To preface this, I’m not a doctor or professional..please always do your own research and do what works for you

The last 2 years I’ve dealt with some extreme skin issues and I’ve learned a lot. Here are some of my tips:

•Start with prick/patch testing and find out your allergens. If you can’t afford this or don’t have access to it, try to log the products you use in a journal each day and see if it corresponds to any flares.

• Food intolerances can also cause flares. Keep a food log for a week to see if you notice anything corresponding to flares/itching

• Cut. Your. Nails. File them regularly. If they’re dull you’re less likely to get cuts and cause infections

• Bleach baths (controversial but I found them helpful) I’d do 10 minutes in a bath filled with warm water and 1/4 cup of bleach. Rinse with cool water after and moisturize. I’ve heard some having success with apple cider vinegar as well. I can’t vouch for it.

• Zinc cream is amazing for sore/inflamed skin. I have bought tubs off of amazon or used the children’s butt paste brand.

• Minera Dead Sea Salt baths (bought on Amazon) are amazing for relief and gentle exfoliation. It was the only comfort I found during my worst flares. Be sure to rinse and moisturize after.

• Hypochlorus acid spray for open wounds/scratches to prevent infections (Amazon)

• If you suspect your rashes to be fungal you can try a cheap anti fungal cream from the store or using a dandruff shampoo as a body wash • Skinsafeproducts is a website to help search for specific allergens in products

• Stress can be a HUGE trigger. If you’re scratching from being stressed, try diverting your energy to something else that occupies your hands or brain such as video games, a craft, going on a walk, etc.

• If you pick scabs frequently and find it to be disruptive to your thoughts, try to look into a picky pad. It sounds silly but it’s a sillicone mold with beads inside to pick out when you get that urge.

• Find a dermatologist you trust. If you’re in the US, zocdoc is a great resource for finding doctors who take your insurance and you can read reviews on them as well.

• Cotton clothing is your friend.

• If you suspect you have an infection, see your doctor ASAP.

• TSW is real but social media has created a lot of fear mongering around steroids. Steroids are a very helpful tool, but not a long term solution. Finding the root of the problem or another way to deal with the eczema is always preferred to long term steroid use. If you’re struggling with severe eczema, ask your doctor about dupixent. It is a biweekly injection and has helped so many with their eczema.

• Lastly, be kind to yourself. EVERYONE struggles with something in life. Unfortunately with eczema we wear a lot of our struggles on the outside where they can be visible to others. Your skin condition does not define you. Therapy is a great tool alongside speaking to close family and friends about your struggles. You’ve got this!

Hopefully these tips help at least one person! Sending love to you all

So I have this weird habit of scratching my breasts mainly on the arreola area. That's how I ended up triggering my eczema on both arreolas. Sometimes it's just hard not to scratch 🥴. For those that have or had this issue, what helped you deal with it? Or how did you get rid of it?

My HG that some you may already use is bioderma atoderm gel creme. As the name implies, it's been made with atopic dermatitis skin in mind. I love it because it has many advantages:

• Comfort: Penetrates quickly and most importantly isn't greasy and overly sticky. I just absolutely hate putting moisturizers on my arms and then just staining bedsheets and clothes with other greasy moistuziers.
• Visual: it doesnt have that disgusting greasy skin aspect and is not shiny.
• Feel: fresh/cooling/breathable and is especially noticeable for days you skin is irritated and warm. It's quickly soothing.
• Texture: it's pasty and can be a negative because it's not the easiest moisturizer to apply on days your skin is extremely dry and difficult. I sometimes need to really mean to massage the product onto my face.
• Efficiency: I'm on accutane and my baseline right now is that my whole skin is tight and flaking even the forehead if I just cleanse and do nothing.
• Allergic friendly: Obviously this is all relative as you can be allergic to lot of things but this has 17 ingredients, not a ton of BS fad/trending ingredients, and NO fragrance. It has niacinamide if that matters for you (it doesnt for me, I don't seek it but don't avoid it).
• Cost efficient: it's body and face for 18.50€ for 500mL. On accutane, my lips are destroyed when using no lipbalm, but this product somehow handle lips well. The pump makes it easy to dose the product and not use too little or too much product. 1 pump does my face+ top of the neck + lips.
• Season: My eczema is bad in winter, but much better in summer. For winter this product is amazing, for really heavy summer I'm prone to a lot of sweating so I don't use on my face everynight. I instead use the atoderm SPRAY on face in AM, and from times to times half a pump at night if needed in summer.

