Did you know that six in every ten people in the UK suffer from a skin condition? One of the most common skin conditions is eczema. Eczema is when your skin becomes red and inflamed and can lead to itchiness. It can also cause blisters and make the skin dry and cracked.

National Eczema Week

16-24 September is National Eczema week and it aims to raise awareness, not only of how eczema affects people’s everyday lives but to also raise awareness of The National Eczema Society and all the places that sufferers and their families can turn to for support.

Eczema – our story

My brother and I suffered from eczema as a child. I remember the crevices of my arms and the backs of my legs were inflamed and constantly itchy. Clothes would stick to those places from all the itching I’d do and it was always worse in the winter as my skin was generally a lot drier. Thankfully, we both grew out it when we were older. However, my husband (Mr H) started suffering from eczema in his early 20s after he had glandular fever and his immune system was down. He’s had Atopic eczema ever since and regularly has flare-ups. There have been occasions when he needs to take steroids and antibiotics to help manage his condition if his skin becomes infected. Unfortunately, it’s a condition that he has had to learn to live with on a daily basis.

My youngest M, had eczema when he was a baby but with a change of formula to one with less cow milk protein in, it cleared up. He then had a flare up when he was two after a nasty case of chickenpox. He currently has a small patch in the crevice of his left arm which tends to flare up in the summer months when he’s hot and sweating or in the winter when his skin tends to be drier than usual. We try to keep his skin moisturised by regularly applying creams to lubricate the skin to reduce itchiness and irritation.

Our top products for eczema

As you can imagine, both Mr H and M use a few tried and tested products to help alleviate the itchiness of their skin. Soothing sheets with a high thread count can also help alleviate itching when sleeping.  Below are our top products for eczema that we’ve found help manage the condition.

Aqueous Cream
Soap tends to dry the skin out which leads to eczema-prone skin even more open to itchiness. Aqueous cream can be used as a soap substitute and actually helps the skin lock moisture in. Mr H tends to use this only to wash with and will use other creams (see Diprobase below) to moisturise his skin after a bath or shower. Aqueous cream can be purchased in most pharmacy stores, either in a tube or a big tub. It’s inexpensive too, costing around £2-£3 for a 500g tub.

Diprobase
Dry skin occurs when there is a lack of water in the outer layer of skin cells. This causes the skin to lose its flexibility which means cracking can occur. Diprobase aims to provide a layer of oil on top of the skin to prevent water evaporating from the surface, hence keeping the skin moisturised and less likely to crack and cause irritation. Diprobase can be purchased at most pharmacy stores and costs £10 for a large 500g dispenser pump.

Medihoney
We were introduced to Medihoney a couple of years ago when the eczema on M’s arm first started flaring up. I was mindful of wanting to use a natural cream rather than something chemical based and so we gave Medihoney a try. It’s a rich emollient with medical grade manuka honey, aloe vera and chamomile and whilst it doesn’t claim to be a treatment for eczema, we have found that it really helps relieve the redness, dryness and itchiness of the skin. Medihoney can be purchased in Holland & Barratt and costs £4.99 for 50g.

Childs Farm

We’ve been using Childs Farm products for a while now and love them. It makes bath time much easier being able to use the same products on both the boys and knowing that the products have 98% naturally derived ingredients and have been approved by paediatricians and dermatologists. They’ve also been specifically designed to deeply moisturise and be gentle on the skin at the same time. Childs Farm products can be purchased from Boots and prices start from £3.99 for 250ml.

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What would you recommend as your top products for Eczema?

*We received a bundle of Childs Farm products in exchange for this post.

You might also like:

• Top tips for managing eczema | National Eczema Week
• Medihoney: a natural relief for eczema

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