Eczema Relief
Eczema can strike anybody, in fact it is one of the most common ailments around. Studies have also shown that the percentage of people who suffer from it is on the rise. Eczema is the collective name for a group of skin disorders, the most common of which is atopic eczema. This manifests itself as patches of dry, red skin which can be very, very itchy. This is where the biggest problem arises – to give themselves eczema relief, people feel the need to itch the affected area but in the long run, this makes it worse.
How To Find Eczema Relief
If you are not careful, you can soon find yourself in an itch-scratch cycle from which there seems no relief. This is when you should view the problem in a different way. Eczema is not some sort of contagious disease, although to see how some people behave when they meet a person with irritated skin issues, you would think it was. It is merely an issue with your immune system – a way of your body telling you it can’t cope with various everyday things you may encounter.
There are two ways to look at it – from the dermatologist’s point of view and from the dietician’s point of view, i.e. how to soothe your skin and what you can change in your diet to stop the flare-ups from happening.
If you think about it, the skin is the largest organ of the body so you’ve got to take good care of it! Atopic eczema is usually allergy related; therefore you need to find out what it is that is triggering your problems in the first place. It may be the new washing powder you’ve just started using or that perfumed soap you received for Christmas. Instead use products like non-biological powder or gentle, non-perfumed soap.
Moisturising regularly is a must and, during a bout of itchiness, try using a moisturiser that has anti-inflammatory properties which will help restore your skin barrier from infection. As well as this, the fatty acid found in black currant oil and primrose oil can help in mending the skin’s layers. You can use lotions, emollients or creams whichever you are more comfortable with but studies have shown that they will have more effect if they contain primrose oil, tea tree oil, calendula or aloe vera.
On the dietary side, obviously all foods that you may have intolerance too should be on a proscribed list. The main culprits in the allergy list are usually nuts, certain kinds of fish, and perhaps yeast. You need your skin to be healthy from the inside out therefore you need to manage your intake of healthy vitamins and minerals and make your body utilise its antioxidants as well. Try to limit your intake of sugar and processed foods and eat green, leafy vegetables including cabbage and kale – I know a friend who swears by a green vegetable smoothie every evening and it definitely works for her.
Everyone’s dietary needs are individual to themselves so you need to experiment with what helps you the most. When you get the balance right, not only will you find eczema relief but you could manage to banish it forever
