r/eczema

Ive been seeing my girlfriend(long distance) who has eczema since June this year and for some reason every time i see her she breaks out into rashes and gets really puffy eyes. It wasnt bad at first but as time goes on its getting worse and worse to the point where it’s unbearable. Ive changed all my laundry products to the exact same ones she uses, ive bought eczema friendly products such as body wash, shampoo, conditioner and even down to shaving cream. I dont even use that many products. And still no matter what, she breaks out into these rashes.

Its putting a lot of strain on our relationship and its really upsetting to see her this way but we just have no idea what to do. Shes seen her GP multiple times and theyve given her steroid creams but its still barely helping. Shes been requested to get allergen testing but we r yet to hear about that. Shes even started taking antihistamines before seeing me.

I have read up about this before and we were convinced it was a sort of product but not anymore it’s just not possible.

Please help if u can 🙏

It's been hard for me to comprehend how intense hocl is on my skin, especially because it's a spray and it's wet... idk it felt like a mist and i feel silly now for spraying so much of it at a time because my skin barrier wasn't improving and i would be drying out within the hour of re-applying creams that'd normally hold moisture for hours.

I'm scared of bacteria exposure/growth, so im regularly doing things like that and using cln wash...

My journey with eczema overall has been a practice in being gentler with myself, and it surprises me sometimes the ways i don't even know I'm clinging to control. Control isn't bad, but my methods of holding on tend to give me just the opposite of that.

My plan going forward is to use fewer irritants so that I'm not ruining the armor that's supposed to be protecting me in the first place. I just feel a little silly for not realizing what I was doing to my skin!

I’ve had eczema for around 4–5 years now.

At first, it was honestly just a little itch on my fingers. I didn’t think much of it. A few years later, it started appearing on my palms, but I could still manage it.

This year, though, everything changed.

I had a major flare-up that spread across my entire hands and eventually my arms. The worst flare happened after I went to the beach. Where I’m from, people always say that salt water can help skin problems, so I actually thought the beach might help.

For me, it was the complete opposite. 😭 My skin became SO much worse.

Eventually, my dermatologist put me on a high dose of oral steroids. And honestly, my hands looked amazing while I was on them. They were so smooth and soft, literally like baby skin. I remember thinking, finally, my skin is healing.

But about a week after tapering off the steroids, everything came crashing back.

My hands became incredibly swollen, cracked, painful, and angry-looking. It was probably the worst my eczema had ever been.

I went back to my dermatologist and was given another course of steroids along with a JAK inhibitor. Thankfully, my skin improved again.

But now I'm dealing with the same fear all over again.

It’s been about two weeks since stopping the medication, and I’m noticing the eczema gradually coming back. It’s not nearly as bad as the previous flare yet, but I can feel it starting again. I’ve also started noticing some dry, flaky skin around my eyebrows, which is new for me. I’m not even sure if it’s eczema, but of course now I’m overanalyzing every little change in my skin. 😭

Honestly, I’m scared to go back to my dermatologist because I don’t want to end up on another round of oral steroids.

My husband and I are also hoping to get pregnant soon, so I’m really worried about what treatments are safe while trying to conceive. I’ve been using the topical ointments again because I really don’t want to go back to oral medication unless absolutely necessary.

I feel like I’m stuck between “I need to control this before it gets worse” and “I don’t want to take something that could affect our plans to have a baby.”

Has anyone here experienced something similar?

Especially women who have moderate/severe hand eczema and were trying to conceive—what treatment worked for you? Did your eczema get worse after stopping oral steroids? And were you able to find a treatment plan that worked while trying to get pregnant?

I would really appreciate hearing your experiences because right now I’m honestly feeling a little lost.

Are there any eczema-safe ways to make my kids laundry smell nice?

My daughter has mild-moderate eczema (has improved a little since she was a baby). We follow ALL of the typical protocols to manage it while trying to limit / prevent the need for heavy steroid usage and avoid extreme flare ups by using unscented , sensitive formula soap/shampoo/hand soap etc . This includes using unscented, sensitive formula laundry detergent (“All” brand). We also line dry our clothing and linens (with a high powered fan, in the living room), because we’re in a walk up apartment with no dryer and are not close to a laundromat and we don’t have a car.

My daughter has started to notice that many of her friends and their parents clothes “smell nice” and she asks why don’t our clothes smell nice, which breaks my heart.

