Adding (sea) salt to bathwater - can this help eczema?

[Utka]

Has anyone tried this, and, if so, what were the effects?

DD1 has had very bad eczema for about a year now (from 2nd birthday onwards). We were wet wrapping for the whole of last summer, which helped, and are currently using steroid cream on the bad patches, plus diprobase and doublebase creams everywhere.

However, after a few months of near perfect skin, she's suddenly developing it again on her face (for the first time), neck and hands (but nowhere else). Someone has suggested we add salt to her bath. I seem to recall that people with eczema are often helped by visiting the Dead Sea, so could this be a good idea?

I haven't got any experience of this myself, but have just been staying with a friend who's dd (16 months)has bad excema, and she uses salt in the bath. HTH

My DS1 (now 6) had eczema all through baby and toddlerhood and now (touch wood!) seems to have outgrown it.

I remember one time when he was suffering quite badly (during Summer 2002) my GP suggested I took him down to the beach (we live in a seaside town) and put him in the water.

I was reluctant to stick him in the lovely North Sea so waited until we were going abroad a few weeks later. No word of a lie, after 2 weeks of going in the sea, it cleared up almost straightaway - in fact it was more or less gone just as we were coming home.

He has more or less grown out of his eczema now - he still has very dry skin (I use aqueaous cream on it) but he hasn't had a "flare-up" of bleeding/weeping etc since that time.

I also used Starflower Oil Cream (also known as Borage Oil) which improved his skin quite a bit.

Utka, ds has recently had aflare up in exactly the same places as your dd. I think it might be a reaction to the pollen in the air at the moment. I have tried sea salts in ds' bath in the past but it can really make sore skin sting. We live by the coast and ds wont go near the sea since his legs got really sore while paddling last year. If you try it, use a little bit at first.

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I've found sea salt more helpful than anything else that's been suggested as a bath additive for ds2 who has mild/moderate eczema. The other things that have made a difference are using "aquaballs" in my laundry rather than detergent and SK healing cream, lanolin free version. Oh and a bit of tropical sun and sea and sand time, just wish that was more readily available!!

PPH swears by porridge oats in the bath (wrap in muslin and hold under running tap)

Have you tried Aveeno cream/bath oil? Worked wonders for my dd and many others on here
Check out this Aveeno thread

Swimming in the sea always helps with my own eczema. Mind you it may be the relaxation and sunshine that tends to come along with it that does the trick.

Utka,
We have tried sea water and it had the same effect as hidrocortisone, the flares disapeared in just two days, however one day we over done (he was near to the sand) and it was hell, we needed to ask for an emergency appointment with a dermatologist while in holidays, who prescribed a treatment that cleared the eczema COMPLETELY in 4 days: antibiotic syrup, mometasoane (another corticoid), Eucerin lotion (can be found in Boots), and emolytar a tar based oil for the bath that leaves DS and the house smelling to bbq but it's great to keep the thing under control.

However, no matter how well we care for it, eczema retuns with the warm weather, the dermatologist prescribed Protopic (Tacrolimus) because we did not wanted to use hidrocortisone for such a long term and it has been great (and costing 60 euros for a rather small tube it had to be!!!!). Considering the severity of your DD eczema I'm sure the dermatologist will prescribe it if the hidrocortisone effect is no longer as strong as desired.

can i ask a stupid question (i've skimmed this thread so hope it's not here already) but how much sea salt in the bath? a handful, two?

I'd try half a handful, then increase the amount if it doesnt sting.

Utka, as an eczema sufferer I well remember salty baths as one treatment. I'm sure they help - but as an adult can still remember the absolute agony it caused me.
My own wee one has very mild eczema so I just use emulsifying ointment in the bath when it's bad, followed by diprobase and fucidin H (for short periods).
As the eczema is bad on her face neck and hands would look at what soaps are being used on her if any. Shanpoo or conditioner might also be worth looking at. (Took me years to discover I'm allergic to something called polyquaternium (or dowicil 200) that you find in loads of shampoos/ soaps and creams. Would avoid anything with lanolin in it too cos can make the skin more sensitive to other things.
Watch out for using steroids etc and then going out. Used to have major probs on ski-ing hols with my face until a French doctor told me to use NOTHING except hypoallergenic suntan cream on sunny days - it worked amazingly well. It has been sunnier recently.
Have also discovered I'm horribly allergic to my own sweat on hands and face alone - so when it's really hot regular sploshing in water helps. As you'll know, diet's also a possibility - so have you changed dd1's diet recently?
Hope something here is useful for you. Hate to see wee ones with eczema.

OK - when we lived in Eastern Europe, we were recommended either bicarb or white of an egg in the bath. Also tried porridge (but is v messy!). Egg also cooks if the water is too hot.
Can't remember if they did much good, but they certainly did no harm.

cab and others

Thanks for the advice. DD is much much better this week. Took her back to the doctor to ask about the tree pollen idea I'd had, and he confirmed that he thought she'd got hayfever. Proscribed antihistamine syrup twice and day, plus got a dermatology colleague to look at her hands, which weren't responding to fucidin h cream. Gave us a stronger cream (betnovate?) which has knocked it on the head immediately.

She is sleeping better, so not itching in the night, and her neck, face and eye itching have
all but gone. It's so nice to see her with sparkly eyes again.