aibu hand eczema?!

[Elephant17]

It’s driving me insane 😭 steroid cream works a bit but only the very strong stuff and I’m wary of using it as I’ve already used it longer than you’re supposed to. Ive not used it in ages now because I’m worried about the long term repercussions...

Please!! Does anyone know of any natural remedy or anything that soothes the flare ups other than steroid creams??? 😞😞😞

I suffered from this shortly after DS birth, and it would flare up every so often for a couple of years. I had steroid cream from the DRs, but what worked for me was switching to bar soap (Dove and Pears) and using Child’s Farm moisturiser. Hope you get some relief, OP.

I found the thicker creams (long day so can't think of the best word - the ones which form almost a film over the skin) good at first but would make the skin clammy and start the cycle again. Burt's Bees have some good ones, and Lush's Dream Cream which has an oat based formula works well for me.

But a relative has similar hand trouble, and only the likes of E45 is effective for them...

Washing up gloves are great if you're looking to avoid harsh washing up liquid, but it might be worth trying different brands as the lining of some gloves can irritate. Not sure if it's true in your case but it was suggested to me, and it was something that honestly hadn't occurred to me before.

I used to get cracked hands ( not the same as eczema) but we're sore and itchy, I used to smoother in cream and put my hands smothered in cream into socks or gloves over night!! Xx

I've had eczema particularly on my hands since forever.And I do actually have steroid damaged skin,but that's from using steroid cream essentially as hand cream through my childhood - the doctor may have known it was a bad idea but he never told me or my mother.
So my skin on my hands is pretty thin and looks older than I am....

I'm careful with steroids now,but I still use betnovate because I haven't found any other way of settling down a flare up.

Gloves for anything wet,dirty,dusty help,no antibacterial hand wash,don't get too hot/cold.

But my big discovery is Dermalex Hand Irritation cream. The skin on my hands is better than its been for many years,no weeping eczema patches if I'm careful and I only need the steroids occasionally.
It's wonderful ( expensive but wonderful,cheaper online than from Boots etc)

I can actually wash my hands regularly at work,with Hibiscrub,and they survive

if you get sweaty in marigolds you can wear a pair of cotton gloves underneath.

Nipple cream works wonders on cracked dry eczema.

Oh god it's dreadful isn't it. I've had hand eczema (and a few other spots but mostly hands) on and off over the last 10 years.

I've done the steroids etc (short term relief but then worse) and been round the houses with pretty much every natural approach you can imagine. The best outcomes for me have even getting my hormones under some sort of control through nutrition and herbal medicine.

Message me if you want some pointers. I've just put together a plan for a food-based reset over the next few weeks for a group of friends who are struggling with various health issues. Whilst it's not specifically eczema-related it's pretty much what I followed when my skin was the best it's ever been. I'm happy to send it to you.

I used to have severe eczema on my hands to the point where if I bent my fingers it would crack open and weep/bleed, found out I’m allergic to the ingredient that makes cream a cream and is the core ingredient in aqueous so push for patch testing with your doctor! And if you haven’t found any creams/moisturiser that works try the ointmentS, it was betnovate ointment that cleared mine after years of struggling x

Body shop hemp hand cream! Keep it next to all sinks and in your bag and make sure you apply it every single time you wash your hands so your hands dont dry out.

I have really bad eczema and was on steroid creams but honestly found things like e45 made my skin worse for some reason. The body shop stuff really works for me and I also use their body butter on my legs (some of them like the honey one dont work as well) but my advice would be to try lots 9f different creams and make a note of how they effect your skin. Everyones skin is different and you may have different triggers for your eczema. So you often find something really random working brilliantly and things that you are prescribed not working very well for you.

You poor thing, I have bad dermatitis on and off, I think with that and eczema you just have to do trial and error until you find something that works for you. My recommendations would be; Sanex handwash - least drying one I’ve found or Dermol 500 used as soap, Dermol is what hospital workers who can’t use Hibiscrub or similar use. On a night you need something really greasy so Diprobase, Epiderm or CereVe cream, all in Boots for the Eczema or The Organic Pharmacy Ultra Dry Skin cream is amazing but v v pricey, but so good, rub it right in then a thick layer of Eucerin Aquaphor balm or Epiderm ointment over the top, then a pair of plastic disposable gloves for bed. Make sure you choose a cream not a lotion. Once it’s healed you can just use the cream. O’Keeffes wasn’t the one for me at all and really stung!! If they’re sore and cut Germolene is good too I find. During the day I use Locataine 10% Shea Butter as it’s not too greasy.

I've found my people! Sorry we all exist in this group though.

I hate doublebase, that grim feeling after you've put some on and then you pick up fabric of any type. Horrid.

I do aveeno oatmeal by the bucketful and at the moment burts bees milk and almond hand cream is lovely.

More importantly I don't wash up or use any cleaning products without putting latex gloves on first. I don't use any beauty products that I haven't been using for donkeys years and even then I keep it to a minimum. No news print, no paint or anything like that. I'm allergic to tonnes of paint / dye type stuff.

Really though, managing my stress levels was the best thing for my eczema, although easier said than done.

I've had hand sores for last 2years, came on sudden. I tried umpteen creams. It's bad but scalding hot water relieves the itch but obviously causes more problems, but ohhhhh the relief for those few seconds.

