Eczema, am I the only one here?

[KytKattin]

 Since I was about 16, I have had a horrible time with eczema. It appears on my scalp and my eyes. Lately, it has been just horrible around my eyes (and my scalp too, but cutting off my 2ft of hair helped with that). It seems to flare up at every other thing. Stress is a big one, but my mom thinks I am allergic to dairy products. Btw, it is nearly impossible to avoid all dairy products. 
So I keep trying all these different products and they never work, or if they do, it is only for a short amount of time before it comes back. Honestly, I think part of it is an animal allergy. It was cleared up amazingly at the end of last semester, but I went home, and now I have the rabbit, and it is worse than it has been in a long time. It hasn’t been around my eyes in two years, but now it is back in full force. I go to the doctors and they just give me a steroid that honestly makes it look like I am a snake trying to shed it’s skin. I react terribly. 

That leads me to make up my own concoctions. I am once again back at that point. This time, Kelly’s Magical Miracle Elixer contains: Lavender oil, tea tree oil, aloe, vitamin e oil, water. Every thing is 100% pure, or close enough to it. I think the aloe is 99% with some safe preservatives. One of my first mistakes when I made something similar last semester was that my sweet almond oil had fragrance in it. Urgh. Anyways, I just mixed it up and put it on. The aloe makes the itch stop, the vitamin e moisturizes, the tea tree oil does something good, and the lavender is just because it smells pretty. Does anyone else have any suggestions? Anyone with the same problem with an even better mixture/solution? 

 

[FrankieFlash]

I have it too. My doctor prescribed Elidel. It’s a prescription cream. It works well. You have to use it more often. Or at least I do. My eczema flares up with cold, extreme heat or sweating, and I do think you are partly right about animals. What I mean is, when I’m around the pets I wash my hands more (one of my worst spots this year) which irritates it. I hope you find some relief! I’m ready for winter to be over so I can get some relief too.

[emkvet]

I get eczema as well, on my scalp, in my eyebrows, behind my ears, and on random patches of skin. I hate it. I use selenium sulfide shampoo that works pretty well and also a triamcinolone cream for spot treating, Eczema is a huge pain, embarrassing, and also uncomfortable! I definitely feel your pain.

[emkvet]

I get eczema as well, on my scalp, in my eyebrows, behind my ears, and on random patches of skin. I hate it. I use selenium sulfide shampoo that works pretty well and also a triamcinolone cream for spot treating, Eczema is a huge pain, embarrassing, and also uncomfortable! I definitely feel your pain.

[FrankieFlash]

oh I’ve heard of the selenium sulfide shampoo before. I’ve heard good things about that. Maybe I should get some of that! I can’t tell if my head is just itchy or if I’ve got eczema up there too.

[Stickerbunny]

Little bit on my arms, shea butter, lavender and tea tree essential oils and aloe. My cousin uses Dove body wash for his, though I don’t like that they test on animals :S umm, jojoba oil is a good light moisture for after a shower too (while your skin is still wet) … my mother uses oatmeal baths for her skin problems. I think everyone has a different solution and it’s about finding what works best for you.

[KytKattin]

I had Elidel once a long time ago. I should try it again… I have never had any luck with selenium sulfide shampoo. Not sure why. Though it isn’t my hair that bugs me as much as my eyes. It makes me look like I have a black eye, they itch and burn, and then they get all crusty and flaky. And you can’t put a lot of things on your eyes. I can’t wear black any more, and I have thought about bleaching my hair so that you can’t notice the flakes as much, but I really want to just stay with my natural dark brown color. It looks so pretty!

I have also heard that tanning helps. I will probably start doing that in a few more weeks when the weather warms up if my latest experiment doesn’t work, even though I detest how tanning ages skin.

[FrankieFlash]

I can say personally that tanning does help but I can’t do it anymore. I had a suspicious mole and the health risks outway the benefits for me but it helped my skin of multiple issues. They make lamps that can provide Vitamin D and similar effects without the harmful side-effects. They’re just on the more expensive side.

[Stickerbunny]

Frankie, can you link me one of those lamps for Vitamin D and such that are expensive? I’m curious to compare it to the ones they sell for animals… wonder if it’s one of those cases where its the same thing but 10x the price cause it’s marketed for humans. lol

[LBJ10]

Mine is mostly on my cheeks. The doctor gave me a sulfur-based cream for it that dries it up pretty fast, but it usually returns fairly quickly.

