I love chamomile tea, but I’ll tell you now, it’s never been a bit of use preventing or dealing with a flareup.

Like the previous poster, I’ve tried aloe. Never worked for me, either. Just irritated my hands. I’ve tried it in commercial preparations and straight out of the leaf. Nice for sunburns, for for eczema? Not so much.

I’m not trying turmeric because I don’t want my hands to be dyed bright orange, thanks. I can’t scrub my hands hard enough to get rid of the coloration, and if I did, I’d be undoing whatever ‘good’ work might be done otherwise.

So, I have to say…maybe these remedies work for some people, but overall, I can’t espouse any of them. And some are just downright not useful.

It is NOT best to ‘address eczema holistically’. My advice? Look to what causes your skin to break out and eliminate that. Everyone has things which trigger their eczema (and contrary to what some claim, it’s not a milk allergy, either – or at least, it isn’t for everyone.)

My triggers are:

extreme heat and cold (so, no extremely hot baths),

vegetable juices (onions and potatoes are the worst, so I wear vinyl gloves when preparing food),

harsh soaps (so I wear rubber gloves when doing any sort of housework and never leave them on long enough to make my hands sweat),

detergents with enzymes (so I use a baby free and clear detergent with no enzymes, dyes or perfumes)

anything extremely drying, like folding dry clothes or doing a lot of paperwork (so I apply lotion frequently)

anything topical with perfumes, even if it claims to be hypoallergenic. Perfumes use alcohol as a fixative, and alcohol is drying.

I use Cetaphil to wash my hands and to bathe, plus Neutrogena’s fragrance free Norwegian Formula hand cream (which is basically a glycerine gel and not much else) for my hands.

My dermatologist has recently prescribed a new barrier cream I’m trying which came out last year – Neosalus. It’s supposed to be an intermediary step between regular lotion and the last-ditch effort of steroid use. I haven’t used it enough to know whether or not that’s effective.

It’s taken me years to know how to manage my eczema, but I guarantee management is a better strategy than treatment, any day – particularly remedies which just don’t work.

As for the Aloe, I would say I’ve heard that the results of treating burns are somewhat disappointing and there are other things that have worked better. I use it for acid reflux, upset stomach. It’s an anti-inflammatory. It has the curious ability to stop the stomach from self-destructing. I find it very quick and effective for acid reflux.

I’ve heard some people say that essential fatty acids, eg fish oil and cod liver oil, flaxseed oil help improve some skin problems. I don’t know if that is true of eczema, but it’s important you have adequate amounts in your diet.

Lycopene is also good for skin.

Rosemary etc are anti-bacterial and anti-fungals and there are others in the same vein like oregano, thyme, that have similar effects. I don’t know if they might work.

I’ve had itching on my skin and quite bad eczema. If it’s a fungal problem I’d also suggest the standard advice; keep your skin dry. Soap also causes problem.