Eczema and Dead Sea Salt baths

[AppleYumYum]

Just wondering has anyone else used this baths? I just wanted to say to anyone who has been battling eczema for years and tried everything, give it a try. Our allergy paediatrician looked at me like I was a crazy person when we had an appointment recently and I told them I had finally found something that works! He said there is no evidence, but it was fine to continue as it won't do any harm. I was a bit disappointed they weren't very enthusiastic and wondered if anyone else had had success with it?

My 2 year old ds has had very severe eczema since 6 weeks old and nothing has really helped - the steroid creams and emollients have never got rid of it, only held it at a certain level. We only tried this after a trip to Australia where we had noticed his skin had really improved after being at the beach swimming in the sea each day. As soon as we were back in the UK it was only a week or two before it was red and sore again.

So we thought we'd try to recreate the sea and do some salt baths, I was going to use cooking salt but we had a box of dead sea salt in the bathroom cupboard (which I must admit we have had for years and years and never opened - it just moved from house to house with us!) so thought I would use it up first.

Well, I still can't believe it, after two weeks of sea salt baths every second night, his skin looked the best it had been! Now two months on and his skin is actually soft to touch instead of rough and scaly, and most of the eczema has totally disappeared! I barely use the steroid cream (which I was using 1% hydrocortisone every night and Eumovate for flare ups every few weeks). Just a bit of 1% for the odd flare up or stubborn scratched at areas like hands/wrists and ankles. I still cover him in emollient cream morning and night, and he's always had Skin Salvation bath oil rubbed on his wet skin after his bath before I dry him.

Anyway, it's not very expensive and worth a shot.

[tacal]

That is great you have found something that works for your ds. You must be very happy. I changed to using dead sea salt for my ds a few years ago and it seems to be good for him. I also sometimes use oats. Both seem to have a positive affect on my ds' skin. The previous bath oils, emollients and steroids that the gp prescribed did nothing to help.