[FrankieFlash]

I’ll definitely pass them on, it might be a while though. My sister (in med school) looked them up for me so I don’t have the links on my computer but I’ve asked her to send the link to me.

[Stickerbunny]

No problem, just idle curiosity more than anything

[kinggoblin]

this woman started making soaps/lotions because of her sons bad exzema, maybe it might help you

http://www.skin-a-licious.com/

coco for cameron is the one she started with for her son

[MimzMum]

What’s your stress level like? Cortisol can cause skin ptoblems and is produced during stress and steroids only aggravate cortisol production. Perhaps an echinacea tincture of some kind (or even teas?) would help provided you are not allergic to coneflower.
I’m looking into this actually to treat my Yorkie as I believe she has some kind of cortisol based skin problem that dries/wrinkles/deteriorates her skin and fur and none of these fancy fish oil creams or sulfonomide shampoos help her at all.

I mostly get very dried out skin here in the arctic, but I’m developing a patch of what looks like eczema on my left leg, so I’m eager to find something that will help with that myself.
The Paul Mitchell company used to make an awesome tea tree shampoo…took the itch out of my scalp every time.
The best commercially made cream I’ve ever used to help with my skin problems is Curel Advanced Ceramide Therapy. I don’t know if they make shampoos, but you should get some relief from the cream where you can use it.

[FrankieFlash]

MM, Paul Mitchell does still make tea tree products. I forgot about those. They’re awesome. But if your skin is broken it might hurt. Now I’m going to be tempted to get some at the pro shop saturday

[Elrohwen]

Aww, that sucks! I have it, but it’s mild and clears up with a topical steroid. I don’t know anything about the alternative therapies, but I’m almost out of my cream and I might try one of these for next time.

[FrankieFlash]

I RETURN WITH LINKS
The price isn’t as bad as I remember…
http://www.amazon.com/Sphere-Gadget-Technologies-SP9882-Lightphoria/dp/B004JF3G08/ref=sr_1_1?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329510755&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Syrcadian-Blue-SB-1000-Therapy-Device/dp/B004E7KTB0/ref=sr_1_8?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1329510755&sr=1-8
My sister says when looking for the right lamp look up, seasonal affective disorders.

[Pandorachik]

Not the only one for sure! I have it too. On my legs, arms, and scalp.. it’s terrible :/

[jerseygirl]

My young niece takes omega 3 oils and that seems to help some. Fish oils or flaxseed oil. My sister gives her kids a mango/peach flavoured fish oil and they line up for it. It looks and smells like a fruity shampoo but tastes quite nice.

[Joyfull_music]

I have had it my whole life. And mine migrates around my body. If I treat it in one area, it pops up on another. I have used so many creams, both steroids and non to treat it. And I used Elidel for the longest time. Right now I use this Japanese skin cream called Yu-Be. It is expensive but OMG does it work! I also have chronic dry skin along with my eczema, and the Yu-Be is great for that too. You can use it for anything from chapped lips, cracked heals, rashes, sun burn, wind burn… the list goes on.

I am seriously like a walking advertisement for this stuff, it has done wonders for my eczema and skin. If you can get past the price and the fact that you will most likely have to order it online (I found the best deals at Amazon) I say it is really worth a try. The stuff has been in existence in Japan since the 50’s, and is all natural. One of the things I did not like about creams such as Elidel is that the long term use effects were unknown, and what ever I use for my eczema is going to be for a lifetime.

[Stickerbunny]

You know, I just was looking around for soaps for skin conditions and I came across one that has very good reviews on eczema – african black soap – anyone tried it? Supposedly you have to apply it from the bar, not with a wash cloth or anything like that and people are raving about it in the reviews. Not exactly what i was looking for (trying to find a cruelty free soap for the boyfriend) but figured i’d share in case anyone here was interested.

[Pandorachik]

Sticker: Hmm… where do you get it?

[Stickerbunny]

Umm, all the online pharmacy places have it – as well as amazon, etc. Probably specialty beauty stores and health food stores would carry it too.

[Pandorachik]

Ok, I will check it out! I have eczema terribly. I can’t believe how many other people here are too! Makes me feel better

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