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Eczema / dermatitis on hands - nothing works!

66 replies

latrucha · 07/03/2012 21:21

I've had this for about 15 years but under stress rescently it has got a lot worse. I know it is principally caused by stress and worsened by soaps etc.

I now regularly find my hands are bleeding where the skin has split and it's really painful.

I went to the doctor weeks ago and he prescribed very strong steroids. My old steroids no longer work and neither do hydrocortisone creams. It worked at first but now it is like all the rest. They used to clear it up but I would relapse when I stopped using them. Now they seem to make precious little difference.

I'm at the point of just going without them and trying to fix it through diet. I'm taking b vitamins, zinc and omega 3 and 6. I've cut out soap except for in the shower and on my hair etc. I am trying different moisturisers to find a good one. I'm on Burt's Bees at the moment and am about to try Weleda Skin Food.

Is it possible to have just as good an effect without the nasty creams, and what else can I try in order to do so?

What else can i try and can I improve it

OP posts:
ppeatfruit · 11/03/2012 09:31

The author is Dr. Peter D'Adamo. Smile

latrucha · 11/03/2012 11:04

Thanks. I'll have a look at that.

OP posts:
ppeatfruit · 11/03/2012 16:17

Oh and I forgot for the itching the best Aloe vera gel you can buy is highly effective, as is chickweed ointment (from H.F. shops) Also Argan oil is calming. My DS's eczema was cured by (whisper)Grin the homeopathic remedy of sulphur.!

perceptionreality · 11/03/2012 16:19

I've started suffering with this recently. I'm a beauty therapist and I think contact with all the oils and products irritates my skin. I'm also allergic to rubber gloves.

eragon · 11/03/2012 18:06

basic facts
skin once senitized can take 6 months to de sen .

with hands avoid:

handling raw meat /use fork.

peel potatos under running water.

dont handle tomatos /use plastic bag over hands to handle them. acidic foods dry out skin in contact with it.

winter= always wear gloves when out side as cold will irritate and dry.

wash hands with a soap substitute, like aqeous cream. ( put in pots to take with you to work etc.

if you wash hands, you must dry and moisterize every.flipping.time. (if u want to get rid, u need to be dedicated, for 6 months!!!)

thin layers of steriod cream, with thick layer of non perfumed, coloured moisterizer with cotton gloves over night will help.

keep a close eye out for infection. and go the gp the instant you think this is happening.
be hygenic about storage of yr creams and potions!

always think carefully about what you are letting have contact with the skin on yr hands, for e.g applying make up or spraying perfume. all will react and dry skin further.

have no idea that diet would help for hand ezcema when common triggers ,like shampoo, soap, cleaning fluids, latex gloves are not removed/controlled from exposure .

if you have hay fever, tree pollen allergy, i would , personally, avoid creams that may contain them, like bees wax etc.

its not rocket science, its not alternative stuff that costs £££ , lets be sensible here.
btw my cotton gloves come from poundland!

NoNoNoMYDoIt · 11/03/2012 21:08

yy to all the advice about handling foods. for a year or so, i had to wear gloves for doing any food prep at all. i used to put cotton gloves on and then the disposable gloves on the top of those. peeling potatoes and handling tomatoes were the worst. i could also flare up my skin just by peeling an orange for my DS when we were out.

now that my skin is much improved, i can handle all foods without any problems. but it took a long time.

i remember the worst thing was when i was in hospital with DD when she was about 6 months old. i had to use alcohol gel on my hands as she was in isolation and it made me cry. i saw the nurses to ask what i could do instead, and they just shrugged their shoulders. mine did get badly infected, but the GP didn't diagnose it as eczema, because it was blistering. in the end i insisted on a private referral to a dermatologist (i have private health cover through work) and i saw someone who told me how to manage the condition (gloves, moisturising etc) as well as prescribed the strong steroids.

i also have eczema in the corners of my mouth. i always get a flare up whenever i get a cold sore. that can get badly infected too. so as soon as i feel a cold sore coming, i put the steroid cream in the corner of my mouth to head the eczema off...

sassymcnassy · 11/03/2012 21:12

I'm experimenting with virgin coconut oil for my eczema after reading about it on here. Only just started so hard to know yet, but it seems lovely and sinks in beautifully.

laptopcomputer · 11/03/2012 21:16

If you are using potent stroid with no obvious effect then it is often because the eczema is infected. Especialyy on your hands - they are prie place to get an infection.

latrucha · 11/03/2012 21:39

Interesting advice on food handling. Do you use rubber gloves or something else?