We dried our clothes on a line in the backyard when I was a kid which often gave them a musty backyard smell, and I remember noticing this difference when I was a kid which often made me feel insecure. I don’t think I smelled “bad”, but I didn’t smell good and my mom didn’t wear perfume or anything because she had asthma. So other peoples moms smelled better than her to me. I just want my kid to feel confident and clean, and as fresh as she views other kids. Any advice welcome.

I am thinking of going back to school for a engineering field, I am thinking about either biomedical or electrical, those of you who have these jobs do you find your eczema effects them? And if so how? And also why did you choose that field of engineering, and those of you in other fields of engineering what is it like with eczema?

My eczema is moderate to severe and covers about 30% of my skin its on my hands face arms entire scalp, do those of you who are engineers and know eczema think that would impact my work ability? I wear gloves constantly already.

Hi everyone, I have been had numerous staph infections over the course of the last 2 and half years. The staph presents in boils which go on my skin. (Ignore second paragraph if you want just the question but it explains what I’ve tried). I did manage 6 months off antibiotics at one point but forgot what I did differently. I am predisposed to excema so the first infection was made first by moisturiser contamination.

I saw a dermatologist who prescribed me doxycline, I used hibiscrub for the shower and 5 days of the start of every month I use mupirocin nasal ointment and also the regular ointment on any boils. I usually have 2 weeks on doxycline and maybe max 2 weeks off. The dermatologist told me to continue following this protocol and there’s not much more they can do for this. They also recommended me to change bedding weekly and change towels every shower etc basic hygiene protocol which I have done. I also saw an infectious disease specialist which I had no success with and felt like I had the same information reiterated. I try to live a healthy lifestyle I limit my sugar intake, I take kefir and kombucha daily and take the everyday biokult probiotic 4 tablets daily ( all of which cost me a fortune) and don’t seem to notice much benefit.

I would like some sort of alternative treatment or protocol that doesn’t involve smashing my body with doxycline till I become resistant if anyone had any ideas.

I will also highlight that I do train a sport in which skin infections are quite common just not as common as I experience them. I’ve always suffered with excema long term

Thankyou sorry if I sound negative in the paragraphs I am just a little deflated at the moment

Since the 10th of May this I have also started tracking when I’m on antibiotic for a better picture.
Antibiotics start
10/05/26
Antibiotic finish
20/05/26
Antibiotics start
05/06/26
Antibiotic finish
18/06/26
Antibiotic start
21/07/26
Antibiotic finish
09/08/26
Antibiotic start
18/08/26
(Currently back on them)

Anyone have any luck with seeing a naturopath for eczema? My baby is 4 months old and I don't want to keep putting steroids :(

Is eczema really a gut issue? Gp / dermatologist all say otherwise...

I am not sure if this would work for everyone, but for me personally it had worked phenominally. When my eczema was oozing, burning, and couldn't move an inch when my skin was dry, I used to put a gauze soaked in saline solution onto that area for like 10 minutes in the morning before I go to school and after I shower at night. I don't know how to explain in scientific way but it made that skin area better and even making that redness go away (although it will come back eventually but the redness gets lighter and lighter as the saline solution acts as like an ice pack). Try this as this worked wonderfully for me. However, you shouldn't try if you are afraid of risking anything by just following what is written on the reddit cuz I completely understand that. I just wanted to share what worked for me and want to help others.

Is it safe to use medium potency steriods once a week for long time?

I am using mometasone furoate

So i’ve had eczema my entire life and the last two years it has taken over my scalp, i get really itchy at night and been flakey like crazy, i always see hair coming out of my head and my scalp always feels warm. i’m on dandruff shampoo and a non steroid eczema shampoo. i recently started using this act+acre hydro serum which seemed like it helped at first but the itching and flakes came back. I really want my hair back and don’t know what else to do!

hi! how do i know if my eczema is infected? i'm not sure if mine is (hopefully not) bcs it feels hot, kind of sticky and has a smell (not a foul smell, it smells somehwat metallic), my skin also feels so dry even with moisturizers on. do you think hypochlorous sprays would help with this? thank you!

Sigh… like the title suggests, one night of fun ruined two weeks’ worth of progress that I had made with my skin.

