• Question: is there any cure for eczema

    Asked by zainaftab to Dalya, Derek, Sarah, Tim, Tom on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Dalya Soond

      Dalya Soond answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Sadly, not yet. Just creams to relieve it.

    • Photo: Tim Millar

      Tim Millar answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Not at the moment. There are treatment including steroid creams but there also seems to be a genetic fault in the skin with a protein called Filagrin. This normally gives the skin some strength, but in people with eczema, this protein doesn’t work or is mssing altogether. This makes the skin break and loose moisture leading to the signs of eczema.

      As with a lot of diseases lots of work is going on to try and find a treatment but for the moment those nasty steroid creams immunosuppresants and barrier creams are all that we have.

    • Photo: Sarah Thomas

      Sarah Thomas answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      There isn’t a cure for eczema but there is a lot of treatments out there:

      Weak steriods can be prescribed to alleviate symptoms. And since dry skin can cause eczema to flare up, moisturisers and ‘itch relief’ creams can help. People that have czema should avoid a lot of soaps because these can dry the skin out and make it worse.

      Some people believe that eczema is caused by allergies to dust mites and in those cases symptoms can be alleviated by using hypoallergenic pillows and duvets and removing carpets etc from the house.

      A friend of mine had really bad eczema when we were in primary school and her mum made her eat oily fish sandwiches which seemed to help so maybe diet also plays a role.

      There are a number of natural remedies for eczema and a vast collection of recipes on the internet for ointments you can make at home using ingredients like nutmeg, coconut oil, dandelion leaves, spearmint… There may be some reviews that you can find.

      I also remember my friend used to put ice packs on her arms which helped cool it down and get rid of the itch.

      Hope all this helps 🙂

    • Photo: Tom Crick

      Tom Crick answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      No cures sadly, but a lot of treatments to relieve it and try and make the symptoms less severe.

      I used to have a bit of eczema when I was younger, but I have been very lucky for the past ten years.

    • Photo: Derek McKay-Bukowski

      Derek McKay-Bukowski answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      As the others have written, there isn’t a cure for the condition, but there are treatments for the symptoms.

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