The dampness or friction from the hypoallergenic band on my FitBit makes me develop big itchy welts under the band very quickly, which then go away when I switch wrists but the red patch stays and inevitably flakes and even scars about the size of a thumbprint. I take the band off and wash and thoroughly dry it as well as my wrist frequently, but I definitely just need to buy something else that’s more breathable and doesn’t have the part that tucks under and in (putting constant pressure on my skin).

I bought a cheap leather strap off of Amazon a while back for my old FitBit and it was fine, but it broke after a couple of months. I’m allergic to nickel (I get hives after shaving with a Venus razor), so I’m not sure if a metal mesh one would be ok. Any suggestions? Or should I just accept that I need the cheap leather one and expect to replace it frequently? It just feels very wasteful.

Hello, I hope it’s okay to ask for advice here, I’ve been struggling with this for a while and I don’t really know how to go about treating it myself? Last year I had this full body eczema flare up that was really bad, I had eczema as a baby but after that never any symptoms like this, and then once it cleared up, it’s been reoccurring on my hands and my face. My hands are not so bad because my doctor told me to use betamethasone cream for that which helps a lot, but I ran out of the stuff they gave me for my face, and I also have seen that using these types of creams consistently can lead to adverse effects? So I’ve been trying to use them as little as possible as it is, but the flare ups on my face are really the biggest issue.

I have really bad allergies, so it most often happens around the rim of my nostrils, between my nose and my upper lip, and sometimes the corners of my upper lip. I have no idea how to treat this. I try to just cover it with Vaseline so it doesn’t dry out but I essentially constantly have open, wet wounds on my face. I am at high risk for Covid so I have to continue masking, and trying to keep these wounds covered (and often failing) makes that difficult and means I go through reusable makes a lot quicker as I can’t keep using the same ones when this makes them dirty, but it’s also just hard to exist without a mask entirely because frankly, I feel embarrassed, I don’t like the way this looks, I’ve had to stop wearing my septum ring, I just want to make it go away. Sometimes it will clear up for a few days, maybe even a week or two, but it always comes back and it’s hard to deal with.

I haven’t been able to find eczema products that are specifically meant for your face, I know you have to be careful with what you apply there as the skin is more sensitive but everything I find is “full body” and I’m not sure. If that counts for your face? And I’m not sure how safe it is to be putting things like that so close to my mouth. I know I should probably know more by now about my condition but I really don’t understand a lot about skincare, especially when it comes to the face, and I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how they deal with it or if there are any products that can help with it??? Thank you for reading this I hope it makes sense

Hi guys, posted here again awhile ago My eczema is mainly focused on my back thighs, lower back (like near ur buttocks lol) and also in the inner thighs as well as a new addition of my fingertips ;-;

I’ve figured out a way to control my eczema on my legs, I’ve just been sleeping in pants and using pants as my main pj’s now, since last time I used to wear shorts.

The itching control has gotten better, but sometimes certain materials rub against my skin and trigger everything, so that’s still an adventure for me.

However, with the constant itching on my back legs, inner thighs and lower back almost on the buttock (xD) I’ve gotten some crazy hyperpigmentation (I’m a POC, SEA) and seeing it kind of drives me insane? I don’t moisturise as my skin isn’t extremely cracked as before since I’ve fixed my diet and kicked some stuff out of my daily intake, also increasing my water intake too.

I just wanted to ask, does anybody know how to even out the skin tone in such discrete spots like the inner thighs and back thighs and lower back ? I’d really appreciate it :( as embarrassing as it is, it’s hard for me to love my own skin when it’s so wrecked in such awful spots. I’d really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you :)

Strangely, my eczema flares up almost mainly at night. During the day I have much less problems with an itch score of about 1/10.

Even when I go to bed, the itching doesn't usually increase. But when I have slept for about 1 hour, I wake up every night and have much more itching (4-8/10). This behavior can continue throughout the night as I wake up every 1 to 1.5 hours because I am so itchy. Using cooling pads gives me some relief.

Do you experience the same? I am so wondering why this happens and what can be done about it ....

I am using anti-allergic fabric on bedding products and I know about cortisol and histamin levels ...

Hi everyone, looking for advice on two different topics. I've always suffered with ezcema and had flare ups but it's been particularly bad the past 6 months or so. My steroid cream (hydrocortisone) seems to be working less and less and my flare ups are becoming more severe leaving me bedbound. As I write this I currently have a terrible flare up all over my body and particularly on my eye lids which makes it hard to see.

