I have been reading up on the wonders of sulphur for healing and although looking at many health books there is very little specific information. I remember being advised years ago that sulphur often healed when all else failed. With that in mind, I wondered if it might be useful for rashes experienced with coeliac disease.
MSM Sulphur is often used for the relief of pain in joints especially where a person is experiencing swollen joints such as in arthritic conditions, painful muscels, back aches and sore scalps. Whilst reading several websites and forums I came across several mentions of it also curing eczema and the fact that it is now also available in a topical cream - MSM Cream.
Here is a link to a website and a forum for those who are interested: (also I would be very interested if anyone has actually tried it for eczema and have they been successful in curing the condition?)
Hi Lynxcat, I don't suffer from eczema but know that many people do and they estimate that 10% of Americans suffer from eczema.
I recently came across someone who made a cream that looks like vaseline and it contains comfrey. The person who makes it grows the comfrey and sells it at a country market. If I'm honest I sniggered when she told be about the therapeutic affects of her home made cream. But then I bruised my shoulder and bought a little jar of it and boy does it work and it's only around £1.00 a jar.
If you suffer from eczema it is worth googling as there are a few herbs that are very beneficial to it.
Lastly we ought to look at why we have eczema as the skin is merely getting rid of toxins in our bodies, so as well as treating the symptom (the rash) we also ought to look for the cause.
Atopic eczema is essentially a defect of immune regulation, much like hayfever or asthma (which is why you often get them together). Nothing to do with excreting toxins.
Contact dermatitis is different in that it's a reaction to an allergen than comes into contact with the skin such as components of perfume, nickle etc. Make sure there's nothing coming into contact with you eczema that could be exacerbating it if you do have a contact dermatitis component. The location of the eczema can give you a clue to this- the face, neck and hands are classic places.
I just had a look at what comfrey is. Apparently it contains allantoin which acts as a moisturiser and a keratinolytic (i.e. it helps your skin to get rid of the extra layers of dead cells you get in eczema). However, it pretty toxic to your liver and it's recommended that you don't use it for more than 10 days at a time and for no longer than 4-6 weeks in a year (see umm.edu/altmed/articles/com... for info). If you have liver problems, definitely don't use it at all. It shouldn't be used in kids, breast-feeding women or the very elderly, either.
I hope the person who gave you the cream knows about this! I'd also ask her what part of the plant she made it from- the roots shouldn't be used as they contain hefty doses of this stuff. Personally, I wouldn't go near anything 'home made' or not from a regulated company like this- there's absolutely no way of knowing what kind of dose you're receiving.
Hi Northern soul, so do it take it you don't want a pot of cream!
Seriously after replying to lynxcat I read about comfrey on the net and thought whoops I've made another crackpot post.
I only the bought the stuff yesterday so have only used it once and now think once is enough.
So thanks for the advice I think it shows that even herbal remedies can be harmful so this should be a warning to all and it's a good job that we have you as a member and I'm sorry you've had to go to this trouble to correct me.
Don't be silly! I'm just nosy, that's my problem. Whenever I see something I don't know about, I have the instinctive urge to Google it.
Most herbal remedies are harmless but you do occasionally get the odd nasty that demonstrates why you should always look things up before you use them. And always tell your doctor that you're using them when they ask about what meds you're taking- they can interact with other drugs in potentially life-threatening ways. St John's Wort and serotonin syndrome (which can occur when taken in combination with certain antidepressants) is a notorious example. After all, many drugs were originally derived from plants!
Hi Jerry, What I thought was interesting in the article was the healing effects of MSM sulphur. It also declares that we should have around the same amount of sulphur as potassium and that most people appear to be short of it. I'm not sure whether anyone has a blood test when they have their blood checks done .... I just thought it would be a useful post that may be of interest to some.
I have taken it in the past and found it is marvellous with joint pains - I did not realise that it was also useful with eczema and thought those who suffer with Dermatitis herpetiformis may find it helpful and at least worth a try.
I do have a spot of eczema but only a small amount near to my eyes .. so I will probably also give it a try again and perhaps try and source the MSM sulphur cream.
I'm not too sure whether I would trust other people's home made recipes and I tend to use arnica cream for bruises - although I have to be honest the best bruise cure I have ever purchased was something called 'Chrysties cream' - now no longer apparently available - I used it on the children quite often as once rubbed on the bruises disappeared completely within a couple of days. I have never encountered anything so good since and still keep looking for it when I go to new chemist shops!!
I used MSM capsules for hayfever and it worked like a miracle. I've used antihistamines but am prone to extreme drowsiness and the non-drowsy ones don't work for me. I tried MSM with low expectations but it was very effective throughout the season. I later used MSM tablets and they didn't work at all, so make of that what you will. It's meant to be great for any kind of inflammation.
Glad to read some posts about this. After coeliac diagnosis I feel like I'm falling apart. My psoriasis on my head has flared up (so I'm back on the Polytar shampoo) and I'm getting ezcema on my eyelid and my legs. Honestly my coeliac nurse told me these & my hayfever would disappear after going GF. How wrong! Hayfever worse than ever this year and keep coughing with it so now have a ventolin spray. And I'm getting treated my a dermatologist for rosacea. If I could upgrade my parts I would! I have to say that I've found Liz Earle's beauty products to be very calming for my sensitive skin they include natural ingredients yet are soothing and mild. Also Simple Skin products are good as they don't contain perfume. I must try taking evening primrose oil again as I remembered as a teen that these helped my eczema a lot as they have high GLA content.
I've not managed to identify the trigger for the eye ezcema yet so luckily it's easy to hide with my normal make-up.
Just hope the sun helps clear up the psoriasis on my head - however the dermy recommended I use factor 50 on my face and necj to avoid triggering the roseaca. So not much Vit d via my face for me!
Really interesting to read Northern Soul's post on how these are linked to the immune system.
I have eczema on my eyelids which I can't get rid of too! I am definitely going to purchase some MSM tablets. The MSM Sulphur cream apparently isn't readily available in Britain at least in the doses they have in the States which I believe is 25% as stated here: skincell.org/community/inde...
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