The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Iodoral Tablets
Posted by Debbie (Philadelphia, PA) on 04/23/2008
★★★★★
Hi there, I've suffered from mild to severe eczema for decades. Lately, it has gotten worse with my hands openly bleeding. A month ago, I started taking Iodoral tablets (iodine-potassium) because i was told it's good for my hypothyroid condition. But a surprising thing happened! My hands got a lot better within days! I don't know if it's the iodoral for sure, but that was the only new thing I introduced into my body then. Anyway, I hope this helps someone.
Chamomile Tea
Posted by Barbara (Cape Town, South Africa) on 03/16/2007
★★★★★
I battled with eczema on both my hands for years - my hands were constantly raw and bleeding from all the scratching. Then I read somewhere that chamomile tea would help. I soaked my hands in a strong brew of chamomile tea every day for about 10 minutes. It's now completely gone. I also make a point of avoiding all soap. We have a fantastic ointment here called Epizone E which can be used as a soap and a moisturiser. Hope this bit of info can help someone out there!
Acidophilus
Posted by B (Attica, IN) on 12/10/2006
★★★★★
After being diagnosed with IBS and perioral dermatitis I knew I had to make a change. I did my research and talked to a few people at the health food stores and then added probiotic acidophilus to my diet. The first week I took 2 times the recommended amount, the second week I cut it down the recommended amount and then have stayed on that amount rather well the past 10 years. It has fixed all the problems with my skin as well as my digestinal tract. All the diseases of the body start in the stomach and colon, the acidophilus either in capsule form or yogurt help correct this imbalance. By fixing the imbalance, everything else falls in line. My skin is beautiful now. I would recommend this to any one suffering from any skin lesions and digestive problems.
Baking Soda
Posted by Lorraine (Walnut Creek, CA) on 04/03/2006
★★★★★
Baking Soda on my face cured scaliness and little bumps as well as the itchiness. I just thought it was age so I started using baking soda to gently exfoliate my face every other day. It improved my skin dramatically! I found your site researching why my scalp, arms, torso and legs are so freaking itchy and believe they are all related. As I am highly allergic to most shampoos, I will be trying tea tree oil in some very gentle (baby) shampoo free of colorants, fragrances, cones and parabens on my scalp and baking soda in my body wash followed by bit of tea tree oil in my moisturizer for the rest of my poor itchy skin. (Ironically, my diet and nutrition is already spot on to your advice). I thought about using the baking soda on my scalp but I think it would be a hassle both getting it down to my scalp as well as rinsing it back off (I have very thick hair). If I could ever remember to do the ACV rinse, I am sure things would be better still. I have done this in the past and it leaves my hair very, very soft but seriously hate the smell.
Honey
Posted by Natalie (Jacksonville, FL) on 12/28/2006
★★★★★
Today I told my mother about putting honey on her eczema. She applied some and left it on for ten minutes. She had been taking antibiotics for quite some time but nothing had stopped the itching. Immediately after applying the honey the itching was gone. Now we'll just have to see if it heals it completely.
Honey
Posted by Connie (HoHoKus, NJ) on 03/16/2006
★★★★★
I had a kind of eczema in the corner upper eye lid which refused to go away for months. After trying many different remedies, I decided to try honey after reading about its healing properties. One application did it, it was amazing!!!!
Honey
Posted by Anonymous (Northern Cali, CA) on 04/07/2007
★★★★★
The honey cure did work to dry up my eczema blisters on my hands. Probably because of the potassium explained in the other entries. After it dries, the skin just turns dry, so I think it's best to use lotion or even better Aloe Vera onto the eczema area. If you are able to get the actual Aloe Vera plant, then cut off the skin and just rub the natural pulp onto your dry skin to heal faster. Alrighty, hope that helps. *Also, Does anybody know any cures or home remedies to get rid or fade away the ECZEMA SCARS? Thanks.
Honey
Posted by seagull (Atlanta, GA) on 07/03/2007
★★★★★
i read the suggestion of using honey for eczema - i mixed honey with some vaseline for easier spreadability and then put on cotton gloves - altho it took several days - it worked!! the palms of my hands are almost clear now - were really bad. great idea - tx so much!!
Salt Rub, Mint Liquid Soap
Posted by DevG (Chicago, IL) on 09/15/2006
★★★★★
The traditional "solutions" for eczema are largely ineffective and potentially harmful. I've worked my way through and into some helpful tips in dealing with eczema:
My suggestions :
-- salt rub (preferably in the shower or bathtub)
Use simple plain table salt.
Mix salt with a little warm water to form a firm pasty mixture that's not runny.
Rub this mixture on the skin to relieve the itch without scratching too deeply or causing bloodshed. Salt in a wound burns which in this case satiates the itch desire. The salt helps the skin understand to produce good oils and good stuff so that the skin can learn how to moisten itself.
If one gets too much salt on or it burns a little, use water to rinse the salt and the sting away.
-- (preferably after salt treatment) Dr. Bronner's Mint liquid soap available at health food stores and at Trader Joes. Trader Joe costs about $9 per 32oz bottle.
This helps. This eases itching and feels good and keeps the skin moist. Helps the skin heal. It's good. It works well in tandem with the salt.
-- tiger balm
Apply tiger balm to affected areas. It seems to help decrease the itching desire. I have not used this method in many years. I don't remember how it works exactly except that it has helped me in the past.