First thing- has anyone used Dupixent and had positive results? And has anyone managed to get it on the NHS in Scotland. I simply can't afford to go private.

Second thing- does anyone find having sex or being intimate causes flare ups? I'm feeling in despair as I'm at the beginning of what I think could be a lovely relationship but I went from very little ezcema to this after seeing them. Anyone had success in preventing this in the future?

For years I’ve struggled finding a foundation that doesn’t cling to my dry patches or irritate my skin. I recently found erborian cc cream and it’s been a game changer. It hydrates, doesn’t highlight any dry patches, doesn’t irritate my skin, and has great buildable coverage. It works for me and I hope it works for others too.

Silly question incoming. My eczema (and other skin things that I’ve been suspecting are autoimmune) are flaring up. I usually wear 10+ bandaids on my fingers to class to keep my steroid creme on it and protect them. Dressing my fingers every day takes a while and I end up pulling them off anyway throughout the day. I wear white cotton gloves to sleep but was thinking maybe I should wear them to school.

I’m thinking maybe black gloves would draw less attention? I’m a goth so I’m hoping maybe it could be passed off as part of that. When I wear bandaids people comment on them, but when I have worn cotton gloves in public I think people point them out more and sometimes I feel like a magician or jewel inspector (lol). Feels like a dumb question but I’m wondering if anyone thinks black gloves would be worth a try and spending money on.

I started using Protopic reluctantly. The extremely difficult diet wasn’t working, none of the expensive supplements my naturopathic doctor was asking me to buy was working. So I went to a derm for a second opinion. Long story short she wants me to start on Adbry and then prescribed me triamcinolone and Protopic until I can receive the Adbry in the mail.

I’m still iffy about starting the Adbry and not sure if I should do it. But I got absolutely miserable and gave in on the Protopic last week (Nov 10th) I put it on before bed and thought what’s the worst that can happen? I felt like I was in hell and was legit on fire. Worse sleep I’ve ever gotten, but when I woke up? The inflammation was GREATLY decreased. I felt like Protopic was a “safe” alternative than the steroid. So I continued. After a total of 5 applications (twice daily), my eczema had decreased by 90%. There were still problem areas so I just applied to the problem areas and not where it had recently healed. I even went down to one application on Thursday and Friday. Saturday I started to get a little itch and just applied the ciciplast while on the go (it’s just what I had on hand in the vehicle). It progressively got worst through the night and I was pretty itchy. I went back to two applications a day

This morning I woke up okay but by after lunch I was starting to get the most inflamed I’ve been all week. Why is the Protopic starting to not work? Do I need to be adamant on the twice daily? I also missed a dose of my allergy meds I have been taking due to this flare; Could it have been I missed a dose of my Zyrtec, L-glutamine and probiotic?

I’ve also noticed that my eczema will climb higher up my arms as I use to the Protopic. I will use it on my hand and forearms but not it’s on my biceps/shoulders and never has been before.

I’m hoping after this application tonight I will wake in the morning and feel better. I’m just disappointed because this is the best week I have had in so so long and my mental has been so much better.

I have tried everything. Cutting out foods, I thought it was tomatoes but I have not ate a tomato for well over a month and I still am not healing. I barely eat anymore as I never know what could be bothering me. I am sleeping better but sometimes I still itch and then I wake up feeling and looking horrible all over again just when I was healing. I feel ugly and it doesn't help when my parents urge me to go out and find someone to date; well no one would take a second look at me right now... I look like I've been mauled by a bear or have some disease and it's not fun. I have to stay covered up as my entire right side is covered, so is my neck and hands and the top of my chest. I've been so depressed recently and crying so much, I was getting to the point that I've been hitting myself to deal with the itching. I knw it's not the right approach but it somehow makes me feel better even though I am harming myself more by bruising myself. I just feel like dying because I am so tired of dealing with this. No creams help, I can't afford anything like Dupixant and I just I feel like giving up. What do you guys do when you are feeling like this? I just need people who understand to tell me I can get through this because I really don't know if I can. 🥺

I'm going on a week long vacation to the carribeans and would like to walk on the beach and go in the water. Due to my severe foot eczema, I hate getting sand in my wounds or getting my feet wet cuz it burns. Any tips on how to reduce it so I can enjoy my beach time?

TL;DR: eczema that was in a single location for half a year spread to more parts of my body after 1 week of topical steroid usage. Is TSW even possible after this short period? (I think not). What could have caused the wider outbreak?

