Skin Care Decoded!

It is very important for people with eczema to know how to take care of their skin as using the wrong soap or skin care products may cause flare ups. In fact, using the right soap and skin care products for eczema can actually calm the inflamed skin or prevent flare ups. So what is the right regime skin care for eczema?

Many assume that putting water on the skin would moisturize it even more but in case for eczema patients, plain water can be bad as when the water comes to contact with the skin, it evaporates taking with it some of the skin’s natural oils called NMF (natural moisturizing factor). Some guidelines to follow when skin comes to contact with water is to ensure water temperature should be tepid as the hotter water takes away more oils than cooler water.

The length of water contact should also be short. This means that you should avoid taking long hot showers especially if you have flare ups. Also note that using antibacterial gels for hand wash will not cause skin to dry out as alcohol does not bind to NMF. When drying off water on skin, pat the skin dry with towel instead of rubbing the skin vigorously. Use a good moisturizer on skin immediately after that.

Most soap especially bar soaps are not good for people with eczema. Liquid soaps are less damaging but using emollient rich liquid soaps that leaves moisturizer on skin when soap is washed off is the best.

It is also a very important skin care for eczema people to know to use moisturizer often. It is advisable to put them on at least 3 times a day. Ensure that these moisturizers do not contain perfume, essential oils or fragrances as it could be an irritant that triggers flare ups.

The different moisturizers that you can consider are such as moisturizers for scaly eczema. This is a good choice if you have a lot of flaking without a flare as they can sting if applied on open areas on skin. Emollient moisturizers are the best low cost option if you are in the middle of a flare up. Ceramide moisturizer helps skin to heal faster during flare ups

With this, I hope that those people with eczema can now know what is the right skin care for eczema

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