How To Treat Eczema Naturally

Eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, is a genetic skin disorder that is caused by an over active immune system.

Typically, the symptoms of eczema manifest themselves as skin that is irritated, inflamed, sore and itchy which can at times be very uncomfortable to live with. Eczema can appear on any region of the body, although it is usually found on the face, hands, arms and legs.

It is important to note however, that eczema may be triggered or made worse by things that come into contact with your skin. This is known as contact dermatitis, although thankfully, if you can avoid exposure to whatever it is that is causing your skin to react badly, then the symptoms that you are experiencing will eventually pass.

The key therefore, when it comes to successfully treating eczema, is to tackle it with both an internal and external approach.

You need to be aware of the things that you put in your body which make your eczema worse, just as you need to be aware of the things in your environment which make your eczema worse. Once you are able to identify and avoid the major triggers of your eczema, you should then find it a lot easier to live with and manage.

A Natural Approach

Treating eczema naturally, without the use of eczema medications, is often the preferred approach for many sufferers of this skin disorder, because as with any type of medication, there are invariably side effects which could cause problems of their own.

Natural approaches are generally a lot safer and have fewer side effects, if any, as these work on the basis of trying to strengthen the body from within by addressing the cause rather than focusing only on the symptoms.

However, one must have realistic expectations when it comes to treating eczema, because at present, there is no cure for eczema. The only “cures” that you will find come from the people who are trying to sell you something and make money from your misfortune.

So don’t be lead in to believing that you will be able to find a quick and easy cure, as that will only lead to wasted time, money, disappointment and could even make your condition worse.

So until there is a cure, which I am hopeful there will be one day, the best we can hope for is to manage our symptoms so that they cause us less discomfort, and we do this by taking an internal and external approach.

But before we move on to how you can treat your eczema naturally, I would like to mention that I am not against the use of eczema medications. In some cases, they can be very helpful, and if you do not experience any success trying to treat your eczema naturally, then you certainly should try the various medications available.

Medicine does have its place, and it would be foolish to try to ignore it completely. In the future for example, gene therapy holds great promise for finally curing eczema, so this is one treatment that all eczema sufferers will have their eye on.

Of course, natural remedies are preferred, but they may not always be effective depending on the severity of your eczema and how long you have been suffering with it.

So try the suggestions given in this article, see if they work for you, and if they don’t, you can then move on to taking medication for your eczema if you feel that it is necessary to do so.

Triggers Of Eczema

Just because you may have been born genetically susceptible to eczema, your genes don’t necessarily have to determine how you live your life. The latest scientific research, from the field of epigenetics, has shown that contrary to popular belief, the type of lifestyle that you live is more important than the type of genes you have.

This is because whilst your genes may predispose you to a certain condition, disorder or disease, it is the interaction of those genes with your environment that determines how those genes express themselves.

So basically, what this means is that even though you may have genes which predispose you to eczema, how much that eczema develops and how severe it becomes will largely be determined by the things in your environment.

When we say “environment”, what we are really referring to are the things that come into contact with your skin and the things that you put in your body. All of these internal and external factors can act as gene triggers, which then affects the overall health and condition of your skin.

Below you will find listed some of the most common internal and external triggers of eczema. You would do well to be aware of these, as by avoiding certain triggers it could help improve the effectiveness of the remedies or medications that you take.

In order to accurately identify your eczema triggers however, you may want to keep a skin diary in which you record how your skin reacts after exposure to different types of things. Doing so will make it much easier to find out what your major triggers are and then to take steps to avoid exposing yourself to them.

So lets start by having a look at the two most common triggers of eczema; internally via the foods you eat and externally via the things you put on your skin.

Food Intolerance

Food is one of the biggest internal influencers of how your genes express themselves. Eat the right type of food and you will be rewarded with a fit and healthy body. Eat the wrong type of food and you are likely to suffer from ill-health and premature aging. It should therefore, come as no surprise to learn that the things you eat on a day-to-day basis will affect the overall condition of your skin.

Now, this is where things get a little bit tricky.

As we all differ slightly in our genetic makeup, we each react to foods differently. In other words, different foods will have different types of effects on different people.

A good example of this can be found with food allergies. Some people can get a severe allergic reaction after eating peanuts, whilst others, can eat peanuts without any problems.

Eczema however, is not usually caused by food allergies, but it may be caused by a food intolerance also known as a food sensitivity. Basically, a food intolerance means that your body is unable to process a food properly, such as by not having the right type of enzymes or not having enough enzymes to digest a food.

A food intolerance can also occur simply because a food does not suit your genetic makeup, and so eating it causes the expression of genes which result in adverse health effects such as eczema.

The trouble with food intolerance, is that very often the symptoms you experience do not appear immediately after you have eaten a food which you are intolerant to.

