Home Remedies Web

Eczema Home Remedy

Find eczema treatments and home remedies for eczema and dermatitis, using natural cures and herbal products.

Shahzad Malik, Ph.D.
2–3 minutes
Eczema Home Remedy

Signs and Symptoms of Eczema

Eczema (also known as dermatitis) is a non-contagious type of skin inflammation that is characterized by one or more of the following symptoms:

  • Red patches
  • Itchiness
  • Scaling
  • Swelling or blistering
  • Cracking or dryness
  • Oozing or bleeding

Note that some of these symptoms are also characterized by psoriasis, so it is important to understand the differences. Psoriasis often affects the front of the knees and back of the elbows, while eczema typically affects the back of the knees and inside of the arms.

Causes of Eczema

The exact cause of eczema is somewhat unclear. However, it is believed to be our immune system’s response to an irritant. Some of these triggering irritants include:

  • Temperature changes, particularly exposure to extreme cold or excessive heat.
  • Soaps, laundry detergents, and cleaning products.
  • Fabric-softening dryer sheets.
  • Certain perfumes and cosmetics (particularly cosmetics containing formaldehyde).
  • Exposure to dust, pollen, pet hair/dander, moulds, or fungi.
  • Stress or anxiety.
  • Excessive sweating.
  • Colds, flus, or other infections.
  • Exposure to coarse materials such as wool.
  • Anti-perspirants (since they contain active drying ingredients such as aluminum chloride).

Home Remedies and Natural Treatments for Eczema

Chamomile

Studies have found that chamomile contains anti-inflammatory properties that can help relieve eczema discomfort. Therefore, an effective natural eczema treatment can be made by using chamomile tea bags as a compress. Simply dip a chamomile tea bag in hot water for 5 minutes, and then let it cool until it is at a comfortable temperature for placing on the skin. Then place the tea bag on areas affected by eczema for 20 minutes. Repeat this up to 3 times throughout the day.

Calamine Lotion

For oozing eczema as well as other skin rashes, calamine lotion is great for relieving itchiness. Simply apply a small amount directly onto the affected area. Calamine lotion can be found in most drugstores.

Ice Packs

An ice pack is a great way to relieve the itching associated with eczema. Simply place a few ice cubes into a plastic bag, and then wrap the bag with a towel. Then apply the towel onto the itchy areas for some quick relief.

Milk Compress

If you have eczema which oozes, a cold compress with milk is an easy way to relieve the itching. Here’s how:

  • Pour cold milk onto a thin piece of cotton or gauze pad.
  • Apply it to the itchy skin for approximately 3 minutes.
  • Resoak the cloth with milk and apply for another 3 minutes. Do this twice.
  • Rinse your hand with cool water when finished.
  • Repeat this several times throughout the day.

Humidify Your Room

Almost any form of winter skin itch or dry skin can be relieved by adding moisture to the air around you. Therefore, a cool-air humidifier is a great way to help prevent eczema/dermatitis. An economical alternative to a humidifier is to place shallow pans of water near a radiator.

References

  1. J. Srivastava, E. Shankar, S. Gupta. Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future. In Molecular Medicine Reports. 2010 Nov 1; 3(6): 895-901.

Medical disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and isn’t a substitute for professional medical advice. Talk to your doctor before trying a new remedy, especially if you’re pregnant, nursing, taking medication or managing a health condition.

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29 responses

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  1. Sharon

    I had a lot of bouts of eczema due to stress as a child and even later in life. But I was able to stop breakouts by using lotions containing Urea which my doctor suggested. The best one so far has been Eucerin for extremely dry skin and urea is listed in the ingredients. There are other soothing ingredients in there as well. It cleared up every breakout from my hands, feet, etc. I hope this helps!

    Reply
  2. Eczema free forever

    I have Dyshidrotic Eczema, which is eczema on my hands, it gets so bad that my hands crack and bleed, it is too painful to do even the simplest task. I tried a dermatologist and he wanted to treat me for Psoriasis, the drugs had worse side effects than the cure. I now put just Vaseline on my hands at bedtime and put on nitrile gloves, my hands stay great just doing this.