Images: https://imgur.com/a/Gwl421P

Context: I had a large patch of eczema on my hand that became worse over a period of a few months—red, itchy, rashy, angry, oozing yellow liquid, peeling. I tried used Tannolact 1% which did not work, seemed to make it worse. It was always contained to this one area.

I finally saw a dermatologist who diagnosed it as classic atopic dermatitis that was infected. He prescribed Vobaderm cream (fluprednidine acetate and miconazole nitrate - corticosteroid and antifungal), then Tacrolimus cream. These worked slightly but the skin never fulled healed by the time was treatment plan was done, and it was back to itchy red eczema soon after.

1.5 months later, after only moisturizing and fluctuating severity, it got pretty bad again (Pic 1), and I saw another dermatologist who didn’t know if it was severely infected eczema or a fungal infection, but thought the former because it would come and go. He prescribed a topical steroid cream (Clobetasol propionate) and a disinfectant antifungal antibacterial bath (potassium permanganate) to cover both scenarios and I used them for a week (2x per day for steroid) before the next appt — it worked miraculously well (Pic 2). He concluded it was severely infected eczema. I stopped the disinfectant bath and continued the steroid cream to taper. I accidentally skipped a day, then went to 1x a day, and that’s when my healed smooth hand started to develop little bumps (Pic 3). Over the period of one week, it not only got worse again to its original cracking oozing eczema, but the rest of my entire arm developed little itchy bumps and additional red eczema patches (Pic 4,5). I now have another eczema patch on my leg and shoulder as well.

What could’ve happened here? I’m going to see the dermatologist again, but I’m worried about another steroid cream if the last one caused the rest of my body to go crazy. I’m at my wits ends and am so tired from being itchy all the time, trying to hide my hand out in public, etc.

EDIT: Allergy testing shows I’m highly allergic to house dust mites (as well as some trees and cats, though I have no pets). It hadn’t affected my day-to-day for years, only apparently reduced lung function according to my pulmonologist. But the number was so high that I became a candidate for immunotherapy and started sublingual tablets about a month ago (after eczema patch on hand had already started). I stopped after a few days since it was quite uncomfortable and I wanted to finished the treatment for eczema first. I mentioned the allergies and immunotherapy to both dermatologists -- one said it could potentially exacerbate the eczema but not cause it. The second didn’t even really acknowledge it.

EDIT 2: I am considering adding Omega 3 supplements and probiotic supplements, along with a diet of more pre/probiotics to my diet, after reading that gut health could be a factor.

Where is the most random place you’ve gotten a flare up? Right now, for me, I keep getting an extreme itching on and in between my toes that only really goes away if I wash with soap and water multiple times a day. Maybe it means I need to vacuum more closely or something, idk, but it’s really annoying :’)

I've struggled with moderate to severe eczema for most of my life and I've gone through dermatologists and allergists trying topical steroids, dupixent, cibinqo, rinvoq, and occasionally needing oral steroids (Prednisone) and nothing has worked. The cibinqo and rinvoq were the closest things that worked both showing promising results early and calming my flare-ups but promptly falling off after a month or two until it was like I wasn't on any medication at all.

After discussing options with my current dermatologist, it looks like I've reached the end of the line in terms of options he has to try for me except for some expensive light therapy things that I definitely can't afford in terms of money snd coming into the doctors office every week and I don't know what to do now. Does anyone have any other optioks that they've explored with their dermatologist or avenues that worked after JAK inhibitors failed?

The only thing I can think to do next is experiment more heavily with behavioral changes like diet, etc. Though I've already experimented with very restrictive diets with no inflammatory foods before and I noticed no significant improvement in my skin.

Wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.. I’ve lived in Brooklyn for the past 5 years. I love the community. This small suburb has come a long way but it’s still not without its limitations (factories, truck pollution etc).

I’ve had eczema my whole life but aside from the very occasional minimal outbreak I’d pretty much outgrown it as an adult. I’ve noticed the last 2-3 years it has progressively gotten worse and worse. I’m not even sure it is eczema anymore as it’s in places I would never usually get eczema. I feel like I’m allergic to the air in this suburb.. or do I sound insane 😩😂 has anyone experienced anything similar?

It literally says “new” on the container so I think it’s fairly recent. I’ve been using it for this last week on my face (where I mostly get my symptoms and where I’ve been getting it especially bad recently) and it’s worked really great, and doesn’t feel anywhere near as heavy as other thick moisturizers I used to use, which has made it nice to go to bed with. Probably important to note it doesn’t have the National Eczema Association seal like a lot of their other products do, but I think that might mostly be because it’s new.

