eczema treatments

[karl7900]

Anyone who has suffered from eczema or knows someone who has it, will know the suffering it can cause. In this thread I would like people to post up any creams that they may have found help to either clear up or reduce their eczema.

This cream I am recommending only uses natural ingrediants and is easily available online.

http://www.botanica.ie/

 

[dantdi]

E45

 

[Sparky Mark]

My ex used to get Eczema really badly on her hands & had trouble finding anything that would touch it, until she came across a product called "Zambesi Botanica" which really seemed to sort it out

 

[Wai-Fan]

I use a Chinese ointment from China and my relatives usually bring it back everytime they go back home. It's called Bao Long Kang and it's quite effective. my ezcema was quite bad when I was younger and I tried diffierent creams like E45 and they never seemed to work. Anyways, only problem is that this cream is hard to find anywhere, it's called Bao Long Kang and usually comes in a small red platic cylinder. It also says compound ketoconazole ointment if thats any help.

 

[abdus]

I know people who had allergy/eczema due to using Nickel coated kitchenware.

Used several products but enver cured until patches were used on the body to detect the cause. It turned out, after testing, that it was the Ni causing that allergy/eczema. They just stopped using the responsible cookware and the allergy cured naturally

 

[murkins]

Karl, I don't know if you still use this site or not but I can recommend Bepanthen ointment. In the UK it's marketed for 'nappy rash' which is in fact infant napkin/diaper dermatitis. In other countries around Europe it's marketed for healing minor skin wounds (including tattoo wounds) and general dermatitis. The baby product market in the UK is huge though and we tend to use Savlon/Germolene for minor wounds so marketing it for Nappy rahs is a good idea in the UK.

Bepanthen contains a compound called dexpanthenol as well as many lipid compounds (including lanolin).

The epidermis of the skin is made up of several layers, the uppermost of which is called the stratum corneum. This is a tightly packed layer of cells 'cemented' together by lipids. This forms the 'skin barrier' In dermatitis/eczema, the skin barrier has been disrupted and needs to be supported by addition of lipids and comounds that will help the cells themselves. Much of the dryness and itching in dermatitis/eczema is caused by water loss from the disrupted barrier. The skin naturally loses water every day but this is accelerated in dermatitis/eczema. Reducing (but not stopping) water loss is necessary to ease these symptoms and help recovery.

One of the best things about Bepanthen is that there are only 13 or so ingredients, no preservative and no fragrance (both of which tend to irritate skin in dermatitis). It's not a treatment but it may help you manage the symptoms.

Dexpanthenol has been shown to aid restoration of the skin barrier. The lipids also provide a 'glue' for the skin
thus reducing transepidermal water loss.

You could also try a steroid cream but these aren't recommended for long term use and shouldn't be used on the face if at all possible as they eventually thin the skin barrier out and the skin barrier on the face is already thinner than anywhere else on the body (apart from the scrotum!!).

Just for disclosure, I've worked with the makers of Bepanthen, writing medical information for them. However, I'm recommending Bepanthen, only because I've used it on mild dermatitis on my forearms and it worked a treat for me. Give it a shot if you're still having problems but also go to your GP if it's a continuous problem.

It also says compound ketoconazole ointment if thats any help.

Ketoconazole isn't really any use for dermatitis, it's an azole antifungal agent and will be fine if the broken skin barrier is infected with fungal dermatophytes but in most cases of eczema, there's no fungus present.