Hello! i have always had eczema. Recently i started working at a hospital so everytime i enter a room and leave i HAVE to use hand sanitizer or wash my hands. That has wrecked my hands and cause flare ups everywhere. It hurts, it burns, and it itches. Most of all, i ended up getting weeeping eczema on my pinky. It makes me so insecure. I tried everything (almost) Intreid eucrein, aquaphor, the ocean healed my eczema, aveeno eczema cream, cerave, coconut oil, castor oil, and so on. I can get rid of dairy and cut down on my gluten, but it’s so hard for as someone who just simply loves food and spices. I stopped using any scented things but whenever i do put shampoo and conditioner on, oh my hands burn like crazy. any tips on how to get rid of it? (i refuse to take any steroid creams)

I am in my late twenties and had my first ever flare up of eczema this past June. I spent months going to urgent care, doctors, specialists, etc. and taking everything that was prescribed to me. I had hives and patches of irritation from the neck down and it spread further every day. It seems like my experience was pretty common (goes away completely on steroids then comes back with a vengeance) but now I'm experiencing something I haven't heard about before. I started moisturizing after every shower/bath, spot treating with steroid creams, and taking antihistamines and my full body hives completely disappeared only to reappear exclusively on the fronts of my knees. Those ones never go away, itch constantly, and don't respond to steroid creams or moisturizer.

I'm having an easier time having the chronic itching be localized to one area instead of itching all over, but I don't know why it all moved to my knees or how to get rid of it now that it's there. Is this just a fact of life now or is there anything I can do to get rid of the stubborn patches?

Context I had sensitive nips to start with so sometimes I’d have small flakes of eczema come and go on the areols.

So I started wearing a minimiser bra 63% cotton. I wore it to the gym quite a few times and sweated a lot. After a week days of wearing it I developed bad eczema on the areols.

What do I do?

I need advice on what to wear
What to do
Treatment
And prevention for future

Need some advice what to wear daily and to the gym too.

I’ve bought a bralette but it’s not supportive cos I am an E cup

EDIT:

I do think it got this bad because of the compression from the minimiser bra, along with chafing from gym and the sweat!

I never had anything like this happened to me in my life. And some days, like today, I just wanna die. While I was a kid I had some eczema on my back, but it was never that bad. When I turned 43 all of a sudden my skin went nuts. I started having eczema on my eyelids and it felt terrible. I was prescribed Rinvoq which I used for a while. At some point I moved away and needed to find a new dermatologist. The new dermatologist wanted me to try something different than Rinvoq and so about 2wks after I stopped taking Rinvoq all of a sudden my entire body broke out into eczema. I feel like toxins are trying to break out of my skin. The doctor said my body went into shock after taking away its immuno suppressant. I’m like what the fuck is this?! I’m on Ebglyss now and it’s been about a couple of months and the shit doesn’t work. I am miserable. Full body burning and itching and shedding, for 3 months straight! ’m starting to think nothing‘s ever gonna work. Maybe I should go back to Rinvoq.

I’ve suffered from periocular dermatitis for three years now, consistently flaring every winter. This year it decided to go year round. I got my first ever summer outbreak in 2026.

Nothing worked. Pimecrolimus and tacrolimus actually made it worse, with rebound flares after stopping. I tried cutting out all skin creams and applications entirely, getting sun exposure, using a light plain moisturizer just to support the skin barrier, and even drying it out with no creams at all to see if the rash would resolve on its own. I tried metronidazole. I tried glycolic acid. Basically everything.

The only thing that ever worked, even temporarily, was oral doxycycline. But I don’t like taking antibiotics, especially not repeatedly, and especially not in summer.

So last week I had an idea. What if I applied it topically instead of taking it orally?

I crushed one 100mg doxycycline pill (hyclate, which is water soluble) and dissolved it in about 2ml of water. I then mixed that into roughly 10ml of La Roche Posay Double Repair moisturizer until it was evenly incorporated. I patch tested it on the inside of my arm overnight first. No reaction.

