Natural Remedies for Treating Eczema
Seeking itch relief for your eczema? From aloe to milk, here are all the tips you’ll need to treat your eczema naturally.
Bruce and Jeanne Lubin
Aloe for Eczema
Pure aloe vera can help heal eczema, and it works better than some eczema creams. It’s anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and moisturizing. Plus, it feels great on the skin! If you don’t have an aloe vera plant at home use pure aloe vera gel. For an added anti-inflammatory benefit, you can also drink aloe vera juice.
Cool Tea Compress
To treat a flare-up of itchy eczema, make some hibiscus tea. You can usually find dried hibiscus flowers at health-food stores and even some supermarkets. (It’s also the main ingredient in Red Zinger tea, so check that out as well.) Soak a cloth in the cooled tea, and apply it directly to the skin as a compress to relieve the itching. Cooled green tea is also a good choice, as it can reduce skin inflammation.
Milk Helps Eczema
Similarly, cold milk compresses are thought to soothe eczema when it’s at its worst—and they’re considered more effective than just plain water compresses, perhaps because of their protein content. Simply soak a washcloth in very cold milk and apply to the affected area for 10 minutes or so.
Oatmeal Bath
Why mess with what works? A classic eczema remedy is a colloidal oatmeal bath. Colloidal oatmeal is just regular oatmeal that has been ground into a powder. Take note that it’s not necessary to spend the eight bucks or whatever colloidal oats might cost in your drugstore. As long as you have dry oats and a good food processor at home, you can make it much more cheaply! Just stick the oats in the processor and blend until they turn into a powder. Mix a cup or so in warm (not hot!) running bathwater and soak for 15-20 minutes. When you’re done just rinse with cool water and pat yourself dry. Relief will be immediate!
Olive Oil for Itchy Skin
After bathing, you’ll want to seal in the natural moisture in your skin. Try some olive oil! It’s a fabulous one-ingredient moisturizer that is unlikely to irritate skin. Rub a generous amount of olive oil into just-washed skin for best results. Also give vitamin-packed avocado oil a try, particularly on your most troublesome spots.
How to Help Weeping Eczema
When eczema starts to ooze, stop the seeping with witch hazel. Just dab a little on to the irritated spots, and it will help reduce redness, itchiness, and inflammation!
Watch What You Wear
Eczema sufferers may not realize that the very clothes on their backs could be aggravating their condition! Soft, natural fibers like cotton are best (avoid itchy wool and stifling synthetics), and when it comes to washing clothes, be wary of the detergent! Excess detergent can linger in fabric after the rinse cycle, causing irritation. By doing a double rinse, you’ll make sure your clothes are clean and free of any troublesome residue. You can also add three-quarters of a cup of white or apple cider vinegar to the rinse.
Watch What Products You Use
These days, it’s hard to keep track all of the potions, lotions, soaps, cosmetics, and other products we put on our skin. Any one—or, frankly, any number of them—could be causing a problem. Stick to fragrance-free varieties for sensitive skin, and try to limit your exposure to harsh chemicals. As seen above, a single-ingredient olive or avocado oil from your pantry might just as easily replace a 20-ingredient lotion from the drugstore! (And it should be obvious, but you should always wear gloves when cleaning or doing dishes to minimize exposure to irritating chemicals).
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Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
About the Author
Bruce Lubin and Jeanne Bossolina-Lubin are the proud parents of three boys and more than a dozen books. After saving thousands per year using everyday tips and simple lifehacks, they started their own business in the hopes of sharing their knowledge with others. They have been known to go into their friends’ refrigerators to turn their eggs upside down so that they last longer.