Dermatology prescribed dermol for washing with which I use for waahing hands and I use aveeno in shower and to soothe.
Also prescribed enstilar foam and elocon cream. They both work but the elocon clears as it's on skin, get a few days reprieve and returns but it's made a difference. Only thing is I put on and sit for an hour and can't do much as hands all cream.

I got patch test and as pp said about methyl, I found I was allergic, as well as nickel, cobalt another can't recall.
I use latex free disposable gloves, marigolds and switched to ecover products which I've found are actually better than big brands like fairy, however not all ecover is free of the methyl but the washing up liquid, anti back and bathroom cleaner fab and last a while.
Lots of products contain this chemical but the website SKINSAFE is good for highlighting which products are free, though some people have allergies to these too but they're obviously allergic to another ingredient also. I use E45 to moisturise as have dry skin on eyebrows too. Estee lauder products. Boots brands such as Natural Collection, No 7 and 17 and maybelline are all free of methyl.
Lorreal shampoos are free too, luckily most of the products I already used were free, it was the cleaning products that I used which contained it.

Child's farm and hemp cream from body shop didn't work for me, but the aveeno and elocon are good. I just don't like potent creams on my hands as I'm afraid to prepare food afterwards and of course you spend a long time washing afterwards which then irritates the skin. Just can't win.

The itch is indescribable and the fact it's on your hands which we use for everything is so annoying.

It's so good to find others who have the same issues as you can feel so isolated when nobody understands the sheer torture you go through daily.

Dermatology not yet sure if I have psoriasis, eczema or something else but I do have auto immune conditions and these can trigger skin problems. Psoriasis runs in my family and I recall seeing relatives and felt so sorry for them but relieved it wasn't me. Now it is.
The only thing I can recommend is try anything and everything as what works for one person doesn't for others.

Another sufferer here - I find eliminating everything with SLS in really helps. I do mean everything- it will be in your body wash, shampoo, bubble bath, liquid soap, washing up liquid- basically anything that foams.

I use Castile soap instead for washing hands and body, and even use it for washing dishes too.

I find this keeps it to a manageable level, but it only needs the tiniest SLS contact to set it off again for weeks.

I like Body Shop hemp hand cream but I really hate the smell. I make my own hand cream bars with coconut oil and lots of essential oils, and this really helps.

Ugh I have eczema on my fingers when stressed or sometimes cleaning stuff or hand wash sets it off, but only on the two fingers I have ever had rings on. Drives me nuts and i end up scratching and it goes into fluid blisters. I use some of the kids hydrcortisone , mainly because I dont want the hassle of going to gp.

I use tacrolimus ointment on my hands. Had to see a dermatologist to get started on it but can get repeats via GP. Still need steroid cream for flare-ups as I don't think it helps with the itch but it tends to keep things at bay. It can also be used on the face (including eyelids) as it doesn't thin the skin. It is an immunosuppressant though so the opposite of a natural remedy!
I have never found an emollient that helps much. My son has eczema on his legs and the Child's Farm stuff was great for him but didn't do much for me.
As PP have said avoid soap where possible, wear gloves in cold weather (last winter changing from wool to thick cotton gloves helped) and look for other triggers.

I make my own skin cream, I get unpasteurised beeswax at my local farmers’ market. Melt beeswax with olive oil, 1:6 by weight, in a bowl over simmering water, takes about 20 mins. Pour into a wide mouthed jar.

Beeswax seems, from the literature available online, to have genuine anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antiseptic qualities . It works for me.

I find dermal 500 good for the itching and then lanolin is about the only moisturiser that doesn't irritate it further.

Does anyone like E45? It seems so widely recommended by GPs but I find it useless!
And a PP mentioned being allergic to the "cream " part of preparations,I wouldn't use steroid cream,only the ointment and I'm now wondering if I'm sensitive to the cream bit - I'd not thought specifically about that before

infinite
e45 is liquid parafin based (as are most creams really)
for quite some time I was sensitive to that, it made my pomhylox excema flare up.
sulphur is another ingredients to look out for, especially in natural creams or ones with fruit extract.

Does anyone take antihistamines daily

there was a webchat a couple of months ago with an excema specialist. she said that antihistamines don't work for excema.

E45 is rubbish. The advice on the National Ezcema Society website about emollients is excellent (as you would expect)

E45 is a lotion - the weakest form of emollient there is. You have to be applying it every hour for it to be any good which just doesn't correlate to real life. You need a cream or even better if you can put up with the texture an ointment.

www.eczema.org/

I think a lot of doctors recommend E45 just because they don't know much about skin and they've heard of it. Anyone with any derm training won't mention it.

The itching in ezcema isn't due to histamine release as it is in hives so no, anti-histamine doesn't do much except possibly make you drowsy so you can go to sleep. The way to stop you itching is to get control of the ezcema with emollients always and steroids when you need them.

I use antihistamines daily, I was prescribed them as helps my sinus which is bad all year round, doesn't seem to help my skin though.

greenelephants, looking at the tubes I see the ointment is soft paraffin based too,so I don't think that's what bothers me - I think I need a spreadsheet! The ointments seem to be just hire soft paraffin and the steroid compound so less to cause problems.

I had that problem years ago and it was truly awful. Unguentum M mixed with Dermovate was what fixed it for me.