Eczema On Hands

I am responding to someone's posted query about eczema on their hands:

i have eczema on my my hands im not sure what food causes it or how to stop eating that which provokes it but i have two questions

1. what foods did you cut out,and did it go on your blood group?

2. does exfoliating help? beacuse my hands seem beter after moisturising but now is flaky??


Firstly I am not a doctor so what ever advice you take from my blog is from observations about healing myself. Not all eczema conditions are the same.

I had eczema from my face and scalp to my ankles. Thankfully the palms of my hands and under my feet did not have eczema.

Focused Areas with Eczema
To me eczema in concentrated areas of your body such as only on the hands or on the feet could mean other things other than food and sleep. For example a friend had eczema on his foot (that's what the doc told him). I observed he always had socks on. I told him to try to air out his feet. His condition improved when he began to walk around in sandles and let his feet breathe!

So perhaps the eczema on your hands could be either from:
a) chemicals that you are using - e.g. soap, dishwashing, shampoo, etc
b) excessive washing of your hands
c) dust
d) or just plain stress. I have noticed people who have eczema on their hands scratch it more intensely when they are getting emotionally stressed or tired.

Food and Eczema
For me, I identified food as being part of my problem because my condition is widespread. I do like eating junk food (crisps, biscuits) and plenty of it especially in the job that I do. If you want to try this, then perhaps you might try excluding cooked oils first which will include meat! I also cut out eating most fruits for a good long while as I observed that I was sensitive to fruits like kiwi, peaches and cherries. That's why the raw veggie diet was convenient for me and is one I return to when my skin feels it wants to be itchy. It has worked for me but certainly has taken a while to prove itself.

Exfoliating and Eczema
I wash with salt and don't use soap. In the latter healing stages of my skin, I have definitely found exfoliating with salt has helped. Only because if I didn't exfoliate the dry flaky skin, I'd either pick or scratch it off instead. I'd then apply loads of moisturising creams/emollients which the skin would be able to receive better without the interference and obstruction of skin flaking off.

Do note when my skin was raw and sore, applying salt straight on the skin felt like it was burning it and then made it even itchier!!! Using salty water was easier when my skin was really bad.

Moisturising and Eczema
This is an important step and the amount you apply depends on how dry your skin becomes.

Good luck to you and hope you are able to find the root of the problem of the eczema affecting your hands. Do let us all know if you find a total cure!