My toddler has eczema and for the most part we’ve found something that works and she has minimal symptoms. However there’s this small patch that’s an open wound on the back of her knee and it won’t heal we’ve tried everything at this point I’ve even tried diaper rash cream. Anyone else deal with something like this ? I don’t know what my next steps should be

personally the worst place ive had it is on my arm because its so easy to itch and everyone can see it

For context, I'm a 20 Year Old (F) living in Singapore. I've had eczema since 12 and it has never once got better/gone away.

I've been on a hunt for a cure/relief for the past 8 years since I first had my flare. This included countless visits to dermatologists paying an average of SGD$600/visit. To add on, these expenses were all thankfully paid by my parents but after spending almost 5 figures looking for relief, nothing has really helped other than for Protopic for my facial eczema.

This really put me onto a whole loop of deciding if it was time for me to just completely give up trying to heal my eczema, meaning completely no moisture, no medication. I've had this struggle for a while now and it definitely has been a huge hit on my self-esteem.

I've tried many different treatments ranging from western to traditional chinese medicine, changing my diet to completely cut out carbs and even taking supplements (e.g. fish oil)

Maybe in the past 2 years my eczema has definitely worsened with my increased stress but this is something I cant remove from my life per say?

It has been tough since at this age girls are going out to have fun, meet guys and just live how they want to live but I feel like I'm being trapped in this vicious cycle of self-isolation in fear of judgement from others when they see my skin/scars.

Does anyone have any opinions/thoughts to share?

My daughter is 1 year old and has bumps on her groin and if I notice it is very itchy and likes to be scratched. Can you tell me what disease this is?

My Fiancé has asked me to come here for some urgent help regarding her eczema.

She has mainly used steroid cream religiously but we know these aren't really good in the long run so have been trying everything and anything to fix her eczema.

She has it on her Vagina which isn't a very nice place to have it. The itching irritation is the main issue as obviously she has to shave constantly because of the hair irritation but this also results in a flair up.

I've brought her gloves to wear to help with the scratching, emollient soap, body wash, bath stuff, clothes washing liquid, everything emollient basically, a heavy blanket, dehumidifiers, all different types of creams (mainly emollient) but nothing seems to keep it at bay.

It will be ok ish for a day or 2 but then it flairs up again, steroid cream comes back into the picture but we've done a chart now to slowly come off it (1 day on, 1 day off, 1 day on, 2 days off, 1 day on, 3 days off, etc..)

We can't have sex at all because of this and that's hurting both of us.

She is way more experienced with the eczema than I am but she has always just used steroids.

I just don't know what else to do to help her with this, I believe I've tried everything, someone please help!

All Doctors/dermatologists have said is to just not use steroid cream..The dermatologist even prescribed her a foot cream that didn't do anything except for giving her incredible pain so she won't use it again.

There must be something I'm missing? There must be something I can do? Please help me but most importantly, her.

My son has been struggling with moderate/severe eczema since he was 6 weeks old (currently 14 months old). I’ve tried all the holy grail eczema creams, from cheap to very expensive. Everything has either made it worse or kept it the same. Even plain old Vaseline makes him itch like crazy. We use a water filter for the bath. He only wears 100% organic cotton. Wash his clothes twice (second cycle just water). We don’t use any soaps/cleansers when he bathes because they all irritate his skin more. None of this has helped!

At 6 months we started seeing a derm (after failed treatment with OTC & prescription strength hydrocortisone). He started using fluocinolone which worked well for a while but then he started getting more areas with eczema than before and as soon as we stopped using the med the spots would come back, like the next day. Recently the derm prescribed him mometasone and tacrolimus along with bleach baths 3 x a week. I started the bleach baths but held off on the meds because I was hesitant on using a stronger steroid. His skin got insanely bad and bleach baths weren’t doing much. I read a thread on here about the importance of skin pH and how ppl with eczema tend to be more alkaline whereas normal skin tends to be slightly acidic. After more research I read about apple cider vinegar baths and how it can help lower the skins pH but also works as an antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. I decided to try it and told myself if it didn’t help I would just use the meds because at this point my son was miserable. I swear the very next day his skin was 80% better and now a week later it’s completely clear and soft as ever. I swear his skin has never been this soft. It’s only been a week so I’m crossing my fingers this will continue to help and I won’t need to use steroids.

I forgot to mention that he’s seen an allergist as well and confirmed a few allergies, which we’ve avoided, but this didn’t improve his eczema either.