Fighting eczema

I, as plenty of other women (and maybe men) out there, am suffering of eczema since two or three years now and am everyday looking for some new eczema treatments, tips or suggestions on how to fight it and get rid of it completely. I can't say I won this fight yet but I do have learned something about eczema, my skin and what can bring me some relief in these past years, and since this is a topic I really feel passionate about and always love to read about how others fight their eczema, I thought to share some of the methods I tried and what I've learned during these years. Just remember I'm no expert at all, I asked the doctor a lot of times about this issue of mine but nothing could help me in getting rid of it completely yet, and I'm only a girl who is trying to share her experience and what has learned about her skin, so I'm not saying this methods will work for you, but just that they may are worth trying...

First thing I've learned about eczema is that it's not only something related to your skin itself and nothing more most of the times, and that skincare isn't enough to fight it completely. The best way to fight eczema is really try to deeply understand your body and what it needs, try to realize what it's really happening with it and what it's wrong in what we're doing. Eczema can be caused by stress as well as from lack of something in your organism and sometimes your doctor could help, others it just needs to go away on its own next to what it brought it on your skin. However I spoke to a lot of people who can't get rid of it and have tried everything really but nothing worked, or people who like me live together with eczema since a few years. Skincare may won't be able to heal your eczema completely by its own, but can be a valid ally to bring your skin some relief. There's no need to mention I tried a lot of products, lotions, balms, creams to treat my eczema and hoped they could help me in avoid all that dryness and itchiness, and here are a few of my favourites.

The A-Derma Exomega Emollient Cream with Oat Milk & Omega (£18) was my dermatologist's suggestion and the first product I ever tried to fight my eczema - two years later now I still love it and find it a great product. Featuring oat extract it's really the best thing to soothe your skin and fight irritation, it's also very hydrating and a lot thick which is so nice and brings a lot of relief to super dry and atopic skins. It contains omega 6 fatty acids which help in repairing the skin and it also is super gentle, fragrance free and paraben free, which make it perfect for any super sensitive skin type like mine. In terms of what it practically does, it really brings a lot of relief to my dry patches and hydrate them a lot, but, as with every other skincare product, it's just a temporary thing - I seriously apply this a lot of times a day whenever I feel like my skin is suffering way too much, and this is great for that.

Two options to the A-Derma offering come from two other french pharmacy brands and are the La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Baume B5 (£9) and the Avene Trixera Selectiose Emollient Cream (£8.62). Both of them are a lot cheaper than the A-Derma offering and should actually work the same as the latter, but even though I'm a huge huge La Roche-Posay's fan, I must say I'm not super impressed with their Cicaplast Baume, which is actually a nice product and which really works in soothing and hydrating but it just has a weird consistency I don't really want to apply on my face. I still use it on my body though, and it's great for that, containing copper, zinc and manganese which together help in stimulating the skin recovery, plus it also contains anti-bacterical bacterial properties to protect the skin. The Avene offering is one I just discovered recently but I'm already sold, formulated to soothe irritation and itchiness, it's really the best thing you want to apply on your eczema whether it's on your face or your body; it has a nice consistency which sinks in nor super quickly nor too slowly and creates a barrier against bacteria or external aggressions.

Something I do love from La Roche-Posay is their Lipikar Baume AP - Lipid Replenishing Body Balm* (£13) which will be my next full size purchase being that inexpensive but so so good! It's the best thing I discovered to treat my hand eczema which is driving me crazy lately being so itchy and dry that it sometimes wakes me up during the night and I just can't get back to sleep due to how itchy it is. This La Roche-Posay balm is just the best thing to avoid itchiness and have an instant relief (not joking here). It has a oilier consistency due to the shea butter and canola oil it contains which makes me love it even more as it feels a lot more hydrating and soothing. It is greasy though, even if they claim it has a non-greasy formula, but it's ok with me, and it also features omega 3 and 6 which are good allies to help your skin renewal.

In wintertime (mainly) I suffer of eczema all around my eyes and my under eye areas are the driest and most sensitive zone of my body, so that I really struggled in finding something that could work. Even if I said skincare can't always work alone, this time two amazing products healed my under eye eczema completely and these are the Botanics Organic Hydrating Eye Cream (£6.99) and the Caudalie Polyphenol C15 Anti-Wrinkle Eye and Lip Cream* (£26) which used together one in the morning and one in the evening, really hydrated and calmed down every irritation until there was no trace left of dryness and redness. I still use them every morning and night to keep the under eye area super hydrated and avoid the eczema to come back.

I think food can do a lot to your skin and eczema, like acne, can be also caused by something you eat, but this is such a subjective topic and even I am not conscious yet if it's up to the food I eat or not. However lots of times I found drinking a lot of water - which everyone should do anyone, but which I rarely remember to - can be a huge help. If you find you suffer of eczema in wintertime whereas in summertime your skin looks a lot better, it could be up to a lack of vitamin D and you can reintegrate it in your body simply taking some vitamin supplements. Something else that may could work for you are omega 3, which you can purchase as pills or oil and can be easly integrated in your diet as well - I really find my skin looks better when I take them on a regular basis.

This is such a subjective topic but I wanted to share what I learned to maybe help someone who can't find out what is causing a bad eczema but wants to try something to stop it or to bring some relief to a way too stressed skin. If you have any suggestions please feel free to let me know as I'm always looking for new remedies to try!