-- gasoline (I don't really recommend this...) Once, I spilled gasoline on my hand with eczema on it...the gasoline seemed to have caused the eczema to go away.
Table Salt
Posted by Celene (West Springfield, MA) on 11/18/2006
★★★★★
I tried using a teaspoon of table salt, mixed with a little warm water to form a paste. I applied it to the side of my nose (where the crease is) because i have a very itchy patch of skin there that I can't seem to stop scratching! Putting salt on itchy skin works! It breaks the scratch/itch cycle, but eating garlic everyday will help also!
Oil Pulling
Posted by Tricia (Astoria, NY) on 09/29/2006
★★★★★
I have been pulling since july 06 with sesame and safflower oils. I just love the sesame because it tastes like halvah to me. My skin on the top of my right foot was covered with eczema and it was itchy and inflamed constantly. It is still discolored from all the abuse it received from me. The wonderful result though is the inflammation has subsided. I am noticing new skin growing back slowly. It is thrilling to know that this harmless protocol is helping this painful debilitating disease that orthodox meds cannot heal. Peace and Health to all.
Iodine
Posted by Sharon (Boston) on 09/29/2006
★★★★★
This is the most successful remedy combination I have experimented with for dermatitis!
I have had itchy dermatitis on and off around my nose for about 10 years. It was triggered after working in an office in Los Angeles for a man who smoked all day long (illegally of course, but he was a top entertainment executive so no one complained at that point in time). After years of smoking, the cigarette smoke was embedded in his furniture-- that's a horrendous smell to someone whose never smoked. Plus, think of all those microbes! At any rate, it took about 3 years to clear and then came back every time I would get around old, furniture embedded cigarette smoke. Psychological response? Maybe! At any rate, it came back again this summer after a few months' respites.
But this time, I am happy to report that after years of playing around with every prescription and supplement under the sun, I think I have finally hit upon a dermatitis cure! It will only cost about $5... $.79 for the decolorized iodine, and $4 for a bottle of vitamin E oil. Here is my cure:
Using decolorized iodine for the face, take a q-tip and dab the dermatitis with iodine. If this is not on your face, you can use regular iodine. But it will stain you orange for a few hours.
If your dermatitis is on sensitive skin around your nose, like me, it will burn like crazy when you apply the iodine. Don't inhale the fumes while it is drying (takes about 10 seconds to dry). After it dries, apply some natural vitamin e oil. I open a large capsule and use that for several days before it runs out. Your skin will redden from the iodine and dry out, but the vitamin e will heal it and keep it from flaking. Keep this area moist with vitamin e oil all day and night if possible.
Do the topical iodine for 2 days, 3x a day. After the 2nd day, cut the iodine back to 1x a day. However, you will still want to keep the vitamin e oil on all day. After 3 days of 1x daily application of iodine, cut the iodine back to every other day. Continue every other day for 10 days (or less). Keep up the vitamin e oil every day until the dermatitis has disappear completely.
Let me tell you, the iodine and vitamin 3 oil starts to work on clearing up the dermatitis in about 24 hours! Initially the skin will look red and inflamed, but don't worry... the vitamin e speeds up the healing process.
I hope everyone with dermatitis (even perioral dermatitis) will try this cure. My particular form of dermatitis is one of the trickiest to heal so I am thrilled to maybe have a cure! I will let you know in the future how long this holds before I have to do the iodine again. Hopefully, never! Thanks.
2014 Update:
Took me MANY years to figure this out but it turned out my issue was a vitamin d deficiency. The iodine cure lasted for a few years and then came back. It finally went away permanently with vitamin d serum 20,000 IU per day for two weeks.
Alum
Posted by Josh (Elk Ridge, UT) on 01/12/2007
★★★★★
A friend of mine gave me the potassium alum stone with his story of severe eczema in Thailand. The generous people there gave him this stone to try and it cured his eczema. I've been using it as deodorant and it works very well; no chemicals or additives. I think you can get the stones at a health food store (or do a google search for them).
Get a clean spray bottle and break up about 1-2 Tablespoon size chunks of alum. Put this in about 1 cup of water and then fill your spray bottle with it. I spray a few sprays on my hair and massage it in my scalp. Some under arms for deodorant and then I give a few sprays all over my limbs and body, rubbing it into my skin. It has a weird texture; it seems to sink into your skin quickly - that's why the spray works so well. I'm thinking of trying an application in the evening as well and maybe by then I'll have more of a cure. Experimenting with the frequency... Let me know how this works for you. I used to have bad eczema in my hair that would flake all over; very embarrassing. I cured it by soaking my head with straight ACV and covering that with a shower cap overnight, but I don't like smelling like a pickle throughout the day. :) Now, the potassium alum has prevented it without the smell. Good luck to all, and hopefully we can cure our debilitating eczema.
Turmeric
Posted by SuSu (Sacramento, CA) on 02/03/2007
★★★★★
After taking turmeric, 1/4 heaping tsp, and then stopping, I realized that the eczema on my palms had disappeared and then returned when I quit taking the turmeric. I resumed and it's been gone ever since.
Eliminate Wheat
Posted by Amiee (Eastern Passage, NS) on 08/04/2006
★★★★★
I had been wheat-free for 7 months and my gas, acid-reflux and psoriasis went away. When you are on a wheat-free diet, it can cause other problems like constipation if you do not watch your fiber intake. I am now off the wheat-free diet and all has returned. I will be going back on the wheat-free diet ASAP.
