Eczema on my face, any help would be so appreciated

[andyc-1993]

Hi everyone,

I've had severe eczema my whole life and I feel as if I've tried every treatment there is to offer. The first big difference I found was when I removed wheat from my diet and the second was when I was prescribed immuno suppressant medication. I'm pretty happy with my skin except for on my face (the one place ideally you want it to be good). I have severe redness going across both cheeks and nose and sometimes carrying on up the sides of my face and onto my forehead but not around my eyes. It comes and goes but I can't determine a pattern as to why, however it does often seem to be at it's worst straight after my shower in the morning and get slightly better throughout the day. I moisturise and wash with epaderm every day. If anyone could offer any possible solutions I'd really appreciate it, thank you

[Manuka]

Hi, any chance you are affected by topical steroid withdrawal ? It can cause strange patterns of inflammation especially on face.

[gfmum1]

My son used to get eczema on his face until I bought him shampoo & face wash that didn't contain SLS, methylchloroisothiazolinone or methylisothiazolinone - all of which appear in a lot of toiletries, including some of the so-called "natural" ones.

You don't say which country you're in, but in the UK Holland & Barrett stock some brands which are ok.

Hope that helps!

[Tgdn]

Hi there just saw ur post,I use Bria organics balm for my ears,hands and feet,with very good results.on their site Bria organics and "on the tin" says its safe to use it on the face too,read very good reviews from other users (on their face),so maybe u can try as well.maybe epaderm is very good but not in ur case so maybe trying something else can be better for u?i hope u get better soon

PS

I have eczema(1 doc.)or psoriasis(2nd.doc.)don't know which until I c dermatologist,but the point is this balm is very good for me

[johnsmith]

Try evening primrose oil. Eczema problems can be due to lack of skin oil production. Lack of skin oil production can be due to lack of essential compounds needed for skin oil production.

It will take a month before you start to notice results. All you can do is try it and see if there is a difference or not.

[jackie111095]

Hello you said you noticed a diffrence when you stoped wheat has there been any blisters in your rash? I only ask because I was treated and diagnosed ecxma for years and after having a biopsy done on one of the blisters they diagnosed it as Dermatitis herpetiformis a form of coeliacs has yours been checked out properly as I did see a number of Dermatologist who said mine was ecxma.

[Hidden]

Hi there

As someone who was diagnosed either with dermatitis or rosacea on my face (they couldn't decide which!), I was prescribed Nizoral to use on my head since I suffer from the condition there and use it on my face too. It left my skin so hard and dry, I started looking and researching the ingredients contained in the products I was using at the time. I discovered some bad ingredients and as a result and over a four year period, began to make my own skin care products.

I use a lot of vegetable oils - which are fantastic for the skin, especially evening primrose, rosehip and borage (borage in small quantities only). Avocado oil is fantastic for skin conditions like eczema and dermatitis. Even if you apply it at night - a light coating on its own works wonders.

Happy to say that 4 years on, my problem hardly every flares up.

I had a look at the Epaderm product and was intrigued to see that it contains paraffin which is a mineral oil. Look, I am not an expert but having read so much and now understand more about what we put on and in our bodies, I would suggest you look on the internet and find out that mineral oil for our skin is not really advised. I understand that it may work for you but in the long run, you may find that it is doing your skin more harm than good.

I also use my day cream for behind my ears as I have dermatitis there too - it used to get crusty and oozed with a pus and was extremely itchy. Since starting to use my day cream behind my ears that has reduced by 99%. If I don't use it, the condition does flare up.

The key to skin problems especially eczema, dermatitis, rosacea even psoriasis is moisturise and hydrate!! Also, using products that penetrate and don't just sit on top of the skin. You don't want to have something that creates a barrier - the secret is getting moisture and hydration into the skin.

Also, drinking loads of water and eating sensibly helps the skin too.

Hope this helps.

Gayle

[shamicuk]

I find my skin flares up when ironing or washing dishes, the only thing they have in common (aside from being boring chores) is heat. Would that have anything to do with it? I'm prone to prickly heat anyway, so it is hard to know with me.

[Helper007]

Hi there. I would highly suggest to try out seacret products. They are from the dead sea and contain minerals and salt that is really good for your skin. Also helped a lot of people with eczema and other skin related issues. They sell them at the kiosk at some malls still.

[troy04]

I think many people get confused when different skin conditions are all termed under one word - eczema. For some people, if they are lucky it is just about dry skin + irritation caused by some chemicals in detergent, makeup etc. These are easy to manage as you can try good moisturising cream / lotion, and eliminate root causing chemicals.

For many others, it is not as simple. Dry skin with chronic inflammatory skin condition will not respond to any "great" / "good" / "organic" moisturising cream. It may mask the condition a bit, but there is no good outcome unless you use one of those topical immunosuppressant creams. We get usually concerned when we hear steroids, but non-steroidal immunosuppressant creams are not that great either. Example, if a dermatologist prescribes calcineurin inhibitor, such as Pimecrolimus it will not be classed as steroid but still side effects of long term usage can be bad.

Sometimes some of us can get lucky, and body adjust its immune system/response, but we still are perhaps using a cream or treatment thinking that the product actually cured it.

Just wanted to explain few things so that we are under no illusion that perhaps there are some harmless magic-creams somewhere that can fix these problems. Scientists still do not know the exact root cause of inflammatory condition, and it can happen due to deficiency of vitamins/minerals etc, but not necessarily. So, some people may have found a solution by identifying appropriate supplements but in general unfortunately there is no easy solution.

We have to continue using less harsh chemicals, try finding a way to reduce stress level, eating healthy food and doing exercise, and maintaining good sleeping routine so that body gets a maximum chance to correct this disorder itself.