How To Treat Eczema (Dermatologist Explains)

If you're suffering from eczema and looking to get a full, detailed explanation of ALL of the treatment options that exist for this condition (including lifestyle, over the counter, AND prescription treatments), check out this video for an A-Z run through! PS: Don't give up on your eczema! DISCLAIMER: this is not personal medical advice, always discuss treatments for your health conditions with a licensed physician in your locality. This video is intended for educational purposes only and not as medical assessment or treatment.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction
0:36 What is Eczema
0:50 Lifestyle Treatments
3:13 Prescription Treatments

PRODUCT LINKS:

SKINCARE PRODUCTS I PERSONALLY USE:

There's no guaranteeing these are the best for you (it's too hard to get the right data for this) but these are products I consider to be from reputable brands, at a good price point, and which I like to use. Also, be careful with retinoids if you have eczema prone skin! Start low, increase slowly, and moisturize a LOT.

[blablablabla]

Ive had bad eczema on and off my whole life. Now I am 99% clear. this is what ive learned:
- Dermatologists will prescribe steroid creams, and anti histamins, they dont fix the root cause, and it will just cover the symptoms, but the eczema will keep coming back, in my opinion they dont know how to fix eczema.
- The main causes are: food intolerances, allergies / auto inmune issues, gut health, and vitamin deficiencies, by managing these i am 99% clear.
- My main triggers are animals, dust mites and certain foods and heavy alcohol consumption. Once i have an allergic reaction, my inmune system goes overdrive, and i become allergic to everything, within 2-3 weeks of getting an allergic reaction, ill eat something that causes a new reaction, and ill get eczema all over my body, when i remove the allergen, it clears within 1 month, month and a half. Get yourself tested for allergies, and remove them from your life.
- If you are allergic to dust mites like me, you have to change the bed sheets every 2 days, and pijama daily, otherwise they make me itch terribly. I had to change all bed sheets, duvet, pillow to natural fibres, because polyester etc have static electricity, which attracts a lot of dust, i had to replace duvets with wool blankets because they dont have static electricty, breathe better, and are resistant to bacteria and mold, leave the bed undone with the window open during cold months to kill the dust mites, they dont like cold and dry conditions. Vacuum the sheets daily, and the matress when changing the sheets.
- Dairy causes me to have severe break outs, i can only take dairy once in a blue moon. Many people I know will also get acne and dry skin because of dairy.
- When I used to drink alcohol heavily, I had terrible break outs, and had eczema all over my body head to toes, in my scalp, in my ears, etc, i read that alcohol depletes your body of vitamins A, C, and B, which are all needed to have a healthy skin. Eating sweet potatoes for the vitamin A, and having 4-5k mg of vitamin C helped me almost overnight, eat the sweet potatoes with some oil, as vitamin A is fat soluble, youll absrove it better. As long as I drink very sparingly I dont get terrible breakouts. If you have eczema, remove alcohol from your diet, let you liver / kidneys heal.
- other foods that have helped with dry / red skin around my eyes and neck is hummus, i dont know why, eat it 3 times a day for a few days and youll see it helps with the inflamation.
- if you dont have good digestion, you need to improve your diet, this is critical, most of us are addicted to bad food, you need to: remove junk food, eat more fruit, vegetables and legumes try to get at least 30g of fibre a day, incorporate fermented food, pro biotics, prebiotics, remove dairy which has 15 separate inflammatory compounds, and remove gluten as many are sensitive to it. Remove sugar and transfats. There is a big link between your gut and your immune system, eczema is a disregulation of your inmune system. Read about leaky gut. Start taking bone broth, and supplement with glutamin, both help to reduce the permeability of your gut, and helps to rebuild gut lining integrity. Also walk more often try to hit 10k steps a day, because walking helps with your gut health. Healing your gut will take a lot of time and work to produce results, committ to at least 6 months of healthy eating. If you are not making smooth, round banana like feces, regularly, and expulsing them without discomfort, then youll continue to have break outs.
- meditation and fasting also helps with your gut, theres a type of bacteria that only increases when we dont eat food. Meditation will help with your anxiety / stress, which causes more breakouts.
- Improve your diet, this is key! most people will feel a lot of resitance, because we are addicted to bad food.
- Once i had bad sores / dryness around my fingers for months, i did some blood work, it turns out i was deficient on vitamin D, which apparently is common among people with psoriasis / eczema, i started supplementing with 2-4k mu of vitamin D3 daily, the sores cleared in a few days. Once again, vitamin D is linked to gut health too, lack of gut biome diversity leads to vitamin D deficiency, it all comes down to your gut and diet.
- when you have bad break outs, crush a few garlic bulbs and let them sit for 20minutes to develop allicin, then mix in a warm bath, and steep into it, make sure you buy garlic that has the green bits in the middle and is not hollow (if it is hollow, it means it has been irradiated to increase the shell life, and wont develop allicin when crushed). Garlic is extremely potent against staph, the bacteria on our skin that causes the redness / inflammation when our outer barrier becomes compromised, try to do this x2 a day for a few days, within 2-3 days youll see the inflammation reduces. Yes, youll smell bad, but youll be in less pain.
- tea trea oil diluted in water, or a hydrating cream helps with the itch.
- the best creams are both hydrating, anti bacterial / fungal, anti inflammatory, i like hope's relief range, also sukin because its all natural ingredients.