I have full-body eczema now, and I finally decided that I was done with steroids after using them for about two months with very little improvement. I started a no-dairy, gluten-free, alcohol-free, and unprocessed-food diet. I was basically cooking every meal, drinking bitter teas twice daily, using raw aloe vera gel on my skin multiple times a day, and eating it once a day.

After the first week, to my surprise, my skin went from being inflamed to flaky all over from the neem baths to smooth, but very hyperpigmented and still quite itchy. The biggest difference was that I wasn’t flaring like crazy anymore.

Then I went out on Saturday night.

I’ve been going through a breakup with my child’s father, and I’m 10 months postpartum. I haven’t had a girls’ night out since the baby was born, so I said, “F this. Tonight is my night.”

I had a chicken sandwich and fries and four drinks, and I feel like I completely undid all the work I had put into my skin.…

I have been extremely itchy ever since. I’m even embarrassed to admit that I’ve gone back to using a rat-tail comb to scratch my skin because I cut my nails down so short so that I wouldn’t cut my skin up. Unfortunately, the comb ended up cutting me up a bit anyway.

I feel like it’s going to take forever to get back to that little bit of relief and the baseline I had reached. I know that other people who have followed this diet have seen improvements after about three to four months, but I just feel like the discipline required for this is so hard.

At the same time, I know that if I stick with it, my skin can turn around. I guess I just need to be more committed to myself and my health. If I say I’m going to do something, I need to follow through and make that promise to myself.

Because I don’t want to live like this anymore.

Hey everyone! 👋

I’ve been working on an Excel sheet to keep track of all my eczema flares and figure out my triggers, but it feels like there are so many possibilities out there.

I would love to share my finished spreadsheet with you all once it's done! But to make it as useful as possible, would you mind sharing your triggers and what usually causes your flares?

Thank you so much!

So, I have adult onset of eczema. For 60+ years, I had a zit or two, an ingrown hair or two and one small melanoma removed, likely from a severe childhood sunburn. Pretty good life until the bitch eczema decided to move in 18 months ago unannounced.

As you know, one query of anything “eczema” will fill your social media feeds with opportunities to purchase “hope and a cure, or your money back”. Lotions, potions, body washes, soaps, prebiotics, probiotics and on and on and on. Even cow fat. Yum!

Everything that was my life is now not my life…no laundry soaps, but enzymatic cleaners, no dryer sheets, but wool balls from the butts of rare Scottish goats, no fragrances in anything, humidifier in the master suite, even an app to keep me from buying anything that might offend any potential allergic dermatitis based on a highly suspect and inconclusive patch test.

So, our newest internet friends offering “hope and a cure, or your money back” all want time, a lot of time. 30 days won’t cut it for any of the above mentioned modalities, no, we need at least 60-90 days or even longer.

If they need so much time, my question to you as the 30M eczema sufferers plus advocates in the US, how can a body wash or soap help us out? Everybody else needs at least 60-90 days, but if you’re anything like me, body washes and soaps remain on my skin for something between one and three nanoseconds in the shower…that water is moving fast!

My ask is, does anybody have a body wash or soap that you have isolation tested that provides anything more than anecdotal evidence of relief and God help me, some level of “healing”?

I’ll stand on the hill they are all appealing to your late night scratchiness/bloody/crusty vulnerabilities…eagerly awaiting your thoughts…scratch on amigos!

thoughts on hypochlorus acid for eczema?

Hello fellow eczema havers. First time poster here. I have appreciated this group so much for insightful feedback and everyones individual experiences. This is such a difficult condition and while I know there is absolutely no one-size fits all treatment, I wanted to share my eczema journey so far. I am open to all thoughts, opinions, experiences and feedback.

I am a 26 year old female and I was diagnosed with eczema as a baby. My parents tell me about me itching as a baby, lots of redness everywhere, and them putting socks on my hands at night to stop itching. I also have a nut allergy, dog and cat allergy, as well as (fairly mild) asthma as a kid. I still have the allergies, but I have found my asthma has pretty much gone away as i’ve gotten older. My allergic response to dogs and cats used to be an asthma attack. As an adult now, it seems to be more itchy skin and I rarely experience any breathing issues now.

Like many of you, my eczema was pretty under control for most of my childhood. I have always struggled with anxiety since I was little. I did not grow up in an overly stressful environment. I had attentive, supportive parents and did not suffer any “big” traumas. There is mental healthy history (anxiety, depression and OCD) in my family, however. I have always just been more anxious than the average person though I feel, and I have always felt a profound connection between skin flare-ups and stress, although it has also always felt near impossible to treat it this way because the flare-ups themselves cause so much stress, anxiety, and a sort of existential dread and depression that I know many of you relate to.

