Home Treatment for Eczema

The term eczema refers to a number of different skin conditions in which the skin is red and irritated and occasionally results in small, fluid-filled bumps that become moist and ooze. The most common cause of eczema is atopic dermatitis, sometimes called infantile eczema although it occurs in infants and older children.

Eczema is a general term encompassing various inflamed skin conditions. One of the most common forms of eczema is atopic dermatitis (or "atopic eczema"). Approximately 10 percent to 20 percent of the world population is affected by this chronic, relapsing, and very itchy rash at some point during childhood. Fortunately, many children with eczema find that the disease clears and often disappears with age.

Eczema also called as dermatitis, is a group of skin disorders. Atopic eczema, allergic contact dermatitis, irritant contact dermatitis, infantile seborrhoeic eczema, adult seborrhoeic eczema, varicose eczema and discoid eczema are different types of eczema. Atopic dermatitis is the most common type of eczema. It mainly occurs among infants and small children. In more than 90% of cases, eczema is found to occur in children below 5 years of age. It is a non contagious disease.

Eczema Causes

The exact cause of eczema is unknown, but it's thought to be linked to an overactive response by the body's immune system to a bacterium that normally lives on the skin or an irritant.

It is a genetic disease. It arises from interplay of multiple genes with external environmental factors. The more atopic genes that are present, the less environmental initiators are required to produce eczema.

Contact with the external trigger (allergen) causes the skin to become inflamed. The duration of the contact is not important. Eczema can develop on first contact (in days to weeks) or over time with repeated contact (in months to years).

Severe forms of eczema are caused by powerful allergic responses to external agents that cannot be eliminated from the environment.

Eczema could be aggravated by irritants like smoke, chemicals, detergents, solvents and so on. Even weather conditions could aggravate the condition. Excessive stress, heat and emotional stress also aggravates the symptoms of eczema.

Eczema Symptoms

Usually the first symptom of eczema is intense itching.
Affected areas usually appear very dry, thickened or scaly. In fair-skinned people, these areas may initially appear reddish and then turn brown. Among darker-skinned people, eczema can affect pigmentation, making the affected area lighter or darker.
The rash appears later. It is patchy and starts out as flaky or scaly dry skin on top of reddened, inflamed skin.

Painful cracks can develop over time.

Self Care at home

Apply an nonprescription steroid cream (hydrocortisone) along with anti-itching lotion (menthol/camphor, such as calamine). The cream must be applied as often as possible without skipping days until the rash is gone.

Clean the area with a hypoallergenic soap every day. Apply lubricating cream or lotion after washing.

Apply a mixture of 1 teaspoon camphor and 1 teaspoon sandalwood paste on the rashes. Apply nutmeg paste to the affected areas. Put natural vitamin E on the affected skin, it will relieve you of itching. Zinc taken orally and applied directly on the affected skin is effective. Both shark cartilage and lotion of blueberry leaves reduce inflammation. Use pine tar soap to wash the affected skin. Drink tomato juice daily, it will cure the symptoms in a few days.

Sunbathing early in the month is very beneficial. A light mudpack applied over the sites of the eczema is also helpful. In cases of acute eczema, cold compress or cold wet fomentations are beneficial.

Mash almond leaves in water and apply on the area, it will also help in the treatment of eczema.
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Skin Treatment And Prevent from Eczema

There are things in life that one cannot escape from. For some of us, eczema seems to be on that list. This skin problem can be caused by many things such as allergy to food or cloth, an imbalance of fatty acids and even stress.

My two daughters are already an example of eczema victims who get it because of different reasons. My eldest daughter gets it when she is stressed out. If there’s an upcoming exam that she knows she’s not well-prepared with, I can almost guarantee you that her anxiety will extend to her skin and a flare-up will soon be our problem again. My second daughter gets her eczema from food. You can expect a flare up extending to the skin on the face after a few hours of eating just a leg of chicken.

This is the reason why I have done my best to research on the natural remedies for eczema. Most doctors have recommended steroids and medicines that have their own side effects if taken too often for a certain period of time. Sometimes, the flare ups will respond to these treatments but there are times that these are not enough. Secondly, these prescribed drugs can be very expensive! If you are rich then good for you but for me, the side effects still matter especially when the price is already too high as it is. Here are some natural stuff you can do for both healing and preventing eczema.

1. When the blisters and redness are too much to bear, you can put a bit of milk on ice so that it cools for about a few minutes. Then soak a gauze or cotton pad into the very cold milk and place it on the affected areas. Leave it on for about 2 minutes and repeat the cycle over collectively for ten minutes.

2. Sea salt can also be scrubbed on the blisters and affected areas to promote better blood circulation and faster healing. I know it may sound painful but there are some who swear that this is very effective and relieving because it encourages the skin to secrete its natural oils. You just need to put together a couple of cups of fine sea salt, a quarter cup of olive oil or jojoba oil and a few drops of your favorite essential oil such as lavender (optional). Simply wet the affected area with warm water then gently scrub the salt mixture in a circular motion on the skin. Let it stay on the skin for a few moments and savor the tingling sensation before washing it off with plain warm water again.

3. Licorice root can also be used by putting it on the blisters and red skin. This herb can reduce the swelling and the itch.

4. Another concoction you can apply to the problem area is an equal combination of almond oil, rosehip seed oil and sesame oil.

5. Cod liver oil is a great help to balance the problem with fatty acids and can be taken a teaspoon a day.

6. Primrose oil taken 250 to 300 mg a day can help reduce the inflammation because it also known as a good herb to balance the problem of fatty acids.

7. Taking 50mg of grape seed extract thrice daily can help remove lessen the itch because of its antihistamine properties.

8. Licorice root can also be soaked in around ten ounces of water. Let it stand for a quarter of an hour before taking it orally thrice daily. Just take it moderately because it can result to high blood pressure.

9. Burdock Root Extract can also made into tea and can bring relief. Adults are advised to take it twice a day for a week and children may drink it one daily for the same period of time.

10. Lavender essential oil can also be used either as replacement for soap or an ingredient for a mist spray. Simply put three drops of its essential oil into the bath water and use this to clean the skin especially of children. As a spray, you can mix ten to twenty drops of the oil into 2 ounces of purified water.

11. Oatmeal can also be a great scrub and replacement to soap. Simply powderize oatmeal in a blender. Gather the pulverized oatmeal into a cotton handkerchief or gauze before dipping it in the water and gently scrubbing it all over the skin. Oatmeal is a great moisturizer.

12. The simplest way to prevent eczema is to drink plenty of water daily to ensure skin moisture.

13. It is also advisable to chart what you eat and discover what foods result to a break out on your skin. Some go as far as consulting with a dietician depending on the severity of their cases.

14. Always keep your beddings clean because dustmites are also a significant cause of eczema.

15. Make sure that your clothes and the textile that frequently rub your skin (hanky, beddings,etc.) are not synthetic fabrics because most patients of eczema are allergic to these.

16. Also try being conscious of your reaction to stress. Stress has been proven to cause eczema flare ups and finding ways to control pressure just might help lessen your skin problems. You may try meditating for relaxation daily. It may be hard so if you need help doing this, you can try getting some meditation cds that use brainwave technology. There are also many free ebooks on how to control stress from self-improvement gifts.com that you might want to check out.

There are many solutions that nature herself has produced for the things like eczema and it may be worthwhile to check on them instead of spending so much money of drugs that can also have side effects in the first place.
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