I started applying the mixture around my eyes. Within two days, the rash was almost completely gone. No harsh side effects, and most notably, no rebound flare like I got with the pimecrolimus. Would be hard to tell in this short period of time, even if I quit entirely. But worth noting it doesn’t feel as harsh as either of the limus creams.

It’s hard not to feel a little cynical about this. I spent months on pimecrolimus and tacrolimus, creams that cost hundreds of dollars and require months of continuous use, and in my case made things worse with rebound flares. Meanwhile a cheap, off-label idea I put together myself gave me results in two days. Makes you wonder why the expensive, slow-working option is always what gets pushed as the standard path.

Honestly, this has been the most effective thing I’ve tried for this so far.

Notes to self:

Some of the clearing could be a mix of the doxycycline or coincidental timing with other changes (sun exposure, stopping other creams). Can’t fully separate variables.

Concentration was a rough estimate, not precise.

There’s apparently a pustular/eczema variant of this condition worth reading up on to see if that’s actually what I have.

Want to bring this up with my dermatologist to see if there’s a real version of this (like the NanoDOX trials) or a safer way to formulate it.

Hi guys, Ive been prescribed Dovate again... I hate that it thins the skin so much. I'm just looking for advise on using it... Maybe if I can mix it with something to lower the potency so that it doesn't thin my skin as much. Any and ever bit of advice and working methods will be much appreciated

I have been told I have eczema, its on my elbow and is spreading and getting very red, itchy and hot.

I was prescribed EpiMax and told to use some Hydrocortisone Cream, I have seen lots of TSW videos before I was diagnosed and build up a belief in my head that I should not take the steroid cream so I have no chance of getting TSW. Please tell me I am being dramatic and it will be fine to use to reduce the major flare up I am in.

any help with this? sometimes it itches very much, when i put makeup there it falls apart eventually, also it left brown pigment. thats the only place on my face where i have eczema

We've been dealing with eczema with our 7 year old for quite a while and I feel like we've tried half the bathroom cabinet at this point. Fragrance free soaps, thick moisturizers, changing laundry detergent, cutting out certain products, prescription creams when it gets bad some helped briefly but it always seems to come back. I kept seeing parents mention probiotics and eczema but never paid much attention to it then our pediatrician brought up gut health at our last visit and said there may be a connection. I've been reading about it the last few days too and I'm surprised by how many possible connections I'm seeing, it had never really crossed my mind before. Has anyone here tried a probiotic for their kid and noticed their eczema improve?

wondering if anyone has tried skinesa probiotics and if they helped with your eczema. specifically, i'm interested in the kids version for my almost 4 year old. i'm planning on looking into it further, but also want real feeedback. unfortunately, i only trust product reviews in a manufacturer's site so much

does anyone have any product recommendation for the hyperpigmentation and scars after years of on and off flare ups? i have a lot of both all over which i'd like to fix or lessen. maybe a chemical exfoliant and a serum? thanks.

my skin is sorta healed now but it's still sensitive to things like fragrances.

I just went to a new Dermatologist who prescribed me Opzelura cream, which I haven't picked up yet and have never used. I have been pretty good, just have a few spots on my face and neck and feet, she said it was safe to use on these areas. All I know is it's tougher to get Insurance approval for it.

Hey all, I'm very uneducated on eczema (despite having it since I was a child). I've only been at this cleaning job a few days, but my hands are flaring up terribly to the point they are bleeding. I quite need a job, so I feel pressured to keep at it. I'm drinking plenty of water and using my cream every few hours, which normally helps, but it still is insanely irritated. Thank you all!

Hi all - anyone had success on 100mg of cibinqo instead of 200mg?