I have had itchy red flare-up areas always, but its been significant since I was about 15-16. Behind my knees, behind elbows, hands and feet have been consistent flare-up areas, so much so that you kind of get used to it and don’t consider that most people don’t experience this sort of thing at all. Nonetheless, my skin was very managable and under control for the most part until I had a big flare-up when I was 19. I was in my second year of university, living about 2 hours from home, and it felt like all of a sudden my skin was in full-fledged war against me. All of a sudden I had extreme, weeping flares on my face (under eyebrows, on eyelids, upper lip, and extreme weeping on my neck), chest, and on my whole arms and legs. I had managed previous flares with betaderm from my family doctor, but that wasn’t going to cut it this time. I began seeing a dermatologist and started light therapy and also got protopic for my face. A 3-week course of tapered prednisone was ultimately what kicked my body out of this, and I stopped light therapy after I moved. I should also note that I saw a naturopath at that time, who put a thing on my finger and was convinced after 20 minutes of talking to me that dairy was the cause of all my issues and I just needed to stop eating dairy. This confused and frustrated me even more, as I had eaten dairy normally my whole life with minimal issues, so why now would this suddenly be an issue? I did avoid dairy for about 2 weeks, and my skin saw no improvement. I still try and limit dairy where possible but do eat a fair amount of dairy in my current diet. After this flare and the tapered prednisone dose, I continued used betaderm occasionally on flares, but things felt manageable again for a while. I know that people would often point out redness on my arms, legs, face and neck, but to me, it wasn’t nearly as inflammed, itchy or painful as it was before, and while the flare-ups looked alarming to non-eczema sufferers, I felt like things were very under control for a while. I finished university, moved again, was able to travel, and just generally live a very normal life. I did not feel that my eczema defined me. I struggled with acne about 2 years ago but was able to treat that with a combination of prescription peroxide, laser therapy, and a more curated stable face care routine. I don’t struggle with acne anymore.

I was in a very toxic, abusive relationship from age 24-25. I was pretty much in fight or flight the whole time, but weirdly never had any extreme flare-ups during that time. The relationship ended almost a year ago, and ending the relationship itself was very stressful, although I am doing okay now. I am now in a very happy, stable relationship with a person who is genuinely kind and considerate to me. However, it seems like the past year is also when my skin has decided to flare-up again. I noticed it start getting worse at the beginning of 2026, and I got some more betaderm which has been my go-to for stopping flares before they get too bad. This was not effective this time. My skin only got itchier and more red. My arms were permanently red, my legs were full of open wounds, and behind my knees was weeping so bad on the daily that my pants were sticking to them and some days it felt like I could barely walk. My neck was all cut open with weeping wounds, and I also randomally started experiencing intense scalp eczema which I had never had before, with red, itchy, weeping wounds along my entire hairline, including my neck. I also had it on my chest, nipples, groin, inner thighs, genitals. Pretty much everywhere. I did a short course of prednisone which helped for the time but it came right back. The only place that was pretty much untouched by this flair was my face (not including my hairline), which I was grateful for, but I was suffering everyday. I would wake up in the morning to more redness on my chest and neck than I had ever seen. I would scream and cry in the shower out of pain, frustration, and just feeling so imprisoned in and scared of my own body. I missed quite a bit of work and when I was at work, I felt like I couldn’t focus on anything except for itching and trying to manage how I looked, because my scalp was flaking everywhere all the time and people were constantly noticing how much I was itching my whole body. “Stop itching” is such a triggering phrase and I wish people could understand how intense the itch is and that it’s not to easy to just not itch. Like you think I WANT to itch and look like this right now?!

