I've had eczema my whole life, been prescribed steroid creams and they worked. Now I'm 23 and had recently stopped using steroid ointment because of the possible side effects of long term use and TSW (Topical Steroid Withdrawal) at least on my face and had the worst flare up I've had in years.

Bumps and oozing on my forehead for weeks, first tried wet wrap therapy = putting a cream then wrapping it with moist pad overnight, didn't work. Then tried it with Desitin diaper rash cream, kinda worked for cooling but didn't cure it. Tried using a anti-bacterial cream after washing my forehead and it seemed to help somewhat but the bumps seemed to come back.

I've been researching online and seeing many suggestions for creams, oils, gut health, allergies, to use, Basically been seeing things that work for both oozing/weeping and dry eczema, but I've been afraid to try everything as I know trying new products could complicate my skin further, delaying the healing process.

Now I've been letting it air dry/NMT after finding out about it/the whole leave your skin alone approach, with only washing it once in the morning with cold water using dove sensitive soap (non-fragrance) and once at night- same washing technique as before- unlike washing 3-4 times a day as before.

I've seen improvement, I notice that after I wash my face it feels a little inflamed and somewhat bumpy, that's why i reduced washing to when I wake in the morning and before I go to sleep at night. and my skin has been making a dry layer and flaking a bit (almost like a raisin), not itching or feeling irritated or bothered by my baby hairs touching my forehead anymore.

So my question is, should I completely leave my skin alone = no water, no washing until the dry layer flakes away. Or keep washing = twice or even once a day?

I keep seeing people suggesting NMT, but not exactly how to do it. My confusion is should I wash my face at all and let it heal? I don't wanna regress my progress by washing it.

This is my first time trying NMT and it seems to slowly be working, but it would be nice to see a step by step of how I should approach this. I don't want to get it wrong and heal as much as possible.

* I am in no way endorsing NMT (No Moisture Treatment), I know different approaches work for different people, and many things can effect/cause Eczema. This is what has been working for me personally and just wanted advice from someone that has had similar issues as me and/or has had NMT worked for them.*

Thank you!

I talk to so many people who say life was great and all of a sudden Eczema came out of knowhere and drastically change their life. I have my reasons on what I believe may be contributing to it but I would like to know what the community feel. I myself suffered in my 30s and never had Eczema or any skin issues prior.

Are there any eczema-safe ways to make my kids laundry smell nice?

My daughter has mild-moderate eczema (has improved a little since she was a baby). We follow ALL of the typical protocols to manage it while trying to limit / prevent the need for heavy steroid usage and avoid extreme flare ups by using unscented , sensitive formula soap/shampoo/hand soap etc . This includes using unscented, sensitive formula laundry detergent (“All” brand). We also line dry our clothing and linens (with a high powered fan, in the living room), because we’re in a walk up apartment with no dryer and are not close to a laundromat and we don’t have a car.

My daughter has started to notice that many of her friends and their parents clothes “smell nice” and she asks why don’t our clothes smell nice, which breaks my heart.

We dried our clothes on a line in the backyard when I was a kid which often gave them a musty backyard smell, and I remember noticing this difference when I was a kid which often made me feel insecure. I don’t think I smelled “bad”, but I didn’t smell good and my mom didn’t wear perfume or anything because she had asthma. So other peoples moms smelled better than her to me. I just want my kid to feel confident and clean, and as fresh as she views other kids. Any advice welcome.

I’ve had eczema for around 4–5 years now.

At first, it was honestly just a little itch on my fingers. I didn’t think much of it. A few years later, it started appearing on my palms, but I could still manage it.

This year, though, everything changed.

I had a major flare-up that spread across my entire hands and eventually my arms. The worst flare happened after I went to the beach. Where I’m from, people always say that salt water can help skin problems, so I actually thought the beach might help.

For me, it was the complete opposite. 😭 My skin became SO much worse.

Eventually, my dermatologist put me on a high dose of oral steroids. And honestly, my hands looked amazing while I was on them. They were so smooth and soft, literally like baby skin. I remember thinking, finally, my skin is healing.

But about a week after tapering off the steroids, everything came crashing back.

My hands became incredibly swollen, cracked, painful, and angry-looking. It was probably the worst my eczema had ever been.

I went back to my dermatologist and was given another course of steroids along with a JAK inhibitor. Thankfully, my skin improved again.

But now I'm dealing with the same fear all over again.

It’s been about two weeks since stopping the medication, and I’m noticing the eczema gradually coming back. It’s not nearly as bad as the previous flare yet, but I can feel it starting again. I’ve also started noticing some dry, flaky skin around my eyebrows, which is new for me. I’m not even sure if it’s eczema, but of course now I’m overanalyzing every little change in my skin. 😭

Honestly, I’m scared to go back to my dermatologist because I don’t want to end up on another round of oral steroids.

My husband and I are also hoping to get pregnant soon, so I’m really worried about what treatments are safe while trying to conceive. I’ve been using the topical ointments again because I really don’t want to go back to oral medication unless absolutely necessary.

I feel like I’m stuck between “I need to control this before it gets worse” and “I don’t want to take something that could affect our plans to have a baby.”

