Anyone here with Eczema?

[QueBert]

My friend has it bad on a few of her fingers, to the point it starts to bleed and she's in a lot of discomfort or even pain from it most of the day. I Googled and am seeing the home remedies. It looks like Apple Cider Vinegar & Coconut Oil are the 2 big ones. She has a doctors appointment, but not for a month and I want to try and help her out as much as I can. I didn't see any comparison's between the 2 and which works better. I'm going to buy one tonight, and thought maybe someone here has tried both and can comment.

 

[KillerBee]

Forget the home remedies ...Tell her to keep checking in everyday with the derm for an opening ..people always cancel or they can always squeeze someone in early.

Ps I guess in the meantime - any (OTC) Over The Counter lotion may help temporarily

 

[sandorski]

Definitely see a Doctor. I have a skin condition from birth that I have never had a real diagnoses of, mainly because it's fairly minor and manageable. Some called it eczema, some psoriasis. What I have found is that washing the area with Head and Shoulders or Selsun Blue(or equivalents of either, one uses a Zinc compound, the other a Sulphur compound) works well on my condition.

I'd give those a try, although if the area is raw/open, I would avoid it.

 

[88keys]

I do and it was at it's worst two winters ago.

Since then however I increased my intake of fruits and vegetables including an apple with my brunch every morning.
Along with this I regularly consume, broccoli, carrots, bananas, spinach, and cucumbers.

Since having done this my eczema has improved dramatically. I rarely need the steroid creams whereas my back was covered in eczema spots prior.

Now to be clear, my diet wasn't any part of a home remedy, I was just trying to eat healthier. But I later read that apples along with some other fruits and vegetables can improve eczema symptoms.

 

[RandomWords]

Different things work for different people. I have someone at my work that has eczema that doesn't respond to much at all (including dermatologist products) and have met others that various things have worked for it. What is seeming to work for her is a B-Vitamin complex... the B2 and B3 are the most important in these. I believe she went with a liquid to apply directly to the area - I would suggest oral form. (With all vitamins it is important to consume them with food). B-vitamins will need to be taken everyday if you are not getting enough through diet since - unlike A, D, E, K - your body cannot make the B or C vitamins.

Other things that might help the area:

Vitamin D3
Sunlight
Find products that are making it worse and discontinue/find alternatives for them (lotions, soaps, cleaning products, certain foods, medications) - many cheap lotions - even those for eczema can make it worse. If you're looking for a moisturizer look into using the fat-soluble vitamins A,D,E,K which is what does most of the moisturizing in moisturizers and combine that (ie: cut open liquid pills or use liquid types - of good quality) with a type of oil that doesn't irritate your skin (Good Examples: avacado, olive, Apricot, hemp seed, borage, coconut, sweet almond, jojaba, ) - look for cold pressed types.

With any products - if the eczema is on both hands, I highly suggest her treating one - one way and the other another to see which products work best for the area.

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Heyo. My ring and index fingers are crackfests almost every day. This seems to work for me:

1) 3x multivitamin and 3x Vitamin C daily. They're just the ones in the big bottles you can find at Costco (Kirkland brand).
2) Copious amounts of petroleum jelly on the fingers at night. There are oven glove-like things you can wrap your hands in to prevent a mess.
3) Drink plenty of water.

Taking the vitamins usually clears up the cracking/dryness in a few days for me.

If they start cracking in the middle of the day and I'm not home I usually just rub some chapstick over them for temporary relief.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I have psoriasis (they thought it was eczema at first) and all doctor remedies did not work. Antibiotics, and all sorts of other drugs.

Went to see a naturopath and now on some natural based stuff, it works sometimes as it starts to go away but then it always comes back.

I'm not sure about eczema but for me I was told to try to reduce sugar intake as much as possible and that seems to help to some extent.

Omega 3 and vitamin D helps a lot too.

 

[logicweb]

i am having dry eczema on my right hands finger and it's getting worst i have taken meds and it was started getting better but i left since it has become well but again it came back. so i am going to check my skin specialist again this weekened. It's not itchi but it's looks bad.

 

[keyed]

I had it on my fingers about 5 years ago. Lost 50 lbs and it's never come back.

Could have been the diet change or the weight loss. *shrug*
I don't eat fast food any more and no soda.