As a result, many people never make the association between the conditions they are suffering from and the foods which they are eating. This can then cause them to continue eating the wrong types of food for years on end, never knowing that they are eating foods which they are intolerant to.

Almost everyone has a food intolerance, and there is a good chance that it is affecting your eczema and probably making it worse. For this reason, it is recommended that you undergo a food intolerance test to determine your intolerant foods.

Once you have done this, you will then be able to eliminate those foods from your diet, and soon after, usually within 1-2 months, you should notice a significant improvement in the condition of your skin.

Cosmetics & Skin Care Products

Cosmetics are now widely used in our society, and whilst some people may be able to use them without any problems, other people can react very badly to them. The reason for this is two-fold.

First, cosmetics contain many different artificial chemicals which are not naturally present in nature. These chemicals may be tested for safety individually, but very rarely are they tested to see how they react with other chemicals. This means that even though a chemical may be safe on its own, it could in fact be harmful in the presence of another chemical.

Secondly, the things that you put on your skin can also be absorbed into your body. So the artificial mixture of chemicals found in cosmetic and skin care products have the potential to affect your body at a cellular level as well as affecting the surface of your skin.

If you notice that your skin reacts badly to a certain product, discontinue its use and try to find a natural alternative instead. Most of the time the symptoms that you experience will appear immediately and be visible on the surface of your skin, in which case, you are dealing with contact dermatitis.

But be aware of the possibility that the things being absorbed into your body could also be affecting your skin, so it is good practice to research the ingredients contained in your products by looking at their health effects on the internet.

Other Eczema Triggers

The list of things that could potentially trigger eczema and cause it to flare up is virtually endless, because as was previously mentioned, our individual and unique genetic makeup means that different people can react to things differently. As a result, what may cause one person’s eczema to flare up may have no effect on you.

This is why it is recommended to keep a skin diary so that you can record how your skin reacts after exposure to different things.

Some eczema triggers that you may want to pay particular attention to are:

• The type of fabric your clothes are made from
• The type of detergent you use to wash your clothes
• Soaps used to wash hands with
• Household pets
• Itching yourself through habit
• Pollen during the summer months
• Household mould as a result of an overly humid home
• Hormonal changes
• Genetically modified foods
• Chlorine and heavy metal exposure via drinking water and showers
• Sudden temperature or humidity changes
• Smoking
• Eating an inflammatory diet containing sugar and white flour food products
• Dust mites
• Fragrance in beauty products

Natural Remedies For Eczema Skin

Below you will find listed some of the most effective natural remedies for eczema. Non of these remedies will cure your eczema, but they can make your skin much more comfortable to live with. The more of these remedies that you try the greater the benefit that you are likely to experience, so please try as many of them as you can.

One pleasant side effect of taking a natural approach to treat any type of disorder, is that very often the things you do to try to improve your condition will also help to improve your health. So not only can taking a natural approach help you to look better, but it can also help you to become a healthier person too!

Note: In addition to trying these eczema remedies, you should also book an appointment with your doctor or dermatologist so that a proper assessment of your skin condition can be made.

I have found a lot of suggestions on how to treat eczema naturally on the internet, but the ones listed below I feel are the most valuable in terms of eczema management and relief.

Essential Fatty Acids

Essential fatty acids (EFAs) such as EPA oil or fish oil capsules can be very helpful in stabilizing eczema. Take two tablespoons of essential fatty acids a day and double that amount if your eczema is very severe.

EFAs can be beneficial for eczema because they help to promote healthy skin, and when taken at high doses, they suppress the immune system which can make the symptoms of eczema less severe.

B Vitamins

When you are stressed your body needs lots of B vitamins to recover, if it doesn’t get these B vitamins, your skin will suffer and your eczema could flare up as a result.

The best type of B vitamins to take are liquid B vitamins because they are absorbed much better by the body. A good whole food source of B vitamins is brewer’s yeast.

In general, you should avoid taking B-complex vitamins as a single supplement, because most supplements do not have the proper ratio of B vitamins as they are found in nature. The effect of this is that such supplements can actually cause an imbalance within the body, which may then lead to problems of its own.

There are eight members of the vitamin B complex family, they are: thiamine (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3), pantothenic acid (vitamin B5), pyridoxine (vitamin B6), biotin (vitamin B7), folic acid (vitamin B9) and the cobalamins (vitamin B12).

Your Body’s pH

Very often eczema can be a reaction to an acidic body. So try to eat more green vegetables and cut out acid forming foods such as those which contain sugar or white flour as these foods cause inflammation in the body which can cause eczema to flare up. You can test your body’s pH by using pH test strips that you dip in urine or coat with your saliva.

Immune System Modulators

Some supplements contain immune system modulators such as beta glucan or phytonutrients. These help to regulate your immune system and so help to prevent your eczema from flaring up in the future.