    Reply
  3. Shannara

    My baby have eczema, and anything I try doesn’t help her.

    Reply
  4. Connie

    I am having a lot of itching and rashes and nothing seems to help. Any suggestions please?

    Reply
  5. Md.Kamrul Hasan Chowdory

    If you have Eczema, only organic products should be used and should be from renown brands. Also before using any product, discuss with your the doctor and know which type of eczema you have.

    Reply
  6. Victoria

    Speaking from experience of chronic childhood Atopic eczema in the classic mouth-wrists-elbows-backs of knees-ankles formation (and a few acute adulthood outbreaks), Calamine lotion is an absolute NO-NO. The aim should always be to keep the skin as moisturised as possible and Calamine dries the skin out. So after my parents applied the lotion – as advised by the doctor – I would literally rip into my skin until it bled. Itch relief creams are preferable, at least, because they moisturise at the same time but these weren’t available in my childhood.

    Milk compress also sounds like a TERRIBLE idea to me, especially as many people with eczema have milk allergy/sensitivity.

    It seems to me that doctors are either undereducated or simply do not care about Eczema, maybe because it is not a life-threatening illness or perhaps because they cannot comprehend its effects on the sufferer’s day-to-day existence. So the vast majority will always prescribe steroid creams on the first visit. Aside from the other undesirable side-effects, there is often a rebound effect, so just when you think you’re on top of the symptoms, you stop applying the steroid cream and the eczema comes back worse than before.

    I am no expert, but I am certain that there is always a cause (alongside genetic predisposition) for an outbreak of eczema. When I was a child I would frequently visit my grandparents who owned 2 Springer Spaniels. I was very evidently allergic to the fur and saliva of these lovely dogs so just being in the same space would cause me to scratch and wheeze, and simply carrying their hairs home on my clothes and transferring to other clothes and furniture meant that I couldn’t escape a horrible long-term escalation in symptoms. Sadly, there is no furry or fleecey animal that I am not allergic to, and I urge everyone to investigate animal allergy as a potential cause.

    Aged 11, I was admitted to hospital so I could have an intensive coal tar wrap treatment. Within that week the eczema had cleared, but I do not know for sure that it cleared because of the coal tar or because I had been removed from an allergic environment, but the eczema returned shortly after I left hospital. After we had moved far away from my home town in my early teens I found that my eczema cleared up and only returned after visits, except for a few outbreaks in my late teens and adulthood. At this time I unwittingly slept in a bed that had been occupied by a cat and had a strange outbreak of discoid eczema (I initially mistook it for ringworm) around my hip area that cleared in a matter of weeks without medication. Later, after a particularly bad year-long outbreak of actual head to toe blistering in my early 20s (I think dishydrosis or something very similar to dermatitis herpetiformis) I finally stopped eating or drinking anything containing dairy and eggs and it cleared almost immediately. After around 6 months I began to gradually reintroduce dairy into my diet and suffered another outbreak of the blistering variety around 5 years afterwards. This time I reduced the dairy, and took anti-biotics twice for an infection that had developed but did not clear until I took regular baths in an anti-microbial emulsifier (Dermol600) that an out-of-hours doctor prescribed for me. Now I am (touch wood) eczema free aside from a tiny, silvery, non itchy patch on the side of my knee joint and occasionally a few tiny blisters around my fingertips.

