For a while, I had REALLY bad excema (more specifially, contact dermititis) on my neck and belly. It looked like snakesking and itched like crazy. It finally went away on my neck, but it's back on my belly. And to asd more trouble, it's started to come up on my arms (near my shoulders and under my elbows), my back (all up and down my spine is sort of scabby) and my chest. Adding MORE trouble, I can't use any product with dyes, fragrances, mineral oil, or harsh chemicals, becuase my dermatologist said it could be what's making it so bad. I switched to Ivory soap, non-scented deoderant, and St. Ives lotion. I would by Arbonne, but it's too expensive for me. Someone please give me advice! Every day I feel as though I've fallen asleep in a bed filled with itching powder. I had to cut my fingernails all the way off to keep me from bloodying my arms. Help!!

I'm starting to sound like a salesperson for oats. But I've read a lot of stuff (while searching for tips for my unrelated acne issues) about soaking in oatmeal baths as well as applying a paste of ground oats and water directly to the excema patches.

Yeah, i agree with the oats. Oats has really good properties for skin disorders. give it a try!

:hug: i was just reading up on your skin condition in my Food Allergy Survival Guide book. When I'm not so tired, I'll post what I learned. Hang in there!

By "excema", do you mean "eczema"?

If so, try looking at the bottom of this page (http://www.pinch.com/skin/).

There is a mailing list, FAQ, mailing list archives, and information site all dedicated to the disease.

Wikipedia also has a page devoted to it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eczema), and the links at the bottom may be useful as well.

I'm sorry I couldn't help more, but I really am unfamiliar with the disease.

I hope you are feeling better.

aloe.

and the oats thing too.

I read this somewhere else, but eating things flax seeds or flax oil is supposed to help. I think it's because of the omega 3 fatty acids but I'm not entirely sure of that.

Re: the oat thing... can you use instant oats for that or do they have to be old-fashioned oats?

Basicly, you need more vitamin A and more Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs).

If you do not convert beta carotene to vitamin A efficiently, i recommend whole butter, raw milk/dairy products, and eggs, in order to increase your natural, whole vitamin A intake.

To balance out your EFAs, start with a therapeutic dose of flax seed oil for 3 months followed by a regular dose of Udo's Perfect Blend oil (which has a balanced 3-6 profile) each day. Also, decrease or eliminate your intake of hydrogenated oils, trans fats, and white flour and sugar.

TO cover 'both' bases, you could use cod liver oil, in a therapeutic dose as it is rich in EFAs and vit A.

for my husband's psoriosis, he takes cod liver oil and butter every day. without this, he breaks out within 3 days. For our friends who have eczema, this system has worked wonders, clearing things up in as little as 1-2 weeks.

I had a similar thing. It went on for two months until I finally couldn't stand it and went to a doctor. They ran some allergy tests - which you could probably use. Many people are allergic to certain fruits that can cause these symptoms. But I discovered that I was under stress. I was having a rash from stress and than was putting an ointment on what I thought was excema which it turned out I was allergic to . The more I put on the ointment the more I itched and it got worse. The doctor also told me the more I itched the worse it got. If I was you I would write down what you eat... a friend of mine found out they were allergic to certain fruits and vegs. Good luck and try not to scratch.

I'm in a similar place: my eczema is also having a crazy outbreak, my fingernails are gone to keep myself from scratching myself bloody, everything I use is hypo-allergenic. I got some cream from my doctor but, like helpmom40, the ointment actually makes things worse.

Since my skin is scaly-itchy-driving-me-insane, I'm rubbing all the affected areas with shea butter whenever they itch (which is often) but it's slowly getting better. Take an oatmeal bath when the scratching gets bad but otherwise try to cut down the amount that you are showering if you can since showering actually drys out your skin. Like people said above, it could be a food allergy or a nutrient deficiency or simply stress so try to find out from doctors what your trigger is. Mine's stress which sucks since constant itching makes me pretty stressed out. I'm off to find my shea butter again :-/

Re: the oat thing... can you use instant oats for that or do they have to be old-fashioned oats?


Not the Quaker oats in a packet.. fresh rolled oats or quick oats.. Henry's sell it in a barrel... good price too.