Does chlorine irritate eczema?

[AngelDog]

That's it, really. :)

I have (fairly mild) eczema and yes, it does have a very drying affect on my skin and makes my eczema worse.

I can only swim once a fortnight without the chlorine having a very nasty affect, and when I do swim I have to make sure to take my ointments and cream to slap on straight away afterwards.

DS1 eczema used to massively improve after swimming in chlorinated water, the gp thought it was the antibacterial effect!

Gp told me that chlorine can make eczema worse in some people. Ds had a massive flare up on holiday when he spent loads of time in the pool. It actually got infected and I needed to give him anti biotic before it cleared up. Almost certainly would have been better to have him in the sea in my experience!

I think I'm learning that all sorts of things can trigger eczema, I see ds as in the middle of a finely balanced set of scales and that if anything tips too far can start an outbreak.

I love swimming but find the chlorine irritates my eczema prone skin, so once or twice a month is the max for me :(

Swimming in the sea does seem to improve it a bit though.

Don't understand why the pipsy76's GP thought the chlorine would have an 'antibacterial' affect on eczema - it's not a bacterial infection.

I think some kinds of eczema are exacerbated by infection which increases the scratching etc etc so some successful regimes in chronic cases use an anti infection approach. Wherever the skin breaks you can have low level infection I guess.

That could be it

I am starting to realise that anything that can help eczema at one point, can make it worse at another. It's all about a balance I think.

It's as if the skin broadcasts the state of the whole system and trying to find single causes has been fruitless for me. I think prevention if possible is the best.

My ds's outbreaks usually follow some extreme of temperature, illness, change of scene, upset, etc as if some invisible balance has been thrown off. It's a mysterious business!

Have you tried 'Hope's Relief"? I think it's good, hideously expensive but good. There seems to be a lot of natural creams that look good and cost a fortune!

Noellefielding I completely agree - I've had it since birth and I know what things can trigger a flare up but I have never managed to cure it completley, I just keep it under control.

As you say any number of 'off balance' things can trigger a flare up: environmental - wrong soap, swimming, dust, etc or emotional - an upset, or even feeling run down or ill.

I don't think chlorine is very helpful, but I would second swimming in the sea. DD2 used to suffer badly until we realised that sea-water seemed to cure it. Nowadays we use it as an excuse to spend as much time as possible on the beach

Wow, thank you everyone.

I'll have a look at Hope's Relief. Actually, it looks even more expensive than the expensive natural stuff which helped him a bit before! :)

It is hideously expensive! £14 a tube, they must be kidding!
But it did sort my last flare up out, problem is I need some more and hesitate to order more at that price!! But it feels good to use something that isn't a steroid.

Also a friend of mine who has had lifelong eczema said to me recently you have to weigh up the damage a steroid cream might do with the damage the eczema itself does to the skin. So it's such a tough business. Patience patience patience is clearly the key, not my strong point though...