hand cream for eczema prone skin

[plantwoman]

my hands seem to go from dry and scaley to impossibly itchy. I have been prescribed hydrocortizone cream but i don't like to keep using it all the time.
My hands itch so much sometimes, that I have to take anti histamines to stop the itching.
They are very red and scaley at the moment and look absolutely awful - there is no way on earth I would ever treat myself to a manicure.... I am so ashamed of my hands!
I usually just smother them in either sudocrem or vaseline, as anything else just seems to make the eczema flare up.
Any suggestions will be very welcome.

Neutrogena one is excellent. Don't get it from Boots as expensive. I get mine from the Saver shop (if you have one).

Your mits sound sore. My son uses the Neutrogena one too as he has OCD and is always washing his little hands. It's good stuff.

I use rolled oats wraped in a face cloth tied up with a hair band (put under the tap till the creamy stuff runs out of it and us that to carm your hands) or Ecover hand soap every time I feel like itching as I dont get on with hand cream well. SO sorry not much help I guess but...
If you can find a good cream rub it in well, before bed. Then put cotton gloves, make sure they are clean freshly washed and dried every day (in boiling hot water no and preferably no detergent). It looks silly I know and feels funny at first but it helped me a lot as it turns out I was scratching my hand when I slept and making it worse. It may have meant looking silly in bed for a while but it worked in the end.

Have you heard of eurcerin products ? The 10% urea one is good.
I used to get it on prescription but it is on sale in chemists.

eucerin sp

Hi
I have tried neutrogena - but find even that makes my skin flare up.
I have heard about the rolled oats thing before and also a cut potato? although i need something I can use when I'm out and about!
I have heard of eucerin - not sure if one of the kids may have had it on prescription once.
I will ask in the chemist about it later.
Thanks

I sympathise, I now find that vaseline lotion, the white unscented one is the only thing that calms my skin if it is very itchy and cracked. A bit odd when you look at the huge list of chemicals in it but I have tried everything and always come back to it.
Hope they clear up soon, we need some sunshine.

I'm using Lansinoh (yep, the nipple cream) ATM and it's working better than anything else.

Have you tried Aveeno? That has oatmeal as a base and I'm finding it very good (also have eczema-prone hands)

I can sympathise. Have had eczema since childhood (used to be dreadful, but heaps better now).

Mine still flares up from time to time, especially on my hands. They are permanently dry, but sometimes get red and very itchy and sore too.

When they're bad, I use betamethasone cream (prescription only) mixed with a neutral handcream like Neutrogena and usually they are clear within a day or so. I think if you have eczema, sometimes steroid cream is necessary.

Oh, yes, can recommend Eucerin too (sell it in Boots). I use the face cream.

I have used aveeno in the past, but just the body lotion, i know my local chemist sells it.
I have been using camilosan as well which I bought for dd's bum!
My steriod cream has just run out and I don't really want to get any more unless i absolutely have to.
I will pop to the chemists this afternoon as it is next to school and see what they have - thanks for all your advise - hopefully something will sort it out.

I use Body Shop Hemp cream. I slather it on at night and wear cotton gloves. Would definately recommend.

When I get a flare-up I need to use steroid cream quite intensively until it's clear - maybe every day for a week or two

If you have been using the same type of steroid for a long period, your sklin can get too used to it and stop working (apparently - dermatologist told me this)

You can get 1% hydorcortisone cream from Boots/pharmacy, that might be strong enough to sort it out without needing another prescription?

I use Aveeno hand cream and my skin doesn't react to it. It lasts a bit longer than some others. Neutrogena also good.

(Watch the Body shop Hemp stuff - I think it's got lanolin in it which is a common allergen)

I get flares of dermatitis type stuff on my hands when I am working long hours because I have to wash my hands about 20 times a shift.

I find loads of stuff makes my hands worse but I too find Body Shop Hemp hand cream works well for me. Steroids should be used regularly for no more than 2 weeks at a time and I would say you should have at least 2 weeks off in between courses but they can make a huge difference and it may only take a few days of regular use to settle your hands down for a bit.

The main thing is to try and avoid washing (always hard when it is your hands!) and moisturise 4-6 times a day AT LEAST. To be honest it does not matter what you use as long as it is moisturising so whatever does not seem to make it worse will work!

i have used the Body Shop Hemp cream and didn't get on with it personally.
I wasn't aware that 1% hydrocortisone was available without presccription - thanks for that

I agree Aveeno is great on really, really dry skin.