What do you do then, if you do have infected skin. Mine sometimes feels like this, and often does't respond to steroids. Sometimes the broken patches on the skin wake me up in the night it's so painful, with an inflamed itchy sort of feel. Does this sound like infected skin?

OP posts:
elizabecca · 11/03/2012 22:23

I recommend Aveeno it is fab, no smell and sinks in well and has sorted my DHs skin a treat. And virgin vie guardian angel for sore cracked skin on face around nose and mouth corners x

highgirl · 13/03/2012 10:26

Hi you can get excellent cleaning (non rubber) gloves form Boots they also do washing up liquids and soap powders for sensitive skin the best washing powder i've found is ecover non bio (plant extracts). For hand use after washing neutrogena unscented hand cream the best i've found and i've been managing my hand eczema for 15 years. Sometimes you have to use steriod if it's cracked and weeping then put it on at night with cotton gloves if you can toletate them - hope this helps -

latrucha · 13/03/2012 11:23

Thanks for the tip about gloves and cleaning products.

It does seem pretty clear what the way to go is, unless considering diet. I'm not sure I could ever eat 500 calories a day. I think I'd eat my own head. I haven't checked out the blood group one yet but I will. For now, it's gloves and good products, carful food handling and the use of steroids and gloves when necessary.

I'm surprised so many people seem so consistent. I was sure I'd get people recommending things like homeopathy and people being very anti-steroid. It's interestig that no one has.

OP posts:
Dillie · 13/03/2012 14:46

My dd was given doublbase and it's bloody brilliant! It has sorted out my hands within 3 days of using it and my dd's sore hands have gone away.

We can't use e45 as it burns, but this stuff is fantastic. It is quiet oily but that is how it protects.

latrucha · 13/03/2012 15:44

Lots of people seemt o rate it. I feel a bit off about it as I used it on my Dad for bedsores while he was dying. But I guess that means it's good stuff!

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mousymouseafraidofdogs · 13/03/2012 15:47

what makes a real difference for me is using a bar of soap instead of liquid soap.
I use weleda skin food and hc45 (steroid cream) when it is really bad.

and wearing cotton gloves inside marigolds for cleaning.

latrucha · 13/03/2012 15:58

highgirl - could you tell me which Boots gloves you use? They don't have them in store and there are two types - sensitive and unlined - online. TIA.

OP posts:
NoNoNoMYDoIt · 13/03/2012 21:21

latrucha - yes that sounds like infected eczema if it's waking you up at night. my fingers swelled to twice or more their normal size and it was infection. you can get antibiotic ointment from the GP to treat the infection, and the steroids will treat the eczema.

NoNoNoMYDoIt · 13/03/2012 21:23

oh and doublebase didn't help my eczema at all. but i know it does help lots of people.

sassymcnassy · 13/03/2012 23:40

don't listen to the homeopathy whispers though, that never cured anything.

dinglydell · 13/03/2012 23:52

I get this on my hands. It started suddenly about six months ago. It's only on my hands and fingers. First blisters come up and it itches beyond belief, then the blisters burst and split and bleed and then hard crusts of skin grow around the splits. My GP gave me Betnovate but it's done absolutely nothing. Anybody have any idea why this sort of things suddenly starts?

latrucha · 14/03/2012 07:28

With me it was stress. Just before my finals, I met a fellow student and said I was stressed. He said he didn't get stressed, he got eczema. The next day I woke up with it on my hands.

I tried homeopathy when it first worked. I did try it for a good long time and the only effect it seemed to have was to make it really inflamed ad infected.

OP posts:
highgirl · 14/03/2012 09:08

I tried homeopathy about 15 years ago and it worked, along with a very restrictive diet, brilliantly but it became too much when I had my daughter I couldn't manage the strict diet of no wheat, sugar or cow dairy (had goats or sheeps milk/youghart instead). Skin was best it has ever been but down side was repeatedly got cold sores which now I hardly ever get plus I took lot different vit supplements and did not consult a dietician so would not be recommending this extreme diet unless you took medical advice -

highgirl · 14/03/2012 09:11

The Boots gloves are the sensitive skin (for people with latex allergy) ones they are blue in colour -

highgirl · 14/03/2012 09:16

dinglydell - are the blisters small like pin pricks? If so then this is a type of eczema pompholyx that responds to potassium permanganate soaks, I also got an ointment from the doctor for this and it's fab at clearing it up can't remember name but if I can will post -

sassymcnassy · 14/03/2012 09:57

The diet might have worked (though a severe diet without medical advice is dangerous), the homeopathy didn't. Sugar pills and water can't cure eczema or anything else.