Healthcare Professionals

My husband has had hand eczema for many years. His hands crack and bleed. I recently bought something called Bag Balm, which is lanolin and petroleum jelly.

We as a family have tried very hard to find cures and treatments and over time have a handle on the problem.

I have been an eczema sufferer since age 17, and I am now 44. The eczema started on the inner elbows of my arms. Then my hands were affected; I would get these very small blisters that intensely itched, and then my fingers would swell and weep. In a Scratch Pad letter, a gentleman suggested going on an elimination diet. This meant eating nothing but chicken, broccoli, and cauliflower for about a week, then adding certain foods back in to the diet to see what was causing the itch. This was a very difficult thing to do! But after three days I noticed the itching on my hands was gone.

I went to the health food store to see if I could find something natural that could help her skin. An employee there said that children’s probiotics worked really well on his child.

I soaked my hands in one quart of water mixed with four capfuls of a coal tar shampoo for a half hour EVERY night for six weeks. After soaking, I would rinse and pat my hands dry, and then I would apply a steroid ointment and cover my hands with white cotton gloves.

It is my belief that companies such as these are preying upon the desperation of eczema sufferers, and I want to make this known to others from my expensive personal experience.

I find that what helps soothe my skin when it becomes red and irritated is my homemade oats poultice. A cup of oats wrapped in a muslin cloth and tied with a strip of muslin used in the shower or in the bath helps naturally moisturize the skin.