Green Tea

Green tea contains polyphenols that have antiallergic properties. You may want to try drinking 2-3 cups a day of green tea and see how your skin responds, or even better, take a green tea supplement as it will contain much higher levels of polyphenols.

Healing Oils

Topical treatments are very often used to provide relief from eczema, although some can also be healing. Look for moisturizers or oils containing essential fatty acids such as borage oil, fish oil, coconut oil, emu oil, olive oil and flaxseed oil.

In particular, emu oil and coconut oil are especially recommended for eczema, as these oils are deeply moisturizing to the skin and can also be very beneficial in helping to reduce inflammation and the burning or itching that is associated with it.

Vitamin Supplements

Some supplements are known to be very good for the skin, these include: vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, proline and lysine. You may want to try taking these supplements if you are experiencing dry, cracked or flaky skin in conjunction with a good fish oil supplement such as Vectomega.

Wear Sunblock

If you are spending a lot of time outside in the sun, then put on some sunblock instead of sunscreen. Sunscreen contains ingredients which can cause your eczema to flare up.

In addition, you should also avoid exposure to strong direct sunlight, as this could cause further inflammation of the skin especially if you allow yourself to get sunburnt.

Sea Salt

Sea salt, that is proper unrefined sea salt, is a natural anti-inflammatory and also contains a broad spectrum of minerals. If your eczema is becoming very sore or itchy, try taking a sea salt bath and you should experience great relief.

Aloe Vera

Aloe vera is perhaps the single best herb that you can use on irritated or inflamed skin. If you have eczema, then you may even want to keep an aloe vera plant in your home as you can cut off a leaf and apply it to your skin when needed.

You should experience an instant cooling sensation that brings you relief from your symptoms. Although this won’t cure your eczema, it will stop you from itching or scratching it and making it worse.

Note: You can also use a topical menthol lotion or ice water to ease itching, but try to avoid applying warm water or taking hot showers to relieve your eczema itch. Whilst warm water may seem to work when you apply it, it actually causes a rebound effect that will result in you itching more later on.

Turmeric

Another very powerful herb to take for eczema is turmeric, or more specifically, the active ingredient in turmeric called curcumin.

Turmeric is a natural anti-inflammatory and so can be very useful in helping to control the inflammation in your body which causes eczema to flare up and become more severe. Turmeric also has a whole host of anti-aging benefits, so this is definitely one herb that you should be taking on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, turmeric tends to be quite poorly absorbed by the body on its own. So if you are adding turmeric to your food as a powder, you can increase its absorption by cooking it and then consuming it with fat and black pepper.

Alternatively, you may just want to take a turmeric supplement that has a standardized amount of curcumin. My personal preference, is the C3 curcumin complex that comes with piperine, a black pepper extract.

Digestive Enzymes

Food intolerance is often caused by improper digestion of food. You may therefore find benefit from taking a digestive enzyme supplement such as pancreatin which contains amylase to digest carbohydrates, protease to digest protein and lipase to digest fats.

Probiotics

There is some evidence to suggest that probiotics can help to alleviate the symptoms of eczema. If you find that your eczema improves after taking probiotics or digestive enzyme supplements, then you probably have an undiagnozed food intolerance that you should get yourself tested for.

Light Therapy

Light therapy involves shining specific wavelengths of light onto the surface of the skin. It is also used as a psoriasis treatment, and in some cases, can be helpful for those who have severe symptoms from eczema.

Scratching Habits

Eczema can be made worse when you scratch it as this can inflame the skin and cause it to tear open. Many people scratch themselves unknowingly out of habit, especially during times when they are feeling bored, nervous or anxious about something. Try to become more conscious of the times when you scratch yourself so that you can stop yourself before you start scratching.

Avoid Sulphites

Sulphites are commonly added as a preservative to wines, dried fruits and prepackaged ready-made foods. Many people however, are allergic to sulphites (i.e. sulphite sensitivity) and when they consume sulphites it can cause their skin to become red and feel very itchy.

Watch out for sulphites in your diet as there is a good chance that you will react badly to sulphite containing foods if you already have eczema.

Most sulphite containing foods will have a warning label to let you know that sulphite is present in that food. However, sulphites may also be found as certain food additives such as those listed below:

Sulphur dioxide (E220), Sodium sulphite (E221), Sodium hydrogen sulphite (E222), Sodium metabisulphite (E223), Potassium metabisulphite (E224), Calcium sulphite (E226), Calcium hydrogen sulphite (E227), Potassium hydrogen sulphite (E228), Caustic sulphite caramel (E150b), Sulphite ammonia caramel (E150d).

Corticosteroids

Although not a natural eczema treatment, topical corticosteroids are very helpful in providing relief if your eczema is very painful. However, they should not be used for very long because they can have serious side effects with long-term usage.