    The things that work for me:
    1. I take a Piriton once before bed and I am convinced this keeps any allergies at bay and I carry the tablets everywhere with me.
    2. I always moisturise immediately after patting dry whenever my skin comes into contact with water.
    3. I never moisturise eczema without washing/ soaking in very warm water (for some reason cold or luke-warm immersion causes me to itch after I apply moisturiser. In my experience moisture and unsoaked dry, cracking eczema is like oil and water – they resist each other.
    4. I only use unscented, very basic, greasy moisturisers (E45, Vaseline, Eucerin) on eczema, but on completely clear skin I seem to be OK with luxuriant scented stuff. Yey!
    5. Try to avoid anything that foams coming into contact with eczema, although immediate moisturisation after bath or shower should counteract the drying effect of Sodium Lauryl/ Laureth Sulphate. Unfortunately it is impossible to moisturise the scalp so I just use the simplest shampoos I can find if my scalp itches and flakes. Sometimes I’ll use T-gel because of the coal tar component.
    6. Get allergy tests where possible and do food diary. Don’t rule any substance out as a potential allergent/ irritant (I found that symptoms improved after I stopped using Aqueous cream for cleansing which was surprising since it was prescribed).
    7. Do not assume that your Doctor/ skin specialist knows how to treat your eczema especially if they palm
    you off with steroid ointment.
    8. Take high dose Evening Primrose (Epogam?) and/ or Cod Liver Oil (but mind you do not overdo the added Vitamin E because too much bad for the health) because essential fatty acids help in the long term.

    Reply
  7. kay

    Hi there, I have extreme eczema. I’ve been to the doctor so many times and all I got was more expensive creams as well as an injection which didn’t help. I then cut out dairy and wheat and that helped. I also got stuff to put in my bath water to rehydrate my skin, and I bought cetaphil restoradream. I also realised my eczema came from stress so I am now also on tablets that are like rescue tablets. All of this seems to be calming my eczema.

    Reply
  8. prawn

    I had the same on my hands. I stopped drinking soda and it slowly went away for good. No more soda for this guy because I don’t want crocodile hands. It was frustrating.

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    Appyling Sudocreme onto the affected skin, helps relieve my eczema. Also drinking turmeric powder in warm water (2 tsp) every day helps. Drink lots of water as turmeric can cause dehydration.

    Reply
  10. Anonymous

    since I live in the Caribbean I have eczema under my feeds.
    Expensive doctor lotion and cremes do not help enough.
    i started to bath my feeds 2,3 time the week in baking soda or sulfur powder. It help. Also I use snake oil … it helps….sulfur cremes helps…..but the most important to do is to stop scratching and pulling, and then the skin can start to heal!

    Reply
  11. Jessica

    Organic oils help me with my skin conditions…I love and trust the oils at this website…
    http://www.calibabe.com

    Reply
  12. Ron Case

    I have Dyshidrotic Eczema, which is eczema on my hands, it gets so back that they crack and bleed, it is painful to do even the simplest task. I tried a Dermatologist and he wanted to treat me for Psoriasis, the drugs were worse than the cure. I now put Vaseline on at bedtime and nitrile gloves, my hands stay great doing this.

    Reply
  13. gjevo

    Take a look here,may be it helps,there are many good lotions for your face and at a very low price,i speak from my experience,i have tried for a month different solution but no chance,Finaly one day in a forum told me that there was a their site that was a merchant of skin lotions.
    Hope it helps
    Source(s):
    http://www.goodlotions.com

    Reply
  14. Linda K. Lendzian

    I’ve been suffering now for over 2 months with this darn problem. I tried to treat it myself and just made it worse. My Primary Dr. Prescribed Clobetsol and it works for the palms of my hands but not my fingers. I’ve tried neosporin And 1% hydocortisone anti-itch cream it helps with the itching but not the swelling dry cracked infected skin. I’m at loss because I can’t even take a shower without a glove on my hands. I really messed up because it was cleared almost and I wanted to be like this iass gone I can take a shower w/out any gloves and bam back where I started not gonna do that again. Lesson learned. This problem just effected me this year Im wondering whats different in my life? Im stressed in chronic pain need hip replacement surgery and then this happens when will it end? If anyone has the issues with cracked skin swelling and dry skin to boot give me a your answers to how you help it and I hope that I will 1 day be free of this terrible skin disease! Any help apprceiated.

    Reply
  15. sarah

    I get severe eczema on my hands, when I have open sores of it I have found that using pine tar soap (very good for any type of skin & a natural anti-bactierial soap), I’ve also been taking 75mg of zinc works well. But on a whim I tried “neosporin eczema essentials anti-itch cream”, and it was like a miracle in a bottle.