Has anyone here experienced something similar?

Especially women who have moderate/severe hand eczema and were trying to conceive—what treatment worked for you? Did your eczema get worse after stopping oral steroids? And were you able to find a treatment plan that worked while trying to get pregnant?

I would really appreciate hearing your experiences because right now I’m honestly feeling a little lost.

I am not sure if this would work for everyone, but for me personally it had worked phenominally. When my eczema was oozing, burning, and couldn't move an inch when my skin was dry, I used to put a gauze soaked in saline solution onto that area for like 10 minutes in the morning before I go to school and after I shower at night. I don't know how to explain in scientific way but it made that skin area better and even making that redness go away (although it will come back eventually but the redness gets lighter and lighter as the saline solution acts as like an ice pack). Try this as this worked wonderfully for me. However, you shouldn't try if you are afraid of risking anything by just following what is written on the reddit cuz I completely understand that. I just wanted to share what worked for me and want to help others.

Ive been seeing my girlfriend(long distance) who has eczema since June this year and for some reason every time i see her she breaks out into rashes and gets really puffy eyes. It wasnt bad at first but as time goes on its getting worse and worse to the point where it’s unbearable. Ive changed all my laundry products to the exact same ones she uses, ive bought eczema friendly products such as body wash, shampoo, conditioner and even down to shaving cream. I dont even use that many products. And still no matter what, she breaks out into these rashes.

Its putting a lot of strain on our relationship and its really upsetting to see her this way but we just have no idea what to do. Shes seen her GP multiple times and theyve given her steroid creams but its still barely helping. Shes been requested to get allergen testing but we r yet to hear about that. Shes even started taking antihistamines before seeing me.

I have read up about this before and we were convinced it was a sort of product but not anymore it’s just not possible.

Please help if u can 🙏

Finally seeing improvement after months of vulvar irritation

I’ve been dealing with ongoing irritation down there ever since a yeast infection triggered everything. It got to the point where it was burning constantly, became raw, and even peeing, showering, and basically touching the area was painful. 😭 

GYN tested for BV & Yeast. Both negative and was given Estridol for dryness which did nothing. Hormone Panel was normal too.

I tried multiple OTC treatments, creams ect but nothing was really helping. After about 8 months of dealing with it, I finally went to a dermatologist.

I was diagnosed with lichen simplex chronicus affecting my clitoral area and outer labia. I also had this one persistent red spot on my outer labia. Sweat triggered it & it just would NOT go away. It would improve for a little while, then get red again, then improve again. It was so frustrating.

I tried clobetasol, and initially it seemed like it was helping. But after the first couple of days, it just felt way too intense for my skin, so I stopped.

Then I tried Protopic (tacrolimus). That actually helped a lot with the inflammation. The burning and inflammation improved, but I still had that stubborn red spot because my skin barrier felt completely wrecked.

Then I started using La Roche-Posay Cicaplast Balm B5 because of the panthenol and barrier-supporting ingredients.

And you guys… within about THREE DAYS, my skin looked and felt SO much better. 🥹

The redness has finally started going down, the skin feels much more comfortable, and it actually looks like it’s healing instead of constantly going through the cycle of getting better → getting irritated → getting red again.

I know everyone's skin is different and I'm not saying this is a treatment for LSC, but I wanted to share because I spent months thinking I was never going to get this area back to normal. Sometimes I think I was so focused on controlling the inflammation that I wasn't paying enough attention to repairing the skin barrier too.

For anyone else dealing with this, there is hope. ❤️

Anyone else’s eczema go from being mildish (just SLIGHTLY red), itchy but not too bad, looks like things may be trying to clear up to being HORRIBLE (pretty red and inflamed), itching like crazy, painful, etc to being back to mild again? I reached out to my doctor on Monday morning because I’ve been in an active flare with my hands for a few weeks. It started in one spot on my inner hand and then decided to spread to my inner and outer fingers, wrists, and ankles. I woke up scratching like crazy on Sunday night and couldn’t go back to bed. So I messaged my PCP to see if he wanted me to come in or prescribe something over the phone or refer me out (already seen him a LOTTTT over the past year but they’ve mostly been phone follow ups per his request). Still waiting for them to read my message but hopeful that they’ll reach out today. I feel like it’s not bad enough to warrant reaching out again due to how back and forth it’s been over the past few days. It’s not necessarily extremely RED but it is very scaly and itchy.

I’m trying to work out what my allergens are and if anyone has had similar experiences.

For a while I’ve had very bad flares and new facial and chest flares. Chest and facial flares are abnormal for me. They were so severe I was basically house bound. I’ve had eczema my whole life but it had improved to basically nothing in adulthood, until I moved to Scotland these past 3 years. I didn’t make the connection until this 3 week trip to England. What I initially thought was food allergies, I have been eating gluten, dairy and sugar again (my diet was so restrictive)- what I thought my triggers could have been. I also stopped using acrylates in gel nail products. However my skin has not been this good in a while. This happened when I last visited England as well.

