There are all sorts of eczema treatments, some people are
told simply not to scratch and many have been given steroid creams. But have
you found that after you finish the course of medication, it just keeps coming
back? Rather than dampen the symptoms, this article discusses 5 simple steps
you can take to get to the root of the problem and beat eczema forever.
I've had eczema since I was a child and have tried everything
including homeopathy and herbal medicine as well as more conventional
treatments. I was told that I would probably grow out of it but unfortunately I
was still itching into my 20s. None of the treatments I was given worked, they
either gave temporary relief or made it worse. After years of trying, I decided
to take a little look at what was in the emollient given to me by my doctor and
I found some surprising results. It mostly consisted of parabens (which can be
an irritant in some people) but the worst ingredient was sodium laurel
sulphate (SLS), an ester of sulphuric acid that dries up the natural oils on your
skin and can cause skin corrosion and severe irritation. The thing they were
prescribing me was creating the problem and it is in most soaps and
moisturisers. Crazy right? So why do cosmetic companies use it? Well, It
started off as an efficient detergent for garage floors and it's incredibly
cheap. It does so much more but one of its finest qualities is mimicking oestrogen
(EEK!).
This article will
discuss tackling the causes of eczema as well as how to treat it.
1. Change your shampoo
and soaps: Look at the ingredients labels.
Get rid of anything that has SLS in it, you are not a garage
floor! This means you need to look at your shampoos, conditioners, hand soaps,
shower gels, moisturisers. Anything and everything that comes into contact with
your skin should come under scrutiny. My motto is, "Don't put anything on
your skin that you wouldn't put in your mouth." Try to avoid parabens and
other synthetic substances that could be irritants as well, the Ecologist have
a great list of beauty baddies on their website.
Go for the products that pride themselves on being organic
but keep looking at the ingredients labels as they are not always 100% natural.
The rule to go by is if you don't recognise what's in it, don't buy it. A
personal favourite of mine is a company called Raw Gaia, the world's first
range of living organic skin care products and raw organic beauty products.
When you use their delicious smelling creams it really feels like you are
nourishing your skin.
2. Moisturise naturally
as much as possible: Aloe vera, cocoa butter, almond oil benefits.
This is the piece of advice I really agree with the doctors
on. Every time you think of it, like right now, get the moisturiser out. Eczema
is usually caused by dry skin (but you should check with your doctor in case it
is an infection) so it makes sense to give it tonnes of moisture but just make
sure it's the right kind. I find that using 100% pure products was the only
thing that didn't irritate or block my pores.
Cocoa butter is great for your skin because Vitamins E among
others is naturally found within it. If it is cold pressed, the vitamins will
be more prevalent. It also makes your skin beautifully soft and smells like a
dream! It's best to buy it in its most pure form as this guarantees there will
be no parabens mixed in but it's also so much cheaper than shop bought brands.
It keeps forever so there is never any need to put artifical preservatives in
it anyway.
Sweet almond carrier oil is also vitamin rich. It contains the
plant-derived compounds ursolic acid and oleic acid which are known to have
anti-inflammatory and skin barrier repair effects. Try massaging it all over
your body an hour before having a bath to prevent dryness.
Aloe vera is used for treating burns and has even shown to be
effective at healing wounds. It has been amazing at treating my eczema with
overnight results but when I told a friend this she said it always gave her a
rash. It turned out she had been using a cream with all sorts of other
ingredients in it because harvested aloe juice needs preservatives. The best
way to get around this is to just buy a plant from your local garden centre and
cut off a leaf and keep it in your fridge to use as and when you need it. This
is a really cheap way of moisturising but it also means you can get the full
benefits of the aloe plant by drinking it as a juice too.
3. Dietary supplements
that might help eczema.
You should be able to get all the vitamins and minerals you
need from a balanced diet but it's sometimes useful to have an extra boost. It
is always best to consult a nutritionist before taking supplements. In some
cases, eczema can be caused by a fatty acid deficiency. Fatty acids can reduce
inflammation and relieve dryness, and can also help to heal eczema therefore,
it is worth taking a fatty acid supplement that contains Omega 3, 6 and 9. Antioxidant vitamins C, E and D might also be
good for treating eczema. This is because antioxidants can improve the skin's
texture, collagen production, protect from free radicals and help with
essential fatty acid metabolism.
4. Look at what you eat
to beat eczema: Cows milk alternatives.
Cows milk is the most common dietary trigger for eczema. Drinking
cows milk may not be the thing causing your eczema but it is worth cutting it
out for a couple of weeks just to see if it makes a difference to you. When you
cut out a certain type of food it is important that you replace it with
something. In terms of alternatives to cows milk, it really depends on your
preference, almond and hazelnut milks are my favourites but others in my family
love oat and rice milk. Goats, sheep and buffalo milk are delicious creamy
alternatives and also create amazing cheeses but if you are particularly
sensitive, after the two weeks, it might be worth cutting these out too.
It is also possible that you could be sensitive to other
foods like soya, gluten, citrus fruits or nuts so if you've tried all of the
steps and they still aren't working it might be good to consult a dietician or
allergy specialist.
5. Change your washing
detergent and wear natural fibres.
It sounds so simple but we often forget that clothes are the
things that come into contact with our skin the most. I often found that my
eczema got a lot worse as I started wearing more clothes when the cold weather
set in. If you think about it, even though most of the detergent gets washed
out every time you wash your clothes, they always come out the machine with a fresh
clean smell so it must be leaving some sort of residue. There have been many
eczema arguments against biological washing powder because the enzymes used to
eat the dirt could also eat your skin but nothing has been proved. I would just
say that natural is best because even after I got rid of the biological washing
powder, there were still some that chafed no end! My favourite is the simply
pure range because it doesn't use harmful substances (to you or the fishes in
the sea) and it leaves your clothes smelling delightful, it is also recommended
by the national eczema society.
In terms of wearing more natural fibres, rather than getting
a whole new wardrobe just change what you buy in future. It's a case of
exchanging scratchy fibres for softer ones like bamboo, cotton or silk (look
out for top quality pieces second hand at jumble sales or charity shops). If
you decide to start buying organic fibres, it benefits not just your skin but
the environment and the farmers too.
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