Eczema
 

Way back when I was an undergrad doing my student teaching, I developed eczema. I figure it had to do with stress and diet. I was living on coffee, bagels, pasta and beer. Now I've been off wheat products for quite a while but hadn't seen any improvement in my skin health until recently. I've been taking omega 3 fish oil supplements and reducing my dairy intake and over the last month or so my skin has improved substantially. This was after my doctor told me there was nothing I could do for it. Thanks Doc.

Bandleader Nik has the worst case of psoriasis, and they've just come out with some new treatment for it which is slowly working for him. It requires a series of daily injections though.

Does this mean you can return to wheat?

'Fraid not. The wheat expresses itself in digestive problems. It's getting so I don't miss it anyway and as an almost Atkins deal I have reduced cravings around bread etc..

Ick. Eczema. My faithful old friend. I have had it all my life. It's a real pain in the arse and no mistake. I find state of mind is paramount, if i am depressed or under emotional stress I am in for a major flare. The worst is when it gets infected that can go on for months at a time. Or rather it used to. Touch wood since I started seeing this new doctor I have been free of the really bad stuff for nigh on two years now. At most a flare up lasts a few days.

The single most important thing if you are trying to keep the eczema symptoms at bay though is to keep the skin moisturised. Eczema is due primarily to the skin's inability to retain moisture. The things which exascerbate the condition are manifold, ( stress, allergens, viral illness etc) and vary from person to person, but fundamentally the condition is due a to a flaw in the skin organ which means it cannot retain the moisture necessary to function as it should ( hence the danger of infection, though as I understand it it's not actually infected skin, it's skin with infection present on it which provokes a severe histomine response...or at least thats how it was explained to me heh)

Even if you are clear of the overt symptoms it's worthwhile maintaining the skin's moisture levels with a powerful moisturiser ( Dont know if it's available over there but i can highly recommend "Hydrous ointment" It is like turbo charged moisturiser and traps the moisture into the skin, then somehow manges to evaporate to nothing so you arent left looking like you took a bath in grease.

The fish oils are great for skin. So is vitamin E. Try and keep white sugar to a minimum it dehydrates the skin. Coffee is likely to have a similar effect. In fact anything which dehydrates the system has the potential to aggravate potential eczema symptoms. Also worth combatting a flare as soon as it starts by dropping a 10 mg anti histomine. The kind which last 12 hours and dont make you sleepy, are very effective at reducing the histomine levels on the skin and holding at bay the dire itch whilst you're riding it out.

My 12 year-old son suffers from eczema--we've found that the Rx Elidel (non-steroid) helps when he's really flaring up. Stress is a major trigger, as you all rightly pointed out. Lots of rest/sleep helps. I didn't know white sugar would dehydrate skin--yet another reason to avoid it!

I've heard something about silica gel if you're interested in homeopathic stuff.

what is silica gel? I've never heard of it.

I came across it while looking for a remedy for something else, basically silica is a mineral - comes from sand. Google is as always, your friend.

It's the stuf packaged with electronics marked "do not eat". It essentially absorbs moisture from the air and/or on contact. Despite the label, it is not toxic.

Is Nik still improving?

Yes - he's still in the first month where improvement is supposed to be slow, but he can now make a firm fist without ever having any cracking or such, which is really good news. A lot of the redness is down.

Very cool. I can't imagine trying to perform with that kind of discomfort, good for him.

I was in slavery to eczema and then discovered my personal salvation. Thinking I was applying hand lotion one night I accidentally poured a dollop of Ulay Facial Moisturiser into my hand and started rubbing it in before realising the mistake. I noticed an improvement in my eczema the following morning. Thirty or so years later I have kept up the treatment even though I have never had a repeat of eczemza since that time. Luck? Coincidence? It doesn't matter if it works. And my hands look lovely!!!! :blush:

Can one get "Ulay Facial Moisturiser" in America?

Ulay = Olay