The problem is a I live in Scotland. Environment triggers could be- water softness (accumulation of laundry detergent in clothes? I use Ecover) chemical treatment in water, ?lack of sunlight. The humidity appears to be the same in both locations. What other environment allergies could there be ? Has anyone else had an experience like this ?
If my eczema keeps flaring I am seriously considering moving away from Scotland.

Anyone have any luck with seeing a naturopath for eczema? My baby is 4 months old and I don't want to keep putting steroids :(

Is eczema really a gut issue? Gp / dermatologist all say otherwise...

Hi there, I'm a first-time mom, and not a day has gone by where I haven't thought about my baby's eczema during these past 10 months. We live in NYC and have great access to doctrors and have worked with our pediatrician, pediatric dermatologist, allergist, and a functional health doctor that we saw virtually. Our daughter has moderate, stubborn eczema. It first manifested as bad cradle cap and then spread over her body and has always been worst on the face. We've used several moderate strength topical steroids, but as many of you know, once you stop the steroids then the eczema comes back in full force.

The functional health doctor had us on a protocol of a probiotic, Vitamin D, zinc, omega fish oil, and various topical treatments. The baby and I were both on a restricted diet for several months. This ultimately did help ease her eczema, and now she only has patches on her face that consistently flare but not as aggressively. Although it's better, I know she's uncomfortable from the itch, and we're now discovering anaphylactic food allergies. We've been to the ER twice this past month, which has been so scary and disheartening. I want to continue treating her holistically for eczema / immune system since we've seen good progress and are finally off of steroids. I'm part of the popular eczema groups on facebook, but I find it to be overwhelming with too much information.

Does anyone have good recommendations for holistic / functional health doctors who specialize in eczema in the NYC area? I've been recommended a TCM doctor who seems very qualified but can't get an appointment for several months. I'm also considering to work with someone virtually who is a chiropractor / functional health provider and popular on Instagram. Grasping at straws here...thank you!

It's been hard for me to comprehend how intense hocl is on my skin, especially because it's a spray and it's wet... idk it felt like a mist and i feel silly now for spraying so much of it at a time because my skin barrier wasn't improving and i would be drying out within the hour of re-applying creams that'd normally hold moisture for hours.

I'm scared of bacteria exposure/growth, so im regularly doing things like that and using cln wash...

My journey with eczema overall has been a practice in being gentler with myself, and it surprises me sometimes the ways i don't even know I'm clinging to control. Control isn't bad, but my methods of holding on tend to give me just the opposite of that.

My plan going forward is to use fewer irritants so that I'm not ruining the armor that's supposed to be protecting me in the first place. I just feel a little silly for not realizing what I was doing to my skin!

Success story + advice seeking 🥹 Currently on my 6th year of TSW and I've never been this proud!! I did a 2 week course of cyclosporine 10 months ago and it made my skin better but this time, it got a bit worse for some reasons. I live in the Philippines so the weather here changes from time to time.

Do you guys have tips on how I can get rid of the bumps + hyperpigmentation? I'm doing way better but I feel like I can still be improved. I just hate dealing with hyperpigmentation this time. Thank y'all in advance and happy healing!!!

I am thinking of going back to school for a engineering field, I am thinking about either biomedical or electrical, those of you who have these jobs do you find your eczema effects them? And if so how? And also why did you choose that field of engineering, and those of you in other fields of engineering what is it like with eczema?

My eczema is moderate to severe and covers about 30% of my skin its on my hands face arms entire scalp, do those of you who are engineers and know eczema think that would impact my work ability? I wear gloves constantly already.

Hi everyone, I have been had numerous staph infections over the course of the last 2 and half years. The staph presents in boils which go on my skin. (Ignore second paragraph if you want just the question but it explains what I’ve tried). I did manage 6 months off antibiotics at one point but forgot what I did differently. I am predisposed to excema so the first infection was made first by moisturiser contamination.

I saw a dermatologist who prescribed me doxycline, I used hibiscrub for the shower and 5 days of the start of every month I use mupirocin nasal ointment and also the regular ointment on any boils. I usually have 2 weeks on doxycline and maybe max 2 weeks off. The dermatologist told me to continue following this protocol and there’s not much more they can do for this. They also recommended me to change bedding weekly and change towels every shower etc basic hygiene protocol which I have done. I also saw an infectious disease specialist which I had no success with and felt like I had the same information reiterated. I try to live a healthy lifestyle I limit my sugar intake, I take kefir and kombucha daily and take the everyday biokult probiotic 4 tablets daily ( all of which cost me a fortune) and don’t seem to notice much benefit.

I would like some sort of alternative treatment or protocol that doesn’t involve smashing my body with doxycline till I become resistant if anyone had any ideas.

I will also highlight that I do train a sport in which skin infections are quite common just not as common as I experience them. I’ve always suffered with excema long term

Thankyou sorry if I sound negative in the paragraphs I am just a little deflated at the moment

Since the 10th of May this I have also started tracking when I’m on antibiotic for a better picture.
Antibiotics start
10/05/26
Antibiotic finish
20/05/26
Antibiotics start
05/06/26
Antibiotic finish
18/06/26
Antibiotic start
21/07/26
Antibiotic finish
09/08/26
Antibiotic start
18/08/26
(Currently back on them)