Summary:
- get tested for allergenes, remove them from your life.
- remove alcohol completely.
- eczema originates from your gut health, gut health is linked to your inmune system, eczema is an auto inmune disease originating mainly from an unhealthy gut.
- improve your diet, remove dairy, gluten, sugar, trans fats, get 30g fibre a day, take pre and pro biotics.

[CRFLAus]

Dr Syed's point of not using topical steroid cream for more than 2 weeks is golden advice. My doctor told me to keep using it continuously and after years it barely worked anymore so I stopped using it. Now I have topical steroid withdrawal and it's debilitating to my life. I'll never use topical steroids ever again. Be very careful.

[delconagher]

The Cerave moisturizer worked for me. I have eczema at the back of my ears. Flaky, itchy like a dog. Tried lotions, coconut oil didn't work. Tried the moisturizer and my skin relaxed. Although I have to apply it multiple times a day, it sure is better than getting prescription steroids, although those work really good too. I used them on my fingers and the eczema completely went away in less than a day.

[xheantelle]

This is why my Eczema did not heal for years because of well-intentioned doctors but does not address the Root Cause and are just addressing the symptoms. Using bleach bath!!!? The worst I’ve heard so far. What is really the cause of eczema doctor? It’s food, toxins, stress… All the 5 doctors I went to never ever even mentioned these. I got rid of my eczema by eliminating gluten, sugar and dairy in my diet.

[TheDeniseJS]

I've been watching videos about eczema on youtube for years now and this is the BEST one i've seen! I know it's not direct advice, but i feel great that i can talk to my dermatologist about some potential treatment options. THANK YOU!

[mortalunknown]

I use Aveeno baby Eczema cure and it is amazing. It helps my eczema a lot. Also, try drinking one tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar every day and use Castor oil to moisturize what part in your body that has eczema.

[pleaseleavemealone]

Other lifestyle modifications that are actually quite helpful are diet and anxiety/stress management. Consuming fermented foods and taking probiotics coupled with limited triggering foods such as dairy or eggs or nuts has proven to be quite helpful in the management of this chronic condition. Moreover, meditation and other means of relieving stress also work wonders for some as stress is an equally potent yet manageable/preventable trigger.

[kimpreslar]

Very surprised that fragranced laundry detergents and soaps/body washes weren’t addressed. They can wreak havoc and completely send eczema out of control. Fragrance free versions are often critical to eczema management. Otherwise, all of the other efforts are futile.

[J]

I’d love to hear you talk about contact dermatitis, as well as how and why some people might randomly develop something like seb derm or perioral derm for a few weeks, even though they don’t normally suffer.

[pestimom]

I had eczema when I was younger. I had a breakout on my legs and used prescription steroid cream on my legs. I started having nightmares and afraid of dying - very unlike 'me'. I looked up in the PDR and 1) steroid cream is absorbed through the skin, especially when covered. 2) It can cause psychosis and paranoia. So, I stopped the cream and started looking for the cause. After changing my laundry detergent, soap and shampoo, it went away and never returned. I don't think MDs are trained in looking for the cause, just 'diagnose and drug'.

[mellodiqx]

This is one the only people I have ever seen actually understand what eczema is. Thank you.

[ThatKrystal]

Would have loved to see some mention of dietary allergens and how controlling/avoiding these can be an effective lifestyle intervention. My son's eczema only took a turn for the better when we began addressing food allergies and vitamin D. Now he's been in remission for more than seven months after a steady decline of the typical eczema symptoms, something that the steroid prescriptions hadn't been able to do.

[yvettesthebosslady]

After watching your video I feel just like I went to a dermatology appointment. You made it very easy and clear to understand all the information you are explaining, thank you so much for these helpful tips. I will try some of them out.

[OliviaRos]

I've also learned that hot water can trigger eczema flare ups too. If you are showering, bathing, and or washing your hands always use warm water and finish up with cold to calm the skin. Cold water has became my BEST friend since I developed eczema again on my hands! Cerve also has a jar ointment as well! It's working great so far for me! I use that along with Aveeno Shea butter and oatmeal lotion. In the past clobetosol caused severe stretch marks on my inner folds of my elbows😔. I try to stay away from steroids completely!!

[janetay]

Eczema truly affects life deeply. I have had eczema, asthma, allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, but at different points of my life. At 21 eczema came and it has definitely played a huge part in delaying my recovery for depression (only sought treatment and saw improvement after 11 years). Currently experiencing a flare and really I am about to give up on myself....

[MeganGF]

I have had my eczema on my legs, wrists, and it was starting to go on my face but I am embarrassed to talk to anyone about it and gym class is so bad cause flakes of my eczema fall off causing me to get bullied and I am so thankful to stumble upon this because my eczema is less flakey thanks to your recommendations! Thank you much! <3

[superm]

Awesome content
I've suffered for years and being a hairstylist doesn't help
I only use gentle soap under my armpits my private parts and under feet
The rest I use ointment (epizone e)
No scrubbing no face cloth
Works great
Much love
From
Johannesburg South Africa

[austinwood]

Dietary changes and supplements have helped me tremendously. Vitamin D, Omega/Fish Oils, and Zinc among some others. Also if you want to try a bath, do 1/2C of hydrogen peroxide in a full bath, not bleach!

[kimberlymay]

Thanks for this info. My grandson has eczema and I’m praying to help heal him 😢

[utubevenky]

the "outside-in" hypothesis has been addressed with various things like moisturizers, humidifier & steroids. the inside-out hypothesis( bad gut health, high sugar intake, gluten & other allergens, stress) could have been added which is the main cauce I believe.