    Reply
  16. Diana

    I was told(by various doctors) for 20 years I had eczema and finally a patch test showed a formaldehyde allergy which is in ALL prescribed eczema creams. Once this was removed from me -all my rashes DISAPPEARED

    Reply
  17. davontie@att.net

    im so tired had eczema for 6yrs tired everything in the book of eczema .so here i go again now im using blackseed oil on my body.my head, legs,my back,my butt,im so hurt with this condition praing that the lord will heal me. n you also.love peace n happiness

    Reply
  18. Jenn

    I suffer from occassional bouts of eczema. All prescription lotions and ointments made it worse. While cleaning up an abrasion on my child with hydrogen perioxide, I accidentally spilled some on the affected areas between my fingers. Aferwards, I poured a small amount of perioxide on the affected area, waited about one minute while it foamed. Rinsed with cool water and patted dry. No bad reaction.I did this 2 to 3 times a day. My eczema healed within a few days. Whenever I had a flare up I applied perioxide and it healed right up. Its a very inexpensive way to treat it.

    Reply
  19. ike

    dove soap, cetaphil lotion, avenno oatmeal products and most sensitive skin soap products actually irritates my skin so once again everyone is different.

    Reply
  20. ike

    Aloe Vera is not for everyone. Test it on an area that is prone to eczema like underside of elbows and knees or cheeks to make sure you have no sensitivities to it. Cleary Natural Unscented Glycerin soap was perfect for me until they changed the formula and started adding Aloe to it. Now I break out. Aloe is like poison ivy for me. The problem with eczema is that the cause of eczema is different for everyone. It is each individuals quest to find the specific allergen and remove it from their environment. Do not depend on Doctors to tell you what you are allergic to. You need to take the responsibility to test and discover the allergens yourself. Doctors will generally just prescribe steroids which eventually makes your situation worse.

    Reply
  21. Kate

    Aloe Vera is great for eczema too! Aloe has antibacterial properties and a concentrated mix of enzymes, anti-inflammatory fatty acids, and compounds that boost the immune system. I like using the pure gel from the cut stem of the plant. It forms a protective layer on broken skin, very soothing and healing. For DIY aloe remedies and an article on treating eczema check out: http://www.aloeplant.info Hope it helps!

    Reply
  22. Morgana

    I suffered terrible dermatitis over ten years.
    In despair to try all I tried cornstarch. Whether coincidence or not that was the turning point. I still get ffare ups but short lived with the cornstarch.
    Also important if on the face have a barrier to prevent friction on pillow. Please try and let me know.

    Reply
  23. DL

    Friends, I have battled severe eczema for years. I find the only thing that sends it into remission is avoiding fragrances in products, dust and most importantly Completely cutting out hot showers. I traded hot showers for healthy skin and I’m never going back.

    Reply
  24. AtopicDermatitis.tk

    i heard Atopic Eczema is one of the common eczema here i found forum on it AtopicDermatitis.tk

    Reply
  25. understand

    im going through this with my lil girl and its so difficult. i havent smiled in a long time. im so hurt to be so helpless cause nothing seems to work, im going to try the above sugggestions

    Reply
  26. Paula

    Try using licorice root. I had terrible dishydrotic ecxema (the one with bubbles and oozing) on my palms and bottoms of feet. It was so bad that sometimes they bled……….. One round of licorice root pills (one bottle) cure it completely and after about one and a half years – it is still gone.

    Reply
  27. Anonymous

    …by using a “sensative skin” dish washing liquid type would help eliminate eczema breakouts… and by using a mixture of 0.05% dermovate and 4% salic acid…helps with soberic dermatitis.

    Reply
  28. Racheal

    I have soberic dermatitis…i have found that using “dove” soap daily and by taking fenugreek herb and cetaphil lotion my skin had begun to clear up…

    Reply
  29. jul

    I have had eczema for ever it seems and now my daughter has it really bad and I am just tired of going to the doctor all the time to try something else. If anyone has any advise on how to treat it at home naturally. I will try any thing so she dont have to suffer

    Reply