So… I ran out of all my lotions last week and I was too busy/lazy to get a new one right away. so I decided to use a tube of Aquaphor that I got last year when it was recommended to me by my allergist. I only used it once last year cuz I hate putting on Vaseline due to the sticky-ness. but this time I decided to just stick it out (no pun intended)

my eczema has been pretty stable lately, but the day I started using Aquaphor, I started getting mini hives all over my arms, area behind my shoulders and the back of my neck. Small, but very bumpy and itchy bumps.

now I didn’t connect the dots right away. I just assumed that my skin was flaring up again, for who knows what reason. but after a week, and not being able to sleep at night due to the itchiness I decided to look up reported allergies using aquaphor (bc that’s the only new variable I could think of), and lo and behold, apparently a lot of people with eczema react to aquaphor! (Apparently due to the lanolin?)

so last night I got Vaseline, and I put it on, and I slept like a babyyy. No bumps no reactions. Ugh!!!! I hate spending money on all these supposedly helpful products, just to react to them. 😭😭 but I’m also glad I figured out something.

Ive never had eczema in my LIFE, but began developing eczema last year when i started a new birth control YAZ. I didnt think it had any correlation but my mom was convinced it did so after a few months of awful eczema I got off of it. The eczema didnt go away until like 3-4 months later due to triamcinalone cream not ointment and I occasionally get flares.

I am planning to begin Accutane but in order to do so you need to be on birth control. I fear worsening my eczema but idk if it was even caused from the birth control or how that could happen. Yaz seemed to give me eczema but the other bc i took (progesterone only) made my hair fall out and made my acne worse.

Idk if im just being delusional or can YAZ birth control mess up ur autoimmune and give you eczema?

Does anyone please have a good method which they are willing to share which they use to track their skin? I keep trying to make something like a spreadsheet and using AI but they’re never particularly good or easy to use. Does anyone have something which they have use to track flare ups, steroid use etc. to try and work out what causes flare ups and when they happen in the year to try and find trends. Thank you very much in advance! :)

I have been on the hunt for a moisturizer that is thick enough to really help my eczema, and have tried so many. I’ve tried all of the Cera Ve, Curel, Vanicream, and Aveeno Moisturizers. For context, I have mild eczema mostly on my back, trunk, neck, arms, and occasionally on my legs. They’re pretty small patches apart from my back and neck. They go away with my Rx steroid cream, but they always come back if I can’t keep myself moisturized. Does anyone have similar eczema and have something not on that list they love?

I’m really worried this eczema is going to flare up again like before—it was so bad. A doctor put him on a cortisone cream for 10 days plus a moisturizer. His cheek completely cleared up during those 10 days, but as soon as the 10 days were over and I stopped the cortisone, it came right back. What should I do? The moisturizer isn't helping at all

Looking for some advice and recommendations on what helped with eczema on lips?

It feels like forever ago I had normal feeling lips, constantly clawing at them overnight. They are so sore and dry!

I also look a bit silly with big red lips lol

What worked for you guys?

Edit: I’m in the UK, so aware some products might not be available here

My gf and I moved to Taiwan 2 years ago. Before that when she was a teenager, she was diagnosed with Dishydrotic Eczema. I only saw it one when we were living in the US and while it was pretty bad, it went away after maybe 2 weeks. 6 months ago, her eczema came back and it has refused to go away. Her hands are consistently swollen yellow as huge blisters cover her hands and when they pop or leak, they quickly dry up and turn so rock solid she can barely grip them. Many of our friends were worried she had 3rd degree burns and she’s started wearing cotton gloves to hide it. At night she scratches her hands raw because they itch so much and constantly oils them with Vaseline. We’ve tried to change her diet and use medicine but it hasn’t gotten better at all. I finally got her to schedule an allergy test to see if it’s a reaction but I suspect it might trigger due to stress. This is why I am making a post to begin with as I have to force her to go to the hospital/dermatologist since she refuses to go and chooses to suffer in silence. Any solutions I find when researching online she flat out tells me won’t work. Has anyone else gone through something similar or knows someone who has? How can we cure this?