I finally saw another dermatologist who immediately told me about dupixent and seemed to essentially believe that it is exactly what I need and would be the closest thing to a cure for me. The dermatologist seemed knowledgeable, but she was pretty short with me and did not take a lot of time to actually look at my whole body. She did go through my whole history with me and noted that I had pretty much tried every other treatment (topics, phototherapy) and it was time for a new approach with a biologic. I am in Canada and had to try methotrexate for 5 weeks before getting dupixent in order for insurance to approve. I was on methotrexate for 5 weeks and saw literally no results. My skin continued to get worse and my dermatologist was just holding out for the dupixent. I could not bear the state of my body in this interum and ended up going to my family doctor, who gave me a 16 day course of tapered prednisone. I am just finishing that off now and as expected, it worked its magic and my skin has had time to heal and just feels so much better. After much back and forth, fears and personal research on dupixent, i was approved by my insurance and just had the first dose (loading dose + initial dose) 1 week ago today. It’s hard to know if its had any effect yet because of the prednisone, but I tolerated the pain well (shot wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting) and so far I feel hopeful overall. I get my next done a week from today. I have noticed that since getting the shot, my neck and face have been way more dry and flaking like a snake, which my face was actually the only place that was doing okay before. In a weird way though it does kind of feel like it’s healing, as though it’s shedding old skin and repairing itself from so much damage? It’s not super itchy like typical flares are, but my face and neck are definitely more red. It just doesn’t feel as bad, which is obviously a big part of this condition along with the way it looks from the outside. I plan to continue with the dupixent and am praying that I don’t get another flare when I finish this course of prednisone. I should also note that I have been using protopic every few days on my face and neck to try and manage the dryness. I refuse to use any topical steroids anymore as I have used to many in the past and have only found them to cause intense skin thinning and bruising and make flares come back so much worse the second I stop using them.

For my face, I use the naturium niacinamide cleansing gel, vaseline and aquaphor. I recently started using the bioderma atoderm intensive balm on my body, neck, and occasionally my face, and I love how it feels. It seems to absord into my skin better than american products like eucerin or cerave. I am a generally healthy person, I like getting active and getting outside, although I find sweat to be a HUGE trigger for itching so it’s been tough to be consistent with that lately. Like I said, I am in Canada and live in an extremely dry climate. I have a humidifier going in my place 24/7. Weirdly though, I have found my worst flare ups have happened during spring / summer time, instead of the dead of winter when everything is coldest and dryest. I suspect it might have something to do with spring time mold and snow melting that can be such a trigger, but i’m not sure.

If you read all the way to hear, thank you so much. I know my experiences are not unique and this is a long-term condition we all suffer with. I would love to hear people’s personal experiences and how they differ or align with mine, any thoughts or feedback you have, or anything else you think is worth sharing.

Hello! i have always had eczema. Recently i started working at a hospital so everytime i enter a room and leave i HAVE to use hand sanitizer or wash my hands. That has wrecked my hands and cause flare ups everywhere. It hurts, it burns, and it itches. Most of all, i ended up getting weeeping eczema on my pinky. It makes me so insecure. I tried everything (almost) Intreid eucrein, aquaphor, the ocean healed my eczema, aveeno eczema cream, cerave, coconut oil, castor oil, and so on. I can get rid of dairy and cut down on my gluten, but it’s so hard for as someone who just simply loves food and spices. I stopped using any scented things but whenever i do put shampoo and conditioner on, oh my hands burn like crazy. any tips on how to get rid of it? (i refuse to take any steroid creams)

Hey all, I'm very uneducated on eczema (despite having it since I was a child). I've only been at this cleaning job a few days, but my hands are flaring up terribly to the point they are bleeding. I quite need a job, so I feel pressured to keep at it. I'm drinking plenty of water and using my cream every few hours, which normally helps, but it still is insanely irritated. Thank you all!

Context I had sensitive nips to start with so sometimes I’d have small flakes of eczema come and go on the areols.

So I started wearing a minimiser bra 63% cotton. I wore it to the gym quite a few times and sweated a lot. After a week days of wearing it I developed bad eczema on the areols.

What do I do?

I need advice on what to wear
What to do
Treatment
And prevention for future

Need some advice what to wear daily and to the gym too.

I’ve bought a bralette but it’s not supportive cos I am an E cup

We've been dealing with eczema with our 7 year old for quite a while and I feel like we've tried half the bathroom cabinet at this point. Fragrance free soaps, thick moisturizers, changing laundry detergent, cutting out certain products, prescription creams when it gets bad some helped briefly but it always seems to come back. I kept seeing parents mention probiotics and eczema but never paid much attention to it then our pediatrician brought up gut health at our last visit and said there may be a connection. I've been reading about it the last few days too and I'm surprised by how many possible connections I'm seeing, it had never really crossed my mind before. Has anyone here tried a probiotic for their kid and noticed their eczema improve?