I use Neutrogena, it's the red cap unscented one - I can't use the blue cap. Not sure which one you've tried!

Try washing your hands in emollient rather than soap - aqueous cream or some of the prescribed ones like Diprobase can be used like this.

A cut potato would leave my hands red raw, I can't even touch them without gloves!

The intense itch makes me think of pompholyx eczema?

I use the weleda skin food on my hands and c45 (cortisol cream) when it is really bad.

I use the cream every time after I wash my hands and mornings and evenings, so 6-8 times a day easily.

I find avoiding cleaning is best :o, as that aggravates my skin. it is really a case of trial an error for you to find what works best for your skin though.

My stepdad used to have very bad eczema on his hands until he discovered Evening Primrose Oil. It was literally a revelation! He used a capsule, which he pierced and squeezed out the oil and rubbed into his hands. Also used Evening Primrose oil hand wash/soap/shower gel etc. I have a feeling that Starflower oil works too and may even be more effective but not 100% sure.

I have pompholyx eczema on my right hand.
Moving house two years ago I stupidly used Flash wipes to clean the kitchen quickly before we put boxes down. Took me about 6 months to get my skin back in order. I had sheets of thickened skin peeling off my fingers - looked like acid burns.

Now am pretty religious about handcare:
Always use rubber gloves to wash up & do any cleaning. If you have to use a wipe etc with bare hands - wash and rinse your hands straight after wards.
Dry your hands properly - and try not to let them get wet for too long.
I use Lansinoh as a barrier cream and wear gloves
Olive oil is good too if you are in a hurry as Lansinoh takes ages to warm up.
Everyday handcream - Clarins when I don't have a flare up, Diprobase if I have any redness.

I'm with BadPoet on the cut potato. I wear gloves to peel them.

I use emollients to wash my hands, and also as a moisturiser at night. E45 itch relief cream is great if they're itchy at night. It can burn if they're really sore but I find it quite nice.
At work I keep a pot of the green atrixo on my desk top use after I've washed my hands.

Try to find out what might be causing it too. Mine are always bad after I've done a shift on my support work job. Washing up liquid & wash powder are the main culprits for me. I can only use Surcare or Ecover, I've persuaded them to switch to ecover washing up liquid at work. but I can't get them to switch wash powders. Even folding up one load one washing will make my hands red raw. My solution is to avoid the washing, :o or wear gloves. When I'm doing a sleep-in shift I wear full pyjamas and cotton gloves to bed.

thanks for all your advice - i bought some eurcerin and so far so good, it is not causing any itching when I apply it and my hands have definitely felt better in the last couple of days.
I know cleaning makes it worse, so I do always wear rubber gloves.
Also my job doesn't help, i work as a gardener and whilst I religeously wear gloves to work in, if they get damp and that gets on to my skin through my gloves it flares up straight away.
I have a huge pot of barrier cream that was prescribed for DD when she was a baby, I might try putting a layer of that on before i put on my gardening gloves.

Helios Pharmacy make their own homeopathic creams www.helios.co.uk/cgi-bin/store.cgi?action=link&sku=TUBE-G. Dd3 has ezcema flare ups and this is fantastic. I have eczema on my feet and I bought some in ointment form- they can do it with or without lanolin. If it works for you you can buy larger quantities. I also have their Healing Cream which is great for sore non-ezcema related skin. Calenda is healing and Graphites is for dry itching broken skin. You could also describe your symptoms and see what they suggest. Good luck x

I had really bad eczema when I was a child, so bad that my mum tried all sorts to get rid of it. Eventually she even took me to a reflexologist to try and work out what I was allergic to and unbelievably what the reflexologist told me changed my life forever!!

I imagine that people with eczema have it for different reasons/allergic reactions, but I will share mine with you in case it helps anyone here.

My eczema is caused from eating chocolate, crisps, coke, cheese (although Edam is fine?!?) and oranges (tangerines etc are fine). Also, as a child the chlorine in swimming pools made my skin bad, but it doesn't seem to affect me so much nowadays (maybe because I go less).

I know the above list sounds random and the whole story sounds really far-fetched, but I swear cutting out the foods completely got rid of what was awful ezcema on many parts of my body within a couple of weeks! I do eat all the foods now, but just in careful moderation. I do find now too that washing up/washing my hands so much causes it to flare up on my hands every now and then and so I use neutrogena intensive hand cream a few times a day and resort to betnovate (a mild steriod cream) when I need to.

Hope that helps someone.
x