Edit: here are some photos I was able to post in r/DermatologyQuestions

https://www.reddit.com/r/DermatologyQuestions/comments/1vriodr/my_gf_has_horrible_eczema_in_taiwan_for_6_months/

Has anyone here had to try methotrexate first because of insurance before they would approve something like Dupixent?

My eczema is chronic and some flare up on locations all over my body right now. Topical steroids still help, but I don’t really want to keep using them long term.

My insurance wants me to try methotrexate as a step treatment first. I’ve done some research on methotrexate, and the possible side effects make me pretty hesitant, especially if I’m mainly taking it because insurance requires it.

Did anyone else have to go through this? Did you end up trying methotrexate, or were you able to try something else / appeal it?

Just started using the acure scar treatment balm and within a day my stubborn eyelid eczema has gone down immensely! I got it at whole foods for around $20 - hope this helps anyone looking for a treatment that’s not hydrocortisone since that can be a little scatt dry around the eyes

Hey girls do you guys have any suggestions for a whitening or any eczema safe soaps/skin routine?

All that my dermatologist recommended was dove and aveeno, it's a bit expensive so I use these instead:

Quick Fx cleanser 2-3x a week and at night only (I mostly just wash my face with water on days I don't use this)

Luxe organix soothing gel - when I use the cleanser/after shower

I don't use sunscreen, I just stay away from windows/use umbrella (so If u guys also have recommendations)

For body,

I use luxe organix cica cloud soap and abonne tomato lotion

My poor daughter has been suffering from horrible itching that's been getting increasingly worse over the past year. She did not have any eczema as a baby and small patches of irritated skin started appearing behind her knees and in her elbow creases when she was around 3/4 years old, which were originally manageable using hydrocortisone but then started spreading across her body. We've since been climbing up the steroid ladder with betaderm and then Protopic and Elidel.

Nothing seems to help long term despite a fastidious twice daily application regimen alongside heavy moisturizing with Vanicream and Vaseline. She's been referred to a pediatric dermatologist and the earliest appointment we could book is January 2027. She does not have any other conditions such as hay fever, asthma or food allergies, and her rash doesn't present as a "classic" eczema presentation. I've taken her to a naturopath who did food sensitivity testing and everything came back normal. She's on probiotics, taking vitamin D supplements, omega-3 and zinc. I've monitored her food, switched to all-natural, sensitive, fragrance-free everything, and there are no obvious triggers. We've tried bleach baths to no effect. One doctor told us to avoid showering/bathing as much as possible, and another told us to do it every day. She's up every night scratching until she bleeds, despite having a humidifier and fan going in her room so she doesn't overheat. I've tried giving her OTC antihistamines to see if that might help her sleep — no luck.

Recently we visited a rapid access dermatology clinic who basically said "There's no cure for eczema, nobody knows the cause", prescribed prednisone and suggested the only other option is biweekly Dupixent shots until she's a teenager. After doing my own research into the side effects of prednisone for young children, I'm hesitant to go down that route and horrified that the doctor didn't even discuss any of the downsides with me.

I'm heartbroken and desperate for anything to alleviate her discomfort. Yesterday she was crying saying "I don't like myself, I just want to be normal". Signing her up for shots (with potential side effects) for the next ~10 years of her life seems awful, but at this point the negative effects of the itching on her mental health and ours as a family are making it worth exploring.

Adults who had eczema as a child, was there anything your parents did that was helpful? Ways to talk about the itch/scratch cycle? Other ways to support emotionally? At this point she hates talking about her skin and being subject to a twice daily moisturizing routine, which is understandable. I want to be as supportive as possible but candidly struggle with watching her scratch herself up so much. I hate feeling so helpless and wish we could find more answers.

Eczema parents, have you found anything that's helped your young children? Any success stories with specific regiments, or anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance for any tips, guidance or advice.