Eczema is a skin condition that takes on a rash-like appearance and is used to describe a group of skin ailments that appear red, inflamed, dry, cracked, patchy, or oozing. Every case of eczema is individual and yours can take on one or all of these appearances. No matter your reaction level, eczema is a difficult and often embarrassing skin condition to deal with due to the irritation and unpleasant appearance.

The exact cause of this skin condition is unknown because the eczema rash can be triggered by many different irritants. The only information that is known absolutely is that eczema is the result of an allergic reaction to a foreign allergen. These allergens can include a variety of factors but most often include:

• Dust mites
• Food allergies (dairy, nuts, eggs, soy etc.)
• Pet dander
• Powerful soaps or laundry detergents
• Grass, pollen, or outdoor pollutants

Although this list is far from complete, these are a few factors that health professionals turn to first when attempting to determine the cause of a patient’s eczema. Even though there is not an exact known cause for this skin ailment, treating eczema can be simple if you maintain a regular treatment regimen and don’t let your eczema go uncontrolled for too long. Allowing your eczema affected skin to remain dry and cracked for too long can lead to bleeding, infection, and ultimately scarring.

The following are the most common eczema treatment methods including some of our favorite products that we’ve found to treat eczema efficiently. These treatments provide relief to your skin and encouraging the healing process so that your eczema is less likely to return in the future.

1. Have your doctor complete or complete an allergy test on your own

Allergy tests usually consist of making a list of all possible allergens that you believe could be triggering your eczema and eliminating them from your lifestyle or diet one at a time. This could involve taking a pet out of the home for a week, switching laundry detergents, or using an alternative to peanut butter for a few days. Make sure you allow enough time to pass in between the testing of each allergen to tell if it truly helps the condition of your eczema. This process can be time consuming but well worth it if you’re able to single out the cause for your eczema.

2. Moisturize

This is one of the most important steps when it comes to treating eczema and should be taken seriously. Keeping eczema affected skin moisturized will keep it from becoming too dry and cracking, and will also help to soothe the irritation and lessen the urge to itch. Itching will only further the irritation of your skin so it is best to keep fingernails short and your skin covered so that you’ll be less tempted to scratch. Thick creams that are low in water and high in oil contect are the most affective eczema treatments and are safe to use on bleeding, infected, or oozing skin. Some that we’ve found to work best include: obre skin treatment, exzemax, eucerin, and iS Clinical. All of these products have been scientifically developed to treat and heal eczema affected skin with heavy moisturizers and additional skin protecting agents.

3. Go to the doctor

If your eczema is bad enough, your doctor can prescribe a medication targeted at treating your eczema. Often what doctors will prescribe are steroid creams or immunosuppressants but these treatments are not used for very long. Steroid creams can thin your skin and immunosuppressants can cause you to suffer from additional illnesses because your immune system won’t be functioning at its peak. Seeing a doctor is always a good idea and even if they don’t prescribe you one of these stronger treatments they will be able to assess your eczema and instruct you on the best way to treat your personal symptoms.

These are the basic ways to begin treating eczema. Every person’s skin is different and every case of eczema is different; what works for some might not work for others. No matter what your eczema looks like however, it is always important to keep the area hydrated and to treat your eczema affected skin regularly so that you can heal your skin and help